The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation makes grants to promote research in chemistry and the life sciences, broadly interpreted, and particularly to foster the invention of methods, instruments and materials that will open up new avenues of research in science. The Beckman Young Investigator (BYI) Program is intended to provide research support to the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of academic careers in the chemical and life sciences.

Projects should show promise for contributing to significant advances in the research fields of interest to the Foundation. They should represent innovative departures in research rather than extensions or expansions of existing programs. Proposed research that cuts across traditional boundaries of scientific disciplines is encouraged. Projects are normally funded for a period of three years and are normally in the range of $300,000 over the term of the project.

The program is open to persons with tenure-track appointments in academic and non-profit institutions that conduct fundamental research in the chemical and life sciences. An applicant should not have completed more than three full years in his or her tenure-track or other comparable independent research appointment.

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http://www.bwfund.org/programs/interfaces/index.html

These grants are intended to foster the early career development of researchers with backgrounds in the physical/computational sciences whose work addresses biological questions and who are dedicated to pursuing a career in academic research.
Candidates are expected to draw from their training in a scientific field other than biology to propose innovative approaches to answer important questions in the biological sciences. Examples of approaches include, but are not limited to, physical measurement of biological phenomena, computer simulation of complex processes in physiological systems, mathematical modeling of self-organizing behavior, building probabilistic tools for medical diagnosis, developing novel imaging tools or biosensors, applying nanotechnology to manipulate cellular systems, predicting cellular responses to topological clues and mechanical forces, and developing a new conceptual understanding of the complexity of living organisms. Proposals that include experimental validation of theoretical models are particularly encouraged.

Career Awards at the Scientific Interface provide $500,000 over five years to support up to two years of advanced postdoctoral training and the first three years of a faculty appointment. During the postdoctoral and faculty periods, grants must be made to degree-granting institutions in the U.S. or Canada on behalf of the award recipient. Award recipients are required to devote at least 80 percent of their time to research-related activities.  Most award recipients will accept a faculty position at a different institution.

http://www.bwfund.org/programs/CAMS/index.html

The Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS) program is the result of the reformulation of the Career Awards in the Biomedical Sciences (CABS). BWF has shifted the focus of the CABS program to address the on-going problem of increasing the number of physician scientists and keeping them in research. BWF believes that this bridging award, supporting the last year(s) of a mentored position in addition to supporting the beginning years of an independent position, will facilitate the transition to a career in research and buy time from service commitments.  The program provides $700,000 over five years to bridge advanced postdoctoral/fellowship training and the early years of faculty service.

Candidates must hold an M.D., D.D.S., D.V.M., Pharm.D., or equivalent clinical degree. Proposals must be in the area of basic biomedical, disease oriented, translational, or molecular, genetic, or pharmacological epidemiology research. Proposals in health services research or involving large-scale clinical trials are ineligible. BWF encourages nominations from candidates who work in reproductive science. Candidates must be a clinical fellow, resident, instructor (non-tenure track), or a postdoctoral researcher and have at least two years of research experience at the time of application. As a general guideline, candidates must not be more than 120 months past their most recent doctorate.

Burroughs Wellcome Fund Clinical Scientist Awards in Translational Research

http://www.bwfund.org/programs/translational/clinical_scientists_background.html

Clinical Scientist Awards in Translational Research program supports established independent physician-scientists who are dedicated to translational research. The award provides $750,000 over a period of five years. With appropriate justification, award recipients may use the award to support a sabbatical of up to one year at another institution or in a different department at their home institution in order to acquire new research skills.

The program’s goal is to foster the development and productivity of established independent physician-scientists who will strengthen translational research through their own studies as well as by mentoring physician-scientist trainees. BWF is interested particularly in supporting investigators who will bring novel ideas and new approaches to translational research. Proposed activities may draw on recent advances in the basic biomedical sciences—including such fields as biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, immunology, molecular biology, and pharmacology. For the purposes of BWF’s award, translational research may involve studies in these broad areas: Etiology, pathogenesis, and mechanisms of disease ; Clinical knowledge, improved diagnosis natural history of disease, and biomedical informatics;  and Disease management, molecular epidemiology, and limited small-scale clinical trials involving novel approaches or interventions that provide evidence for effectiveness of therapy.  Large-scale clinical trials, epidemiological studies, and health services research are not eligible for support.

Candidates must have an M.D. or M.D.-Ph.D. degree and hold an appointment or joint appointment in a subspecialty of clinical medicine. Candidates must be academic investigators at the assistant professor or early associate professor level (preferably no more than two years after promotion), holding a tenure-track or equivalent position, at the time of application. Individuals holding the rank of professor are ineligible.

http://www.cirm.ca.gov/grants/default.asp

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine was established in early 2005 with the passage of the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions. It called for the establishment of a new state agency to make grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities and other vital research opportunities.
From time to time, CIRM offers limited submission opportunities for various projects usually open to M.D. and/or Ph.D. applicants.  Please consult their website for upcoming funding opportunities and to review past RFA announcements. 

http://www.drcrf.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=260&srcid=230

This 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.  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.

