Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award

This is a limited submission program for physician scientist Assistant Professors with PI eligibility (those with UTL, UML, and NTLR faculty appointments) who are within the first five years of their first full faculty appointments (cut-off date July 1, 2017). Please see eligibility requirements below – a university-wide internal selection process is required.

Internal Cancer Institute deadline: December 10, 2021
The final 5 applicants selected by the Cancer Institute will be notified to proceed with the full application: January 4, 2022
For the applicants selected to represent Stanford:
Draft letter of commitment to SCI deadline: January 11, 2022
Institutional representative (RPM/RMG or CGO/OSR) deadline: January 25, 2022
Full application deadline: February 1, 2022 via proposalCENTRAL

Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award Overview

Application Guidelines

The $600,000 award will be for a period of three years. Funding in the amount of $200,000 will be allocated to the awardee’s institution each year for the support of the Clinical Investigator. No part of this grant can be used for indirect costs or institutional overhead. The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation will retire up to $100,000 of any qualifying medical school debt still owed by the awardee.

• The applicant must apply within the first five (5) years of his/her initial full Assistant Professor faculty appointment (cut-off date: July 1, 2017). Adjunct or acting positions are not eligible. Please use the date the Provost Office approved the formal UTL, UML, NTL-Research faculty appointment.
• The applicant must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident.
• The applicant must have received an MD, DO, or MD/PhD degree(s) from an accredited institution, completed his/her subspecialty training and be U.S. board-eligible.
• The applicant must hold a valid, active U.S. medical license at the time of application.
• The applicant must commit to spending 80% of their time conducting research.
• The applicant is required to apply in conjunction with a Mentor who is established in the field of clinical translational cancer research, cancer prevention and/or epidemiology and can provide the critical guidance needed during the period of the award.  No more than two Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators will be funded to work with the same Mentor at any given time (including Co-Mentors).
• NOTE: Only ONE application will be accepted by the sponsor from a mentor (including co-mentorships) per review session. Per Dr. Steve Artandi, the Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute, a faculty mentor’s lab can only nominate ONE faculty member for the internal selection process (see the internal submission guidelines below).
• Candidates may apply up to two times during this eligibility period.
• See program guidelines for other funding restrictions.

The Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award supports independent young physician-scientists conducting disease-oriented research that demonstrates a high level of innovation and creativity. The goal is to support the best young physician-scientists doing work aimed at improving the practice of cancer medicine. The Clinical Investigator Award program is specifically intended to provide outstanding young physicians with the resources and training structure essential to becoming successful clinical investigators. 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.

By December 10, 2021, please send 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_Damon_Runyon_Clin_Inv.pdf

Institutional representative: not applicable. You do not need to submit your internal proposal to your RPM/RMG or CGO/OSR for their approval. You may submit your proposal directly to Gayle.

1) Title Page
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Clinical Investigator Award
Title of your proposal
PI contact information: (name, title, department, address, email)
Date that the Provost Office approved the PI’s formal UTL, UML, NTL-Research faculty appointment

2) Nomination letter prepared by your mentor printed on your department letterhead addressed to the Stanford Cancer Institute Internal Review Committee. The letter needs to be signed by your mentor, division chief, and your department chair. The nomination letter must confirm that the nominee will commit a minimum of 80% of their professional effort to the conduct of research and research career development.

3) 4 page Research Proposal (figures & references not included in page total)
Font size at least size 11 with half-inch margins (include specific aims, preliminary results, and research design)

4) NIH-format biosketch

5) Other funding
Please include current and pending funding, sponsor, amount of funding, and term.

Selection Process:
Proposals will be reviewed by a Stanford Cancer Institute review committee. That committee will select the 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. You may submit it directly to Gayle White.  For inquiries regarding the internal selection process, please contact:

Gayle White
Stanford Cancer Institute
gwhite5@stanford.edu