Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

Innovation in Clinical Research Award

Purpose

The Doris Duke Innovation in Clinical Research Award provides seed funding for early-stage, multi-disciplinary research projects in clinical investigation. Approximately 10% of the DDCF Medical Research Program grant funds have supported innovative, higher risk research as part of the program’s strategy to push the frontiers of clinical research in targeted disease areas.

Rationale & Program History

Scientific progress is often characterized by steady incremental advances or even plateaus, interrupted by innovative breakthroughs in technology or thought that rapidly move a field to a new plane of inquiry. Some of these breakthroughs occur when investigators from one field bring their expertise to bear on research questions in another field. The Medical Research Program created the Innovation in Clinical Research Award to provide seed funding to catalyze such breakthroughs and collaborations in targeted disease areas.

Since 2000, 44 awards totaling $10 million have supported innovative clinical research in cardiovascular disease, stroke, blood disorders, sickle cell disease, and the development of point-of-care diagnostics and therapeutic monitoring of AIDS in resource-poor countries.

New grants are not being offered at this time.
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Award Details

In 2009, the Innovation in Clinical Research Award provided $486,000 over three years, including 8% in indirect costs, to support direct research expenses and salaries.

Eligibility

• Applicants must hold an advanced degree (MD, PhD, MD/PhD, or the equivalent) and a faculty level appointment (Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor). Junior investigators must identify a mentor.
• Applicants do not have to be U.S. citizens.
• Projects must fit within DDCF’s definition of clinical research.
• Up to two Co-Principal Investigators are allowed.
• Institutions accepting and administering any DDCF award must be exempt from federal income taxation as an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code") and must not be a private foundation or a Type III supporting organization as defined in Section 509(a) of the Code.

Process

In 2009, the Innovation in Clinical Research Award competition was structured in three phases:

1. DDCF issued a request for non-binding Letters of Intent, which were used for planning purposes to assess the expected number of applications and breadth of topics.
2. Teams submitted a complete research proposal. Proposals were only accepted from teams that had previously submitted a Letter of Intent.
3. An advisory panel reviewed the proposals and recommended teams for funding based on the following selection criteria:
• Originality and inventiveness of the concept and approach
• Relevance of the question posed to the field of sickle cell disease
• Potential for clinical application
• Evidence of the investigator(s)’ potential to drive innovation in sickle cell disease clinical research

Read the 2009 Request for Applications for complete details (provided for reference only).