Cancer Research Fund of the Damon Runyon - Walter Winchell Foundation

The Damon Runyon Fellowship Award provides $231,000 of funding paid over 4 years to approximately 36 postdoctoral scientists annually that are completing their training and expanding their scientific expertise under the mentorship of a recognized scientific leader. To encourage physician-scientists to pursue a career in cancer research, awardees may also apply for assistance with medical school loan repayment of up to $100,000 on qualifying loans. At the end of their fellowships, the most exceptional fellows in this award program will be eligible to receive the Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists, which includes an additional $100,000 of support to further catalyze their research and careers.

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation joined together with the Sohn Conference Foundation, dedicated to curing pediatric cancers, to establish the Damon Runyon-Sohn Pediatric Cancer Fellowship Award. This four-year award provides $231,000 of funding to 3-5 scientists and clinicians annually, who conduct research with the potential to significantly impact the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of one or more pediatric cancers. Awardees may also apply for assistance with medical school loan repayment of up to $100,000 on qualifying loans. At the end of their fellowships, the most exceptional fellows in this award program will be eligible to receive the Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists, which includes an additional $100,000 of support to further catalyze their research and careers.

At the end of the Damon Runyon and Damon Runyon-Sohn Fellowship, there are often a select few who have greatly exceeded the Foundation’s highest expectations. These spectacular young scientists are the most likely to make paradigm-shifting breakthroughs that transform the way we prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. To catapult their research careers—and their impact on cancer—the Foundation makes an additional $100,000 investment over a two-year period in these exceptional individuals by selecting them as recipients of the Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists (5-6 awardees annually).

In doing so, the Foundation will: (a) Provide additional financial support to enable these scientists to continue the pursuit of bold and innovative ideas, (b) Accelerate the path to independence, and (c) Encourage a continued career in cancer research.

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 research aimed at improving the practice of cancer medicine.

The Clinical Investigator Award responds to three recognized realities: 1) Though there has never been a more pressing need or more promising time for clinical cancer research, fewer young physicians enter this area of investigation every year. 2) The number of institutions committed to training young physicians in the scientific discipline and methodologies of clinical investigation is critically low. 3) The burden of medical school debt (averaging nearly $200,000) discourages many physicians from pursuing clinical investigation.

The Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award offers solutions to these realities. 5-7 awardees will receive research support of $600,000 paid over three years, after which time they may be eligible to receive the Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award Continuation Grant to provide two additional years of support to complete a promising avenue of research or initiate/continue a clinical trial. In addition, awardees may also apply for assistance with medical school loan repayment of up to $100,000 on qualifying loans.

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.

The Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award supports the next generation of exceptionally creative thinkers with “high-risk, high-reward” ideas that have the potential to significantly impact our understanding of and/or approaches to the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of cancer but lack sufficient preliminary data to obtain traditional funding. The Innovation Award is specifically designed to provide funding to early career independent researchers who have an innovative new idea. 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. The Stage 1 award will be for two years, $200,000 per year ($400,000 total) to 4-6 awardees annually. Stage 2 support for years three and four (an additional $400,000) will be granted to those awardees who demonstrate progress on their proposed research during years one and two of the award.

The Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award supports and encourages outstanding physicians to pursue cancer research careers by providing them with the opportunity for a protected research training experience under the mentorship of a highly qualified and gifted mentor. The four-year Physician-Scientist Training Award will provide $460,000 of funding to 3-5 physicians annually. Awardees may also apply for assistance with medical school loan repayment of up to $100,000 on qualifying loans.

The Damon Runyon Quantitative Biology Fellowship Award program is designed to encourage quantitative scientists (trained in fields such as mathematics, computer science, physics, engineering, or related) to pursue research careers in computational biology under the joint mentorship of leaders in both computational science (“dry lab”) and cancer biology (“wet lab”)*. By investing in this area, Damon Runyon will bring additional attention to the importance of these specially trained scientists for making meaningful progress in cancer biology.