Clinical Scientist Development Award

Clinical Scientist Development Award

Purpose

The Doris Duke Clinical Scientist Development Award provides grants to junior physician-scientists to facilitate their transition to independent clinical research careers.

2013 Award Details

Note: The deadline for acceptance of pre-proposals has passed. The following information is provided for reference only.

The Clinical Scientist Development Award did not require institutional nomination in 2013. Pre-proposals were sought from junior physician scientist faculty conducting clinical research in any disease area. In keeping with the wishes expressed in Doris Duke's will, experiments that use animals or primary tissues derived from animals will not be supported by this program.

Key Dates

Application Process

This competition will employ a two-stage process. Pre-proposals will be reviewed and up to 50 applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal by December 19, 2012.

Eligibility requirements

For a full explanation of the eligibility requirements, view the Request for Applications here.

Applicants must:

• Hold an M.D. or foreign equivalent, or a D.O. degree from an accredited institution.

• Have a valid, active U.S. medical license at the time of application, but do not have to be U.S. citizens.

• Be working at a U.S. degree-granting institution that would be able to receive an award as an organization with 501(c)(3) Internal Revenue Service status.

• Have a full-time faculty position not higher than the Assistant Professor level. Have been appointed to their first full-time faculty position between January 1, 2008 and January 1, 2013.

• Propose a clinical research project, as defined by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, in any disease area. View definition here.

• Not be the principal investigator of a multi-year grant with annual direct funding in the amount of $225,000 or higher with start date prior to and inclusive of July 1, 2013.

• Not be the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health R01 research grant or equivalent that has a start date prior to and inclusive of July 1, 2013. 
  Note: Applicants with NIH K99/R00 grants are eligible to apply if they meet all other eligibility criteria (added 10/9/12).

• Be guaranteed a minimum overall research time protection of 75% of full-time professional effort by the institution where the applicant has an appointment. There is no explicit minimum percent effort that must be dedicated to the CSDA project.

Questions?

Visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.

If your question is not answered after reviewing the FAQ’s, email ddcf@aibs.org with “2013 CSDA” as the subject line.

Due to the large volume of inquiries about this program, please do not call. 
Inquiries will be answered within two business days.

Rationale & History

The transition to an independent research career is often more difficult for physician-scientists conducting clinical research than it is for other researchers, as these individuals must balance both the demands of seeing patients with those of conducting research. The Medical Research Program created the Clinical Scientist Development Award to provide mentored research funding to early career physician-scientist faculty to enable their transition to independence.

In 2012 the Medical Research Program awarded 16 grants to investigators researching a variety of topics, including the effects of sugar on the brain’s reward pathways; the genetic mutations responsible for Cornelia de Lange syndrome, a rare disease that results in cognitive delays and growth retardation in children and; how sleep duration affects weight gain in low-income women after giving birth.

Since the beginning of the program in 1998, the foundation has awarded 202 Clinical Scientist Development Awards totaling approximately $90 million.