The awardee will receive financial support for three years, as well as assistance with certain research costs such as the purchase of equipment. The award will be in the amount of $150,000 per year for three years. The Foundation will also retire up to $100,000 of any medical school debt still owed by the awardee
Clinical research is defined as patient-oriented research, epidemiologic and behavioral studies, and outcomes research and health services research.

http://www.packard.org/genericDetails.aspx?RootCatID=3&CategoryID=152

The intent of the Fellowship Program is to provide support for unusually creative
researchers early in their careers and to emphasize support for innovative individual research that involves the Fellows, their students, and junior colleagues, rather than extensions or components of large-scale, ongoing research programs. The Fellowship does not fund clinical research.  Recipients will receive individual grants of $875,000 distributed over five years.

Candidates must be faculty members in the first three years of their faculty careers. Candidates must also be eligible to serve as principal investigators engaged in research in the natural and physical sciences or engineering and must be within the first three years of their faculty careers. Disciplines that will be considered include physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, astronomy, computer science, earth science, ocean science, and all branches of engineering. 

http://www.ddcf.org/mrp-csda

The Doris Duke Clinical Scientist Development Award provides grants to junior physician-scientists to facilitate their transition to independent clinical research careers.
The Foundation generally will award three-year grants of $125,000 per year in direct costs and $10,000 per year in indirect costs to physician-scientists at the junior faculty level conducting clinical research in any disease area.

This program is specifically intended to help physician-scientists make the critical transition from training to independence as clinical investigators. Nominees must be physician-scientists conducting clinical research in a U.S. degree-granting institution and have a full-time faculty position not higher than the Assistant Professor level. Experiments that utilize animals or primary tissues derived from animals will not be supported by this program.

http://www.ddcf.org/page.asp?pageId=297

The Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award (DCSA) recognizes outstanding mid-career physician-scientists who are applying the latest scientific advances to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure of disease, and enables them to support and mentor the next generation of physician-scientists conducting clinical research.
DCSA competitions are typically held every other year.  In prior years, up to five grants of $1.5 million each were awarded to mid-career physician-scientists conducting translational clinical research in any disease area. Awards must be used over at least a five-year period.

This program is intended to support physician-scientists who are recognized leaders in their fields and who have well-established translational research programs. All nominees must be a physician-scientist with an established translational clinical research program in any disease area. Experiments that utilize animals or primary tissues derived from animals are not eligible for support through this award program.

http://www.ellisonfoundation.org/adsp.jsp?key=nsa_over

The Ellison Medical Foundation was established to support biomedical research (including basic biology, basic biomedicine and epidemiology) on aging. The objective of The Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholars Program is to support new investigators of outstanding promise in the basic biological sciences relevant to understanding lifespan development processes and age-related diseases and disabilities. The award is intended to provide significant support to new investigators needed to permit them to become established in the field of aging. The Program provides awards of up to $100,000 per year for a four year period for successful candidates. Funding for years two, three and four is contingent upon submission of an acceptable progress report.

Nominees for the New Scholars Award are expected to have great promise as potential leaders of biomedical science with relevance to aging. Each nominee's potential for scientific innovation, leadership, and relevance to aging will be evaluated.

These awards are intended for investigators who are in the first three years of their research career following their post-doctoral fellowship experience. Nominees must hold regular full time appointments (tenure or non-tenure) on the faculty of the sponsoring institution and they must not have been in such an appointment, at the sponsoring institution or other institution(s), for more than three years. Time spent in clinical internships, post-doctoral training, residencies, or in work toward board certification does not count as part of the three-year limit.

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Hellman Family Awards for Early-Career Faculty at UCSF 

This award is intended to provide support to outstanding faculty at the Assistant Professor level whose work shows originality and promise of distinction. Eligible candidates are assistant professors (ladder-rank, in-residence, clinical, and adjunct) who have their primary appointment at UCSF who have demonstrated promise and creativity in their research or other scholarly activities, but whose work needs further development to gain broader recognition, promote career advancement and attract other support. 

Awards will be made for the design and implementation of projects that may include formal research studies, innovative educational programs, novel interventions to improve clinical practice, community-based partnership programs, or similar types of scholarly activities.  There is a preference for individuals in family and community medicine. The awards will be particularly directed toward promising young faculty who are two or three years into their academic careers and whose work or career faces special challenges.  Examples of such difficulties include, but are not limited to: research that takes longer to become established because of its complexity or innovation, personal illness, or unusual family responsibilities.

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Merck Scholars Program in the Biology of Developmental Disabilities in Children

www.jmfund.org

This award focuses on investigations of the underlying causes of developmental disabilities by neurobiologists and by cognitive scientists. These four-year fellowships to three scientists at academic institutions throughout the U.S. are intended to serve as a major stimulus for gifted, young scientists to pursue careers in fields relating to the problems of children who are mentally disabled and emotionally disturbed.

Scholars are chosen from those currently working or planning to work in neurobiological and cognitive sciences relating to the biology of mental disability and developmental disabilities, including developmental studies of cognition, perception, language, reading, learning and motor performance. 

Applicants must have academic rank in a university or medical school, or equivalent standing in a research institute or medical center;  a record of research in areas relating to the Fund’s interest in the underlying causes of developmental disabilities; not more than four years of experience in an independent faculty position; and evidence of a commitment to a career in neuroscience or cognitive science. Scholars will receive $75,000 per year for a four-year period, subject to an annual review of research progress. 

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