National Institutes of Health
NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00)

Limited Submission Program - The purpose of the NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00) program is to increase and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented, NCI-supported, independent investigators. This program is designed for postdoctoral fellows with research and/or clinical doctoral degrees who do not require an extended period of mentored research training beyond their doctoral degrees. The objective of this award is to facilitate a timely transition of these fellows from their mentored, postdoctoral research positions to independent tenure-track (or equivalent) faculty positions.

Internal Cancer Institute deadline: December 1, 2021 (see the internal submission guidelines below)
Applicants to be notified by: December 17, 2021
For the applicants selected to represent Stanford:
Draft nomination letter for Dr. Steve Artandi’s review: February 1, 2022
Institutional representative (RPM/RMG) deadline: February 21, 2022
Full application: February 28, 2022

NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00 - Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) - (RFA-CA-21-060)
NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00 - Independent Clinical Trial Required) - (RFA-CA-21-061)
NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00 - Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required) - (RFA-CA-21-062)

• K99 phase - NCI will contribute up to $100,000 per year toward the salary of the career award recipient.  NCI will contribute $30,000 per year toward the research development costs of the award recipient, which must be justified and consistent with the stage of development of the candidate and the proportion of time to be spent in research or career development activities. 
• R00 phase - The total cost for the independent phase (R00) may not exceed $249,000 per year. This amount includes salary, fringe benefits, research costs, and applicable indirect costs. Indirect costs will be reimbursed at the extramural sponsoring institution’s indirect cost rate.

• K99/R00 candidates must have no more than 2 years of postdoctoral research experience as of the relevant application due date. Individuals must be in mentored, postdoctoral training positions to be eligible to apply to the K99/R00 program. 
• Consistent with the NIH Extension Policy for Early Stage Investigator Status (ESI), NIH will approve an extension of one year for childbirth within the 2 year K99 eligibility window..  
  • In addition, parental, medical, military, or other well-justified leave for personal or family situations of generally less than 12 months duration is typically not included in the 2-year eligibility limit, nor is clinical training with no research involvement (e.g., full-time residency training). Only time dedicated to research activities counts toward the 2-year limit.  Part-time postdoctoral research training, related to personal or family situations or occurring during a research residency or fellowship, will be pro-rated accordingly. In addition, time spent conducting postgraduate clinical training that does not involve research is not considered as part of the 2-year research training eligibility limit.
• There is no citizenship requirement for the K99 program. A candidate may be a citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States, have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., possess a currently valid Permanent Resident Card USCIS Form I-551, or other legal verification of such status), or be a non-U.S. citizen.
• For applications submitted on behalf of non-U.S. citizens with temporary U.S. visas, visa status during each phase of the K99/R00 award must allow the PD/PI to conduct the proposed research at the applicant institution. For the K99 phase of the award, the applicant institution is responsible for determining and documenting, in the K99 application, that the candidate’s visa will allow him or her to remain in the U.S. long enough to complete the K99 phase of the award. For the R00 phase of the award, the U.S institution at which the R00 phase of the award will be conducted is responsible for determining and documenting, in the R00 application, that the PD/PI’s visa will allow the PD/PI to remain in the U.S. for the duration of the R00 award.
• Candidates for the K99/R00 award must have a clinical or research doctorate (including PhD, MD, DO, DC, ND, DDS, DMD, DVM, ScD, DNS, PharmD or equivalent doctoral degrees). Clinicians (including those with MD, DDS, DVM and other licensed health professionals) in a clinical faculty position that denotes independence in clinical responsibilities but not in research may also be eligible for the K99/R00 award..
• See program guidelines for additional requirements.

The objective of the NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00) is to help outstanding postdoctoral researchers complete needed, mentored career development and transition in a timely manner to independent tenure-track (or equivalent) faculty positions. The K99/R00 award is intended to foster the development of a creative, independent research program that will be competitive for subsequent independent funding and that will help advance the mission of the NCI.

Each Stanford application must represent a different Scientific Area:

• Data Science: For the purposes of this K99/R00 award, data science is defined as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry in which quantitative and analytical approaches, processes, and systems are both developed and used to extract knowledge and insights from increasingly large and/or complex sets of data. This includes cancer-focused data integration and visualization, systems biology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, informatics, genomics, precision oncology, and developing analytics for epidemiological or biostatistical studies.  
• Cancer Control Science: For the purposes of this K99/R00 award, cancer control science is defined as basic and applied research in the behavioral, social, and population sciences to create or enhance interventions that, independently or in combination with biomedical approaches reduce cancer risk, incidence, morbidity, and mortality, and improve quality of life. This includes research in epidemiology, behavioral sciences, health services, surveillance, cancer survivorship, and healthcare policy.
• Other Sciences: For the purposes of this K99/R00 award, "Other Sciences" includes all scientific fields supported by the NCI that are not included in (A) or (B). Applicants proposing research in (C) "Other Sciences" may apply only if it is reasonable to expect them to transition to independence with an abbreviated period of mentored research training beyond their original doctoral degrees.

By December 1, 2021,  please submit one PDF file containing the following, in the order listed below, via email attachment to:

Gayle White
Stanford Cancer Institute
gwhite5@stanford.edu

File name: Last name_NCI_K99_R00.pdf

Institutional representative: not applicable. You do not need to submit your internal proposal through your institutional official for approval. You may submit your internal proposal directly to Gayle White. 

1) Title Page
NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00)
Indicate program: RFA-CA-21-060, RFA-CA-21-061, or RFA-CA-21-062
Indicate Scientific Area: Data Science, Cancer Control Science, Other Sciences
Title of proposal
PI contact information: (name, title, department, address, email)

2) Nomination letter
Format: printed of department letterhead, addressed to the Stanford Cancer Institute Internal Review Committee, and signed by the division chief/department chair.

The letter should confirm that the candidate meets all eligibility requirements and will commit a minimum of nine person months of effort (i.e., 75% of full-time professional effort) to their program of career development during the mentored phase.

3) 2 page research proposal
Format: Arial 11 font, single-spaced, 1 inch margins
References and figures are not included in the page limit

4) PI NIH format biosketch

5) Other support (current and pending) 
Include sponsor, term, and amount of funding

Selection Process:
Proposals will be reviewed by a Stanford Cancer Institute review committee. That committee will select the 3 applicants to represent Stanford.

Institutional representative: not applicable. You do not need to send your internal proposal to your RPM/RMG or your CGO/OSR for institutional review and approval. For inquiries regarding the internal selection process, please contact:

Gayle White
Stanford Cancer Institute
gwhite5@stanford.edu