Innovation Award

Innovation Award
Sponsor Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
URL http://www.damonrunyon.org/for_scientists/more/innovation_award_overview

Deadline Jun 1, 2012 (pre-proposal)

Amount $450,000 over three years

Eligibility Applicants must belong to one of the following categories:
· Tenure-track Assistant Professors within the first three years of obtaining their initial Assistant Professor position. (Cut-off date: June 1, 2009.)
· Clinical Instructors and Senior Clinical Fellows (in the final year of their sub-specialty training) holding an MD who are pursuing a period of independent research before taking a tenure-track faculty position. Such individuals must have an exceptional record of research accomplishment, dedicated laboratory space and the support of their institution.
· Distinguished Fellows with an exceptional record of research accomplishment identified by their institution to pursue an independent research program and who have dedicated laboratory space. These candidates are markedly distinct from traditional postdoctoral fellows. Examples: Whitehead Fellows, UCSF Fellows, Cold Spring Harbor Fellows.
Research Assistant Professors, Research Associate Professors, Research Scientists and Postdoctoral Fellows are not eligible. Applicants are expected to commit a minimum of 80% of their time to conducting research.

Basic and translational/clinical projects will be considered. Applications will be accepted from all scientific disciplines provided that the proposed research meets the selection criteria. Applicants with a background in multiple disciplines are especially encouraged to apply. Joint submission from collaborators working in different disciplines will be considered.

The Innovation Award provides funding to extraordinary early career researchers who have an innovative new idea but lack sufficient preliminary data to obtain traditional funding. It is not designed to fund incremental advances. The research supported by the award must be novel, exceptionally creative and, if successful, have the strong potential for high impact in the cancer field. Awards are made to institutions for support of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Investigators.