early career

Request Ticket // Limit: 4* (see below) // Tickets Available: 3

Cancer Data Science // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Cancer Control Science // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 0
S. Yeo (Public Health - Competitive Resubmission) 

Molecular Precision/Cancer Prevention // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

Other Cancer Research // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Number of Applications
Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct, and each is from a different candidate.

Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 0

M.M. Kaelberer (Physiology)

Program Overview
The Searle Scholars Program supports research of outstanding individuals who have recently begun their appointment at the assistant professor level, and whose appointment is their first tenure-track position at a participating academic or research institution. Today, 168 institutions are invited to participate in the Program.

The Program was established at The Chicago Community Trust in 1980 and has been administered by Kinship Foundation since 1996. The Program is funded from the estates of Mr. and Mrs. John G. Searle. Mr. Searle was the grandson of the founder of the world-wide pharmaceutical company, G.D. Searle & Company. It was Mr. Searle's wish that certain funds be used to support "...research in medicine, chemistry, and the biological sciences."

Each year 15 new individuals are named Searle Scholars. Awards are currently set at $100,000 per year for three years. Since its inception, 617 Scholars have been named and over $174 million has been awarded.

Eligibility
The Searle Scholars Scientific Advisory Board is primarily interested in the potential of applicants to make innovative and high-impact contributions to research over an extended period of time.

Applicants for the 2026 competition (awards which will be activated on July 1, 2026) are expected to be pursuing independent research careers in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and related areas in chemistry, medicine, and the biological sciences.

Applicants should have begun their appointment as an independent investigator at the assistant professor level on or after May 1, 2024. The appointment must be their first tenure-track position (or its nearest equivalent).

Institutions which do not have tenure-track appointments should consult with the Scientific Director of the Program regarding eligibility of selected applicants PRIOR to nominating such individuals.

The Searle Scholars Program does not ordinarily support purely clinical research but has supported research programs that include both clinical and basic components. Potential applicants who are unsure if their research is appropriate for our Program are encouraged to examine the research interests of present and former Searle Scholars on this website.

Applicants who were nominated for awards in the previous competition year but were not awarded may still meet the eligibility criteria for the current competition. Institutions should consult with the Scientific Director of the Program regarding renomination of such individuals.

Limit: 3* // Tickets Available: 2

The University of Arizona may submit a total of three nominations:

• One from the College of Medicine - Tucson // Tickets Available: 0
  Y. Shirai (Family and Community Medicine)
• One from the College of Medicine - Phoenix // Tickets Available: 1
• One from the College of Nursing // Tickets Available: 1

Eligibility:

1. Be a benefits-eligible faculty member in a United States accredited nursing school, allopathic medical school, or osteopathic medical school. Candidates should have approximately three to eight years of faculty experience at the time of application.
2. Be a doctorally prepared faculty member in good standing at the sponsoring school.
3. Be nominated by the dean of the nursing or medical school. There can be only one nominee per nursing or medical school, and a nursing or medical school with a first-year Macy Faculty Scholar is precluded from nominating a candidate.
4. Have an educational scholarship project with the appropriate institutional support.
5. Have a faculty mentor who will advise the candidate on the candidate's educational project and career development.
6. Have an institutional commitment for the protection of 50% of the candidate’s time.
7. Be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States or its territories.

Program Overview

The Macy Faculty Scholars Program, now in its second decade, aims to identify and nurture promising early-career educators in medicine and nursing. The program will help develop the next generation of national leaders in medical and nursing education by identifying outstanding educators, physicians, nurses, and role models—individuals who represent the breadth of diversity seen in learners, patient populations, and health care settings around the country. By providing the Scholars with resources—especially protected time, mentorship, and a professional network of colleagues—the program aims to accelerate Scholars’ careers, to turn their teaching practice into scholarship, and to help them become impactful leaders locally, nationally, and beyond.

This is a career development award. The Foundation is interested in candidates for whom the program will have the maximum impact at this point in their career and who also have the greatest possibility for future impact at their home institutions and beyond. Macy Faculty Scholars will participate in the Macy Faculty Scholars Annual Meeting and will be part of the family of Macy Faculty Scholars for the remainder of their careers.

