Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award
Application deadline date for this award: February 15, 2012
The Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award supports young physician-scientists conducting patient-oriented cancer research. The goal is to increase the number of physicians capable of moving seamlessly between the laboratory and the patient’s bedside in search of breakthrough treatments.
The Clinical Investigator Award responds to three recognized realities:
Though there has never been a more pressing need or more promising time for clinical cancer research, fewer young physicians enter this area of investigation every year.
The number of institutions committed to training young physicians in the scientific discipline and methodologies of clinical investigation is critically low.
The burden of medical school debt (averaging over $100,000) discourages many physicians from pursuing clinical investigation.
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation’s award offers solutions to these realities. The awardee will receive financial support for three years, as well as assistance with certain research costs such as the purchase of equipment. The Foundation will also retire up to $100,000 of any medical school debt still owed by the awardee.
Building on the long-term success of the Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellowships, the creation of the Clinical Investigator Award is a logical extension of the Foundation’s overall mission to defeat cancer. The Clinical Investigator Award program is specifically intended to provide outstanding young physicians with the resources and training structure essential to becoming successful clinical investigators.
Definition of Clinical Research
For the purposes of this award, the Foundation’s definition of clinical research will follow the definition set out in “The NIH Director’s Panel on Clinical Research Report to The Advisory Committee to The NIH Director,” December, 1997.
a) Patient-oriented research: Research conducted with human subjects (or on material of human origin such as tissues, specimens and cognitive phenomena) for which an investigator directly interacts with human subjects. This area of research includes: patient-based studies of mechanisms of human disease, diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, clinical trials and development of new technologies for the detection, treatment and prevention of human cancers.
b) Epidemiologic and behavioral studies.
c) Outcomes research and health services research.
Excluded from this definition are in vitro studies that utilize human tissues but do not deal directly with patients. In other words, clinical or patient-oriented research is research in which it is necessary to know the identity of the patient(s) from whom the cells or tissues under study are derived.
Preference will be given to research that adheres to the “Handshake Rule,” meaning that the physician will conduct research studies that directly involve patients.
Partnership with NIH and NCI
Damon Runyon has a novel partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which uniquely opens access to the NIH Clinical Center (CC) to Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators. The goal of this partnership is to use the special talent, expertise and resources of the participants to undertake pilot studies of specific diseases and to develop collaborative partnerships that accelerate clinical and translational cancer research, and thereby improve human health.
Potential opportunities for pilot partnership:
1. Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award applicants may apply with a mentor or co-mentor from NCI or another NIH Institute. The proposal must identify the research to be done at and resources to be used at the NIH CC.
2. Current Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators may conduct a research project at the NIH CC in collaboration with an NIH tenured/tenure-track investigator. The Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator would be the PI or co-PI on the project.
3. Current Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators may request to use the special equipment or facilities at the NIH CC, which could provide opportunities for investigators that may not be possible in their home institutions. Examples are: obtaining research materials such as research PET ligands or products from the CC Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facilities, or accessing other non patient-related activities/facilities. No NIH scientist collaboration would be required.
Please contact the Foundation’s Chief Scientific Officer, Yung Lie, with any questions regarding NIH/NCI partnership opportunities (212.455.0521).
Research, Training and Development
During each year of the award, the applicant must commit a minimum of 80% of their full-time professional effort to the conduct of research and research career development.
The Mentor’s role is to foster the development of the applicant’s knowledge, technical and analytical skills, and capacity for scientific inquiry in the field of human disease-oriented clinical and translational research. The Mentor also acts as an advocate for the applicant at the departmental, institutional, and professional levels.
Selection and Review
The Clinical Investigator Award Committee (CIAC) will review applications and select awardees for approval by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation's Board of Directors. CIAC puts a premium on innovation and creativity when reviewing applications.
Selection Criteria
Excellence of the applicant and mentor.
Innovation, creativity, quality and originality of the research proposal.
The commitment of the mentor and institution to the development and training of the applicant as a skilled clinical research investigator.
Evidence of the applicant’s commitment to clinical translational and/or cancer prevention research and their ability to apply advances in laboratory research to clinical problems.
Importance of the proposed research to the field of cancer and/or cancer prevention.
Adherence of the proposal to the definition of clinical research as set out on this web page.
Adherence to the “Handshake Rule.”
Program Sponsors
Under the leadership of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, the Clinical Investigator Award is funded in part through Accelerating Cancer Cures, a collaboration of the biopharmaceutical industry, academia and young researchers formed to achieve breakthroughs against cancer by rebuilding the ranks of brilliant and committed clinical investigators who can translate science into cures. Members include: Eli Lilly and Company, Celgene, Merck, Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, Pfizer and The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).
Eligibility
The applicant must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident.
Each applicant must be nominated by his/her institution. Applications will only be accepted from institutions that have been invited to submit them by the Foundation http://www.damonrunyon.org/for_scientists/more/invited_institutions/
Three (3) nominations per institution, including its affiliated schools, will be accepted. Because of its number of affiliated hospitals, Harvard Medical School may submit up to six (6) nominations.
The applicant must have received an MD or MD/PhD degree(s) from an accredited institution and be board-eligible.
The applicant may apply within the first four (4) years of his/her initial full faculty appointment after the final year of his/her subspecialty training (Adjunct or acting positions are not eligible).
Candidates may apply up to three times during this eligibility period. Candidates holding or awarded R01s at the time of application are not eligible to apply.
The applicant must commit to spending 80% of their time conducting research.
The applicant is required to apply in conjunction with a Mentor who is established in the field of clinical translational cancer research, cancer prevention and/or epidemiology and can provide the critical guidance needed during the period of the award. No more than two Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators will be funded to work with the same Mentor at any given time.
Funding
The $450,000 award will be for a period of three years. Funding in the amount of $150,000 will be allocated to the awardee’s institution each year for the support of the Clinical Investigator. Funds are intended to be flexible and can be used for a variety of scientific needs including the Investigator’s stipend and/or fringe benefits (up to $100,000), salaries for professional and technical personnel, special equipment, supplies and other miscellaneous items required to conduct the proposed research. No part of this grant can be used for indirect costs or institutional overhead.
Other Funding
Investigators may receive funding from other sources to support their research. However, no other physician-scientist career development award from a private source (non-federal government) may be held concurrently with the Clinical Investigator Award.
Physician-scientist career development awards from the federal government including the National Institutes of Health (e.g., K-08, K-12, K-23), the Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are allowed.
Scientific or budgetary overlap with other funded projects is not allowed. Therefore, it is critical that all current and pending grant support for your research be reported to the Foundation and the relationship of that support to the Damon Runyon funded project be explained.
Examples of awards that cannot be held concurrently with the Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award include (but are not limited to):
AACR- Career Development Award
American Cancer Society- Mentored Research Scholar Grants in Applied and Clinical Research
ASCO- Career Development Award
Burroughs Wellcome Fund- Career Award for Medical Scientists
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation- Clinical Scientist Development Award
Howard Hughes Medical Institute- Physician-Scientists Early Career Award, Early Career Scientist Competition
Kimmel Foundation- Kimmel Translation Science Award, Kimmel Scholar Award
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society- Career Development Program, Scholar Awards
Please contact the Foundation with any questions regarding concurrent funding (212.455.0520).
Debt Repayment Program
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation will retire up to $100,000 of any qualifying medical school debt still owed by the awardee.
Contact Information:
Award Programs | 212.455.0520 | awards@damonrunyon.org
