Awards, Fellowships & Scholarships
A Guide to Scholarship and Fellowship Awards
In general, scholarships are awards to help the winner attend an annual meeting (IMAST or Annual Meeting - see each award for details). Traveling fellowships award funds to practicing surgeons to visit spinal deformity centers. Criteria for qualification are listed below each award description.
- Member Recognition Awards
- Emerging Technologies Fellowships
- Meeting Scholarships
- Traveling Scholarships and Awards
- SRS Paper and Poster Awards
Member Recognition Awards
SRS Lifetime Achievement Award
The SRS Lifetime Achievement Award will honor an SRS member for distinguished service to the Society as well as significant contributions to spinal deformity care. A plaque will be awarded and the recipient’s name announced at the Annual Meeting. The recipient will also be asked to sit with the SRS Historian for a 30-minute interview. Winners will receive hotel accommodations and coach airfare. Airfare for spouses/accompanying persons will not be reimbursed. Registration fees for the meeting and Pre-Meeting Course shall be waived for the recipient and a guest.
Who is Eligible:
- All SRS members are eligible to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award
- Special consideration will be given to senior members.
Walter P. Blount Humanitarian Award
The Blount Award is a humanitarian award given to an individual who has provided outstanding service for those with spinal deformities, through their generous actions out of a sense of service to larger social and professional goals. Nominations are sought from the Fellows each year. A plaque will be awarded and the recipient's name announced at the SRS Annual Meeting. The SRS Meeting registration fee will be waived for the receipt and a guest.
Who is Eligible:
- All SRS members are eligible to receive the Walter P. Blount Humanitarian Award.
Emerging Technologies Fellowship - Automated Advanced 3D Imaging and Predictive Surgical Planning
The Emerging Technology Fellowship in Automated Advanced 3D Imaging and Predictive Surgical Planning is a two-three (2-3) week immersive program designed to deepen expertise in cutting-edge, low-dose, full-body imaging technology for spine and orthopedic applications. The surgeon will learn to standardize patient assessments using 3D reconstructions and automated measurement tools, enhance surgical planning with AI-driven modeling and predictive analytics, and optimize surgical execution through imaging-guided interventions. This fellowship aims to build a foundation for data-driven, personalized, and evidence-based surgical care.
The recipient will be hosted at a leading spine center specializing in advanced imaging applications. The successful candidate may help select the site from a predetermined listed. Recipients will be reimbursed up to $12,000 for travel and lodging.
Who is eligible:
- US based surgeons 1-5 years in practice who focus on adult patients.
- Applicants DO NOT have to be SRS members, but are required to provide a recommendation letter from an SRS member.
Documentation Required for Application:
- CV Template (Word)
- Recommendation Form (Fillable PDF)
Emerging Technologies Fellowship – VBT
This fellowship is for a surgeon to spend 2 - 3 weeks participating in a spine traveling fellowship visiting SRS members currently practicing vertebral body tethering. Visiting surgeon must visit 1-2 SRS members who regularly performs vertebral body tethering using any vertebral body tethering technology approved in the host surgeon’s locale.
The recipient will visit an institution(s) and during the visiting surgeon’s visit, a minimum of 2 vertebral body tethering cases must be performed per week in which the surgeon is visiting (on average). The successful candidate may help select the site(s). Recipients will be reimbursed up to $12,000 for travel and lodging.
Who Is Eligible:
- Candidates must practice in a country in which vertebral body tethering is an approved technique by their national regulatory body
- Candidates DO NOT have to be SRS members, but are required to provide a recommendation letter from an SRS member.
- Applicants currently in their fellowship year preferred.
Documentation Required for Application:
- CV Template (Word)
- Recommendation Form (Fillable PDF)
Muharrem Yazici, MD Meeting Scholarship
This scholarship is for individuals from country code 1 on the World Bank Economy Scale to attend either IMAST or the SRS Annual Meeting & Course. Recipients will be reimbursed up to $2,000 for travel and lodging. The meeting registration fee will be waived.
Who is Eligible:
- The recipient must be a qualified Orthopaedic or Neurosurgeon involved in spinal surgery.
- Candidates DO NOT have to be SRS members.
- Candidates who have attended a previous IMAST or SRS Annual Meeting are NOT eligible for this scholarship.
