The initiative marks the third year of the grant program, which focuses on the intersection of continuing certification and clinical outcomes. According to ABMS REF Director Martin Pusic, the goal is to generate actionable insights that will refine the structures and processes governing specialty certification. The selected projects span a diverse range of medical education and data-driven assessment strategies.

Stanford University’s Holly Caretta-Weyer will examine resident competency development in emergency medicine, while Daniel Donoho of Children’s National Hospital aims to bridge the data gap between graduate training and early clinical practice. Northwestern University’s Brian Garibaldi is set to develop low-touch clinical assessments using electronic health records, and Martin Wegman of the American College of Emergency Physicians will analyze AI clinical queries to compare them against existing assessment blueprints. These projects officially commenced on August 31, 2026, and will run through August 2028.