In order to develop the careers of educators who are future leaders, the Macy Faculty Scholars Program will provide salary support for each Scholar up to $100,000 per year, which will protect 50% of the Scholar’s time over two years. The Scholar will devote this time to a mentored educational scholarly project and other appropriate career development activities.

Limit: 2* // Tickets Available: 0

Basic through Pre-clinical Research Studies // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 0
S. Soto (Public Health)

Clinical through Public Health Research // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 0
E. Lee (Engineering)

ADA will accept up to two (2) nominations per institution with one (1) nomination spanning basic through preclinical research and one (1) nomination spanning clinical through public health research.

Nominations are welcomed from all areas of diabetes and span prevention, management, and cure of all diabetes types (i.e. type 1, type 2 and gestational), diabetes-related disease states (obesity, prediabetes, and other insulin resistant states) and complications. The program intends to attract a broad range of expertise to the field of diabetes from various fields of science and technology, including medicine, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and physics.

Examples of basic through preclinical research studies (for nomination #1) include:

• Innovative mechanistic studies on fundamental or new aspects of biology
• Novel insights derived from data science using AI/Machine Learning
• Development of new technologies, devices, and/or experimental approaches
• Identification and validation of novel and unique therapeutic targets 

Examples of clinical through public health research (for nomination #2) include:

• Clinical experimental medicine studies
• Identification and validation of novel biomarkers
• Health services research
• Behavioral research
• Population epidemiology
• Health economics research
• Patient preference / Quality of Life
• Dissemination and implementation science

• Health Care system-based interventions

   

Initiator Award Eligibility

• Applicants must currently be in research training positions (i.e. post-doctoral fellowships, research fellowships) and can have no more than seven (7) years of training since their doctoral degree.
• Initiator award recipients cannot concurrently hold an NIH K99/R00 grant. All other Career Development awards are allowable (unless holding of concurrent awards is prohibited by the other granting agency).
• Candidate’s must hold a full-time appointment at their sponsoring institution. Rare exceptions to full- time positions may be granted on a case-by-case basis and must be pre-approved by ADA Research Programs staff prior to application submission.
• Applicants must hold a MD, PhD, DMD, DO, PharmD, DVM or an equivalent health- or science-related degree.
• Applicant fellowship positions must be at university-affiliated institutions or other non-profit research institutions within the United States and U.S. possessions.
• To assure continued excellence and diversity among applicants and awardees, the Association welcomes applications from all qualified individuals and strongly encourages applications from persons with diverse backgrounds, including minority groups that are underrepresented in biomedical research.
• Individuals must have permission to work within the U.S., either as U.S. citizens or permanent residents, or with appropriate work visas/permits. Institutional confirmation of permission to work within the U.S. will be required at the time of application submission

No Applicants // Limit: 4* (see below) // Tickets Available: 4

Cancer Data Science // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Cancer Control Science // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Molecular Precision/Cancer Prevention // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

Other Cancer Research // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Number of Applications
Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct, and each is from a different candidate.

Major divisions (e.g., College of Arts and Sciences, Medical School) of an institution may nominate only one applicant each year.

College of Engineering - E. Lee (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

The William T. Grant Scholars Program supports career development for promising early-career researchers. The program funds five-year research and mentoring plans that significantly expand researchers’ expertise in new disciplines, methods, and content areas.

Nomination Statement Requirements
This statement from the Dean or chairperson of the nominating division should describe why the applicant was selected; an assessment of the applicant’s plan; the applicant’s current and expected future roles in the division; the supporting resources available; the applicant’s current source and amount of salary; and the appointment, promotion, and institutional support plans for the applicant, including a guarantee that 50 percent of the applicant’s paid time will be devoted to research. (Successful examples of nominating statements can be found on the Foundation’s website.)