Candidates under 45 years old from the following countries:
| Afghanistan | Angola | Bangladesh | Benin | Bhutan |
| Bolivia | Burkina Faso | Burundi | Cabo Verde | Cambodia |
| Cameroon | Central African Republic | Chad | Comoros | Congo, Dem. Rep. |
| Congo, Rep. | Côte d’Ivoire | Djibouti | Egypt, Arab Rep. | Eritrea |
| Eswatini | Ethiopia | Gambia, The | Ghana | Guinea |
| Guinea-Bissau | Haiti | Honduras | India | Jordan |
| Kenya | Kiribati | Korea, Dem. People's Rep. | Kyrgyz Republic | Lao PDR |
| Lebanon | Lesotho | Liberia | Madagascar | Malawi |
| Mali | Mauritania | Micronesia, Fed. Sts | Morocco | Mozambique |
| Myanmar | Nepal | Nicaragua | Niger | Nigeria |
| Pakistan | Papua New Guinea | Philippines | Rwanda | Samoa |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | Senegal | Sierra Leone | Solomon Islands | Somalia |
| South Sudan | Sri Lanka | Sudan | Syrian Arab Republic | Tajikistan |
| Tanzania | Timor-Leste | Togo | Tunisia | Uganda |
| Uzbekistan | Vanuatu | Vietnam | West Bank and Gaza | Yemen, Rep. |
| Zambia | Zimbabwe |
Documentation Required for Application:
Eduardo R. Luque Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship is a designated stipend of $2,500 to be used to attend the SRS Annual Meeting, IMAST or participate in a two-week fellowship. The recipient may help decide which option to use the stipend towards.
Who is Eligible:
- Applicant must reside in Mexico, Central or South America, or the Iberian Peninsula.
- Applicant must be 45 years old or younger at the time of application.
- Must have completed a residency in orthopedics or neurosurgery
- Additional consideration given to applicants who have completed a fellowship pertaining to spinal deformities.
Documentation Required for Application:
Global Outreach Program (GOP) Educational Scholarship
This scholarship is for individuals from a developing nation to attend either IMAST or the SRS Annual Meeting & Course. Recipients will be reimbursed up to $2,500 for travel and lodging. The meeting registration fee will be waived.
Who is Eligible:
- Candidates under 45 years old from developing countries.
- The recipient must be a qualified Orthopaedic or Neurosurgeon involved in spinal surgery.
- Candidates DO NOT have to be SRS members.
- Candidates who have attended a previous IMAST or SRS Annual Meeting are NOT eligible for this scholarship.
Documentation Required for Application:
SRS North American Meeting Scholarship for Residents and Fellows
The Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) is seeking orthopaedic/neurosurgery residents and pediatric/spine fellows, with a strong interest in pursuing pediatric spinal deformity to apply for a meeting scholarship that can used at either the International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques (IMAST) or the Annual Meeting. Individuals that can obtain institutional funding or funding from their training program for the meeting should not apply. Educational scholarship recipients will be expected to attend all scientific portions of the meeting, respond to all SRS communications in a timely manner and to submit a one-page report within 60 days of returning home.
Who Is Eligible:
- An orthopaedic or neurosurgery resident in the last two years of residency or a fellow in a pediatric orthopaedic or spine fellowship with a strong interest in pediatric deformity.
- All candidates should be from North America.
- Have a substantial need for financial assistance in order to attend.
- Have not received an Educational Scholarship to attend within the last two (2) years.
- Directly involved in research or care of individuals with spinal deformities.
- Candidates are not required to be SRS members.
Documentation Required for Application:
- CV Template (Word)
- Recommendation Form (Fillable PDF)
Edgar Dawson Traveling Fellowship
This clinical fellowship provides up to $2,000 to visit a designated spine deformity center in North America for 2-3 days to enhance education and skills. The host site must include an Active Member of the SRS. The recipient will help select the site to be visited.
Who is Eligible:
- Applicant must be a Candidate or Active member of the SRS, under the age of 45 and reside in North America.
Documentation Required for Application:
Robert B. Winter Global Outreach Fellowship
This 4-6 week spine fellowship is for highly-motivated spine surgeons who are currently in clinical practice in any financially-challenged under-served area worldwide, and who are in a position which will enable them to disseminate knowledge acquired during the fellowship to others in their home country upon their return. The candidate will have the choice to indicate his/her preference for the host site from a provided list of approved centers. It is imperative that the fellow be from a site that has the ability to perform complex spine surgery after completion of the fellowship. The SRS host may also visit the Winter fellow's home site to follow-up on skills and knowledge learned.
- Four-to-six-week fellowship at a recognized global spine center which is staffed with SRS Active fellows.
