Stemmler Grants: Celebrating Three Decades of Achievement

For 30 years, the Edward J. Stemmler MD Medical Education Research Grants have supported groundbreaking work in medical education assessment. The program has awarded 105 grants totaling $10.7 million to projects that have helped advance how we evaluate and educate physicians. By supporting innovative technologies and approaches, the Stemmler Grants Program reinforces NBME’s mission of advancing assessment of health care professionals to support optimal care for all. 

To date, nearly 75 institutions have received support through this initiative, with more than 110 researchers having taken part in Stemmler grant projects. Annually, as many as three new research teams are selected to receive grants of up to $150,000, facilitating advancements and innovation within the field.

In 2025, the Stemmler Grants Program supported two researchers with projects that have the potential to advance medical education assessment practices.

The first is Brenessa Lindeman, MD, MEHP, an associate professor from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her project, titled “Utility of Entrustable Professional Activities to Support Clinical Competency Committee Decision-Making,” seeks to understand how Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are used to inform summative entrustment decisions regarding general surgery trainees’ readiness for independent practice within residency programs.

The second grantee is Cristina M. Gonzalez, MD, MEd, a professor of Medicine and Population Health from New York University Grossman School of Medicine. Her project, titled “Novel Assessment Tool for Physician Communication Skills Related to Racial Implicit Bias: AI ‘Coach’ in the Exam Room,” aims to develop and validate an AI-powered assessment tool that provides real-time feedback to physicians on communication skills, with a focus on addressing racial implicit bias in clinical encounters.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary, NBME will host a quarterly Stemmler Speakers Series starting in early 2026. The series will feature grantees from different decades of the program discussing their grant projects and the impact that Stemmler had on their career. More information, including how to sign up to attend, will be released soon. 

Learn more about the 2025 Stemmler grantees and other past grantees projects on NBME’s Stemmler Grants website page.