Focus Areas:

• Reducing Inequality
  • In this focus area, we fund research studies that aim to build, test, or increase understanding of programs, policies, or practices to reduce inequality in the academic, social, behavioral, or economic outcomes of young people ages 5–25 in the United States, along dimensions of race, ethnicity, economic standing, sexual or gender minority status, language minority status, or immigrant origins.
• Improving the Use of Research Evidence
  • In this focus area, we support research on strategies focused on improving the use of research evidence in ways that benefit young people ages 5-25 in the United States. We want to know what it takes to get research used by decision-makers and what happens when research is used. We welcome letters of inquiry for studies that pursue one of these broad aims.
    
    While an extensive body of knowledge provides a rich understanding of specific conditions that foster the use of research evidence, we lack robust, validated strategies for cultivating them. What is required to create structural and social conditions that support research use? What infrastructure is needed, and what will it look like? What supports and incentives foster research use? And, ultimately, how do youth outcomes fare when research evidence is used? This is where new research can make a difference.

Eligible Applicants 

• Applicants must be nominated by their institutions. Major divisions of an institution (e.g., College of Arts and Sciences, Medical School) may nominate only one applicant each year.  In addition to the eligibility criteria below, deans and directors of those divisions should refer to the Review Criteria to aid them in choosing their nominees. Applicants of any discipline are eligible. 

• Applicants must have received their doctorate within seven years of submitting their application. We calculate this by adding seven to the year the doctorate was conferred. In medicine, the seven-year maximum is dated from the completion of the first residency. The month in which the degree was conferred or residency completed  does not matter for this calculation. 

• Applicants must be employed in career-ladder positions. For many applicants, this means holding a tenure-track position in a university. Applicants in other types of organizations should be in positions in which there is a pathway to advancement in a research career at the organization and the organization is fiscally responsible for the applicant’s position. The award may not be used as a post-doctoral fellowship. 

• Applicants outside the United States are eligible. As with U.S. applicants, they must pursue research that has compelling policy or practice implications for youth in the United States. 

• We strive to support a diverse group of researchers in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and seniority, and we encourage research projects led by Black or African American, Indigenous, Latinx, and/or Asian or Pacific Islander American  researchers.

Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 0

M.M. Kaelberer (Physiology) 

The current grant level is $300,000; $75,000 per year for a four-year period. For the 2026 award, one nomination will be invited from each of the participating institutions listed at the bottom of this page.

Eligibility

• Candidates must meet all of the following eligibility requirements:
• Hold a doctorate in biomedical sciences, medicine, or a related field, including engineering or the physical sciences.
• As of Sept. 3, 2025, run an independent lab and hold a full-time appointment at the rank of assistant professor. (Appointments such as research assistant professor, adjunct assistant professor, assistant professor research track, visiting professor, or instructor are not eligible).
  • Current appointments such as research assistant professor, adjunct assistant professor, assistant professor research track, visiting professor, or instructor are not eligible to apply.
• Must not have been appointed as an assistant professor and run an independent lab at any institution prior to June 11, 2021, whether or not such an appointment was on a tenure track. Time spent in clinical internships, residencies, in work toward board certification, or on parental leave does not count as part of this four-year limit. Candidates who need an exception on the four-year limit should contact Pew’s program office to ensure that application reviewers are aware an exception has been given.
  • Please note that the eligibility criteria above have been temporarily expanded to account for COVID-related lab shutdowns. This extension will end after this upcoming application cycle. Beginning next year, the eligibility window for the 2027 grant will revert to the three-year period. Please direct any questions to the program office at scholarsapp@pewtrusts.org.
• May apply to the program a maximum of two times. All applicants must be nominated by their institution and must complete the 2026 online application.
• If applicants have appointments at more than one eligible nominating institution or affiliate, they may not reapply in a subsequent year from a different nominating entity.
• May not be nominated for the Pew Scholars Program and the Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research in the same year.

Based on their performance during their education and training, candidates should demonstrate outstanding promise as contributors in science relevant to human health. This program does not fund clinical trials research. Strong proposals will incorporate particularly creative and pioneering approaches to basic, translational, and applied biomedical research. Candidates whose work is based on biomedical principles but who bring in concepts and theories from more diverse fields are encouraged to apply.

