Applications due May 22
These instructions are for VU investigators. VUMC investigators should visit the OOR funding opportunity site.
Vanderbilt University may submit one nomination to the American Diabetes Association for the Pathway to Stop Diabetes Awards. The single institutional nomination may be for only one of two award types: the Initiator Award for researchers in postdoctoral training, or the Accelerator Award for early-career diabetes investigators.
The Pathway to Stop Diabetes Program intends to attract brilliant scientists at the peak of their creativity to diabetes research, and to accelerate their research progress by providing the necessary resources and support for conducting transformative science.
This call for nominations is prioritizing exceptional investigators that aim to advance existing knowledge and discovery gained from the basic sciences to its eventual translation into patient and population benefit. The ideal applicant will propose innovative translational research that will be an important step toward the eventual goal of improving the lives of people at risk of diabetes or living with the disease—and the pathway to this impact is clear.
The Pathway program seeks to bring new investigators and new perspectives to diabetes research. Supporting scientists with different backgrounds and experiences is critical to achieving that objective. Pathway accepts nominations for exceptional investigators with medical and scientific backgrounds who propose innovative basic, clinical, translational, behavioral, epidemiological and health services research relevant to any type of diabetes, diabetes-related disease state or complication, prioritizing translational research that will “move the needle” to improve the lives of people with diabetes.
Nominations are welcomed from all areas of diabetes translational research and span prevention, management and cure of all diabetes types (type 1, type 2 and gestational), diabetes-related disease states (obesity, prediabetes and other insulin-resistant states) and complications. The program intends to attract a broad range of expertise to the field of diabetes from various fields of science and technology, including medicine, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. In addition, nomination of scientists from diverse backgrounds, including minority groups that are underrepresented in biomedical research, is strongly encouraged.
While most nominees are anticipated to focus on advancing existing discoveries into pre-clinical and early-stage clinical research (“bench to bedside”), ADA strongly encourages innovative later-stage translational research (bedside to community) where feasible. Applications focused on a single clinical trial are out of scope.
General eligibility criteria
Only one repeat nomination of an individual applicant will be considered; the same individual may not be nominated a third time.
The Pathway Initiator Award is designed to support early career researchers who have distinguished themselves during their research training as exceptionally talented and promising research investigators with a high likelihood of establishing successful, independent research programs and making seminal contributions in diabetes research. These awards are highly competitive and intended to support particularly innovative and transformational ideas that have the potential to have an exceptional impact in diabetes with an emphasis on the investigator’s potential to significantly transform diabetes through translational research (“moving the needle”) to improve the lives of people with diabetes. These awards provide salary and research support for applicants during late stages of mentored training through establishment as independent research faculty.
Eligibility
- Must currently be in full-time research training position (postdoctoral fellow, research fellowship).
- Have no more than seven years of research training following terminal doctoral degree.
- Cannot concurrently hold an NIH K99/R00 grant. (All other career development awards are allowable unless concurrent awards prohibited by the other granting agency.)
- Must devote at least 75 percent of their total time and effort to research during the funding period (with 50-100 percent effort to the ADA project as defined below).
- At the end of Phase 1 (two years into award), the investigator needs to have obtained a faculty appointment at an accredited research institution.
Maximum funding: Up to $100,000/year in Phase 1; up to $325,000/year in Phase 2 for up to seven years. Maximum combined support for Phase 1 and Phase 2 is $1,625,000.
Support: Project support and PI salary.
Indirect support: Up to 10 percent of directs in Phase 1; up to 30 percent of directs in Phase 2.
Project percent effort required: 75-100 percent effort to the ADA project in Phase 1; 50-75 percent effort to the ADA project in Phase 2.
The Pathway Accelerator Award is intended to provide flexible, long-term salary and research support to early career researchers who are proposing innovative and ambitious diabetes-related research programs, and who have distinguished themselves as exceptionally talented and promising research investigators. These awards are intended to support particularly innovative and transformational ideas that have the potential to have an exceptional impact in diabetes with an emphasis on the investigator’s potential to significantly transform diabetes through translational research (“moving the needle”) to improve the lives of people with diabetes.
Eligibility
- Must hold full-time independent faculty position.
- Must have demonstrated independent productivity in diabetes research, including senior author publications.
- May currently hold independent NIH funding (K, U or R awards, including an initial R01/U01), but must not have applied for, or received, an R01/U01 renewal or a second R01/U01 award.
- Must devote at least 75 percent of their total time and effort to research during the funding period (with 25-50 percent effort to the ADA project).
Maximum funding: $325,000/year for up to five years, for a total of $1,625,000.
Support: Project support and PI salary.
Indirect support: Up to 30 percent of directs.
Project percent effort required: 25-50 percent effort to the ADA project.
See the program website for more details.
Internal application instructions
Interested faculty should visit https://vanderbilt.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1901604 to apply for the internal LSO competition and to find additional information about the opportunity. The deadline for the internal competition is May 22, 2023.
Any questions about these opportunities may be directed to VU-LSO@vanderbilt.edu.