Program Description
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 independent clinical investigators.
Program Sponsors
Eli Lilly and Company is the founding sponsor of the Clinical Investigator Award and continues to generously support the program in addition to Siemens Medical Solutions, Novartis and Genentech.
In light of the Foundation's partnership with Siemens Medical Solutions, in addition to candidates working in translational clinical oncology, the Foundation is interested in candidates whose research relates to or uses imaging technologies and molecular imaging in cancer.
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 meet each patient in their research studies.
Eligibility
1) The applicant must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident.
2) Each applicant must be nominated by their institution.
Applications will only be accepted from institutions that have been invited to submit them by the Foundation. Only two (2) nominations per institution, including its affiliated schools, will be accepted.
3) The applicant must have received an MD or MD/PhD degree(s) from an accredited institution and be board-eligible. 4)The applicant may apply during the final year of their subspecialty training or within the first four years of their initial assistant professorship appointment. 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.
5) The applicant must commit to spending 80% of their time conducting research.
6)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.
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.
Funding
The Award will be for a period of three years. Funding in the amounts presented in the table below will be allocated to the awardee's institution for the specific support of the Clinical Investigator. No part of this award can be used for indirect costs or institutional overhead.
Year Awardee Stipend Research Allowance
1 $100,000 $50,000
2 $100,000 $50,000
3 $100,000 $50,000
A portion of the stipend may be applied to research costs upon request.
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.
Examples of awards that cannot be held concurrently with the Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award include (but are not limited to):
American Cancer Society - Mentored Research Scholar Grant in Applied and Clinical Research
ASCO - Career Development Award
Burroughs Wellcome Fund - Clinical Scientist Award in Translational Research
- Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS)
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation - Clinical Scientist Development Award
Howard Hughes Medical Institute - Physician-Scientist Early Career Award
Kimmel Foundation - Kimmel Translational Science Award
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society - Career Development Program
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.
Selection and Review
Selection: 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 an independent 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.
All application materials should be submitted to the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation for arrival at our offices on or before the March 2 deadline.
Award Programs
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
One Exchange Plaza
55 Broadway, Suite 302
New York, NY 10006
(212)-455-0520