Ideas with the potential to produce an unusually high impact are encouraged. Selection of the successful candidates will be based on a detailed description of the work that the applicant proposes to undertake, evaluations of the candidate’s performance, and notable past accomplishments, including honors, awards, and publications. In evaluating the candidates, the National Advisory Committee gives considerable weight to both the project proposal and the researcher, including evidence that the candidate is a successful independent investigator and has the skill set needed to carry out their high-impact proposal.

Funding from the NIH, other government sources, and project grants from nonprofit associations do not pose a conflict with the Pew scholars program. If you have questions concerning eligibility, please contact Pew Biomedical Programs (scholarsapp@pewtrusts.org) in advance of applying.

Funding Terms

An award of $75,000 per year for four years will be provided to the sponsoring institution for use by the scholar, subject to annual review of the scholar’s progress. Grant agreements will be issued in August of the award year. The awarded funds may be used at the discretion of the Pew scholar, for personnel, equipment, supplies, or travel directly related to the scholar's research and as to best advance his or her research and career.

• The amount of the award that may be used for the principal investigator’s salary is limited to $12,500 per year (including benefits) or $50,000 over the duration of the grant. There are no limits on student or postdoctoral salaries.
• Not more than 8 percent ($24,000) of the total award value may be allocated for facilities and administration (F&A) charges or indirect costs (IDCs).
• Should the funds not be immediately required, they may be accumulated and carried over through the grant period and, with written approval of the program office, the grant may receive a no-cost extension for one additional year (without additional funds).
• Subawards are allowed.

Limit:  1  // Tickets Available: 1 

Applicants may submit only one grant application per grant review.

The National Scleroderma Foundation seeks applications from promising new investigators who hold faculty or equivalent positions and who wish to pursue a career in research related to scleroderma. This grant supports promising research that is likely to lead to individual research project grants.Applications may be submitted by domestic non-profit organizations, public and private such as universities, colleges, hospitals, and laboratories. Foreign organizations and institutions are not eligible. These newinvestigator grants may not be used to support thesis or dissertation research or fellowship training. Applicants must have a doctoral degree in Medicine, Osteopathy, Veterinary Medicine or one of the sciences; and must have completed a postdoctoral fellowship by the grant award date. Applicants who have been a principal investigator on grants from the National Scleroderma Foundation or other national, private or government agencies other than fellowship grants are not eligible for this award.

Institutionally coordinated // S. Song (Biomedical Engineering)
For information, please contact: Marie Teemant, Associate for Research Development

The CCR Grants have fostered promising breast cancer researchers who are in the early stages of their faculty careers by providing support for up to three years of “protected time” for research career development under the guidance of a Mentor Committee. The Foundation is especially interested in hypothesis-driven studies that target breast cancer, in the development of strategies for earlier diagnosis, reduce risk of breast cancer, or increase the effectiveness of current therapies to lead to longer and better-quality outcomes for patients.  They may be considered basic, translational, clinical and/or population science. 

Award: Up to $150,000 per year (combined direct and indirect costs) for up to three years ($450,000).

Eligibility:

• Must have a doctoral degree, such as M.D., Ph.D., Dr.P.H., D.O., or equivalent.
• Must currently hold a full-time faculty appointment or have a formal offer letter from the Institution that confirms position and start date by the Application due date (October 9, 2024).
• Must not have held any faculty appointment, including non-tenure and tenure track appointments combined, for more than a total of 6 years by the Application due date.
• Must not simultaneously hold any other Grant awarded by Susan G. Komen.
• Must not currently be or have been a Principal Investigator on an existing NIH R01 grant or their equivalent as of the date of Award Notification (on or around April 15, 2025).
• Must conduct the proposed research and training at the Lead Mentor’s U.S. based institution.
• Must have adequate space and facilities to conduct the proposed research and must be able to devote at least 75% of full-time effort to breast cancer research and activities.

*The University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC) can nominate up to two applicants but only if at least one of the two nominees identifies as as someone from groups shown to be historically minoritized and marginalized in biomedical research from National Science Foundation data (details outlined in RFA).

For more information please contact UACC-preaward@arizona.edu

Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 2*