- Financial assistance approximating $12,000 to fund travel and lodging expenses.
- Final report of the learning experience to be sent to the Scholarship and Awards Committee within two months of finishing the visiting fellowship.
Who Is Eligible:
- An active spine surgeon in a developing country or in a financially-challenged under-served area who has completed all local required training.
- Ability to implement learned modern spinal deformity surgery in country of origin
- Have a substantial need for financial assistance in order to attend.
- Candidates DO NOT have to be SRS members, but are required to provide a recommendation letter from an SRS member.
Documentation Required for Application:
"I think this Fellowship Program was very useful for me personally, but for our team and my country also. Now at my work I feel more trained, more competent, more confident as a physician and surgeon. That was excellent experience for me and I believe that knowledge gained through these period will influence on my work on patients and colleagues in my hospital and have helped to improve the delivery of health care in my country." -Evgeni Vlaev
Global Outreach Program (GOP) Visiting Fellowship
This fellowship awards an individual from a developing nation a three to four week fellowship with a volunteer SRS Active member. The recipient will visit a single institution and be involved in observing clinical care and spinal deformity surgeries. The successful candidate may help select the site. Recipients will be reimbursed up to $6,000 for travel and lodging.
Who Is Eligible:
- Candidates 45 years old or younger.
- Candidates must be practicing spinal surgeons with a minimum of two years of independent spine surgery experience from developing countries involved in the treatment of spinal deformities.
- Candidates DO NOT have to be SRS members, but are required to provide a recommendation letter from an SRS member.
Documentation Required for Application:
- CV Template (Word)
- Recommendation Form (Fillable PDF)
Lori A. Karol, MD Women in Spine Award
Dr. Karol was the first female elected to the SRS Presidential Line in 2020. Shortly before taking on the role of Vice President of the Society, she was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). While able to serve the Society for several months, ultimately, she resigned from her role as Vice President, and passed away in February 2022.
This $8,500 award is to be used by the recipient to cover the various costs to attend the SRS Annual Meeting ($2,500) and to complete a 2-3 week visiting fellowship with an SRS member ($6,000).
Winners of this award will be invited to participate in the SRS Leadership Dinner (Tuesday) and SRS President’s Reception (Friday) at the SRS Annual Meeting to help honor the mentorship Dr. Karol provided, and her dedication to being a leader within the SRS. These events offer a unique opportunity for the recipient to interact with current Society leadership and stakeholders in order to further develop their participation within the Society.
Requirements:
- Applicants must be female identifying
- No age minimum or maximum
- Orthopaedic & Neurosurgeons are encouraged to apply
- SRS Members & Non-Members are both welcome to apply
- Non-Member winners are highly encouraged to apply for membership
"When I came to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital as a fellow in 2014, Lori was the first female spine surgeon that I had encountered in my career, and her mentorship inspired my own interest in pediatric spine surgery. Now, as the first recipient of the Lori A. Karol, MD Women in Spine Award I am excited to have the opportunity to continue her legacy. For me this award is a once in a lifetime chance to become a better spine surgeon and leader within the SRS and beyond." -- Megan Johnson, MD
SRS Traveling Fellowship
This annual traveling fellowship sponsors three SRS fellows to visit spinal deformity centers in different regions. The award alternates between North American fellows (US, Canada, and Mexico) which visit centers in Europe/Asia and international fellows which visit centers in North America. Both trips last 2-3 weeks and conclude at the Annual Meeting, if possible. Free Annual Meeting Registration is included in the award.
International Fellows: Application due in late fall of even years for travel in odd years.
North American Fellows: Application due in late fall of odd years for travel in even years.
Who is Eligible:
- SRS Active and Candidate Members in good standing
- Must be 45 and younger at the time of application (October 15, 2025)
- Members residing in North America are encouraged to apply this year
Documentation Required for Application:
Applications are closed.
Russell A. Hibbs Awards
The Russell A. Hibbs awards are given to both the best basic science and clinical papers presented at the SRS Annual Meeting. The top five abstracts of both categories are invited to submit their manuscripts for consideration.
Thomas E. Whitecloud Awards
The Whitecloud awards are given to both the best basic science and clinical papers presented at the IMAST meeting.
John H. Moe Award
The Moe award is given to the best basic science poster or e-poster at the SRS Annual Meeting.
Louis A. Goldstein Award
The Goldstein award is given to the best clinical poster or e-poster at the SRS Annual Meeting.