The Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program
For more information, and how to apply, from the National Institutes of Health.
The Lasker Foundation and the National Institutes of Health have joined together in an innovative partnership to nurture the next generation of clinical researchers. The Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program is an NIH-funded initiative providing up to 11 years of support for medical doctors to bridge the widening gap between cutting-edge research and improved patient care.
Under the program, NIH Institutes will specify clinical research topics that merit support and accept applications each year from early-career investigators in those areas. Applications will be reviewed for scientific merit by a peer review group of scientists, convened by the NIH Center for Scientific Review, and make recommendations to the NIH scientific and clinical directors who will annually select outstanding scholars for placement on the NIH tenure-track. The NIH expects to appoint at least three Lasker Scholars in the first year of the program, and to ultimately reach a steady-state of 20-30 active awardees.
The Lasker Foundation will assist with providing mentors for the scholars, fund travel costs for NIH lecturers and the attendance by scholars at the Lasker Awards program. The Foundation will also support annual meetings for presentations and discussions on topics related to the program.
Scholars' work will receive regular evaluation at NIH. After five to seven years, each scholar will be reviewed again by a group of distinguished clinical investigators. By mutual agreement between the NIH and the candidate, a decision will be made as to whether the scholar will stay on as a tenured senior investigator at the NIH, or whether the candidate will be eligible for outside research grant support worth $500,000 a year plus overhead for four years.