DoD Kidney Cancer, Physician Research Award

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The Physician Research Award supports a mentored research experience to prepare physician scientists for productive careers in kidney cancer research. The mentored physician is considered the Principal Investigator (PI) of the application. This award emphasizes equally the quality of the proposed research project and the career development of the PI, which should prepare physicians for careers in basic, population science, translational, or clinical kidney cancer research. All applications for the Physician Research Award are to be written by the PI, with appropriate direction from the Mentor(s). Key elements of this award mechanism are as follows: Principal Investigator: Physicians with clinical duties and/or responsibilities who, at the application submission deadline, are within 3 years of having initiated an appointment as an Instructor, Assistant Professor, or equivalent, are eligible to apply. The PI must demonstrate a commitment to a career as an investigator in kidney cancer research and clinical practice; however, the PI is not required to have previous kidney cancer research experience. The award is intended to ensure protection of at least 25% of the PI’s time for kidney cancer research. Mentor(s): This award requires the involvement of at least one Mentor with an established research program in kidney cancer, evidenced by recent publications, active funding, and successful mentorship. In addition, the Mentor(s) must demonstrate a commitment to advancing the PI’s career in kidney cancer research. Research Approach: The proposed research should address a critical area of kidney cancer research and/or patient care research. The scientific rationale and experimental methodology should demonstrate in-depth analysis of the research problem presented. The feasibility of the research design and methods should be well defined, and a clear plan should be articulated as to how the proposed goals of the project can be achieved. The inclusion of preliminary data is not required. Any preliