CCPN: Vice President for Faculty Development
M. Scott Perry, M.D., has taken on the new position of Vice President for Faculty Development at Cook Children’s Physician Network, supporting faculty as they draw up research and clinical program applications, goals, budgets and timelines.
Most of Dr. Perry’s attention has focused on the Endowed Chair program since taking on the new role in October 2024. He continues as Head of Neurosciences at the Jane and John Justin Institute for Mind Health, and medical director for the Genetic Epilepsy Clinic at Cook Children’s.
The scope of Faculty Development puts Dr. Perry in collaborative partnership with the Research Administration Office and the Endowed Chair process. The Cook Children’s Foundation provides funding that enables the 10 Endowed Chair physicians to develop programs, participate in clinical trials and do groundbreaking pediatric research.
Dr. Perry mentors Endowed Chair recipients and future applicants to help design and overcome barriers to their research protocol, plan specific aims, clarify what they hope to achieve and calculate their budgets. During the application season for Endowed Chair last fall, he provided guidance to help applicants fashion and articulate their proposals in the best way possible.
“I got involved quickly with all the people who had applied,” he said. “I reviewed their proposals and tried to give them feedback how to structure the specific aims and the method to obtain the research, to hone in on that and help them connect with the right people to understand what the budgets should look like.”
William Stigall, M.D., Chief Research Officer at Cook Children’s, applauded the addition of Dr. Perry’s expertise to the Endowed Chair program.
“He has the experience of having been an incredibly successful Endowed Chair, the heart of a teacher and scientist, and the vision to bring the EC program to the next level,” Dr. Stigall said. “With his help, future applicants will have a trusted guide and mentor to help shepherd and shape their applications.”
Dr. Perry wants to use his experience to help others formulate their ideas and craft their pitches in wording that resonates with those who award research dollars or administrative approval. Down the road, the role could expand to include strategic vision planning for departments.
His takeaway so far? It’s been interesting and great fun to be a mentor who helps researchers navigate their hurdles. He works in the position two days a week.
Faculty Development complements the Advanced Healthcare Leadership program, a partnership with Texas Christian University that develops and trains leaders on the medical staff at Cook Children’s.
Dr. Perry wants his CCPN colleagues to know that he’s available to help them formulate plans for successful projects and programs. He’s a point person, in other words.
“The big categories people will think about are the Endowed Chairs and the multidisciplinary clinics. But there could be other things. People could be hoping to apply for a grant outside of the Endowed Chair and just want some input on what they're writing, what they're proposing, the design. I'm available to help with those kinds of things as well.”
This is an exciting time for research at Cook Children's, he pointed out. Awareness is growing about the innovative leading-edge work our staff undertakes. And more emphasis is being placed on creating an intentional research strategy for the organization, Dr. Perry said.
“There's a lot of untapped talent in our faculty. They just need some support and resources to reach their full potential and to get their ideas off the ground. That's what I'm here for.”
If you're searching for an opportunity to work with leading physicians like Dr. Perry, take a look at our openings here: Careers at Cook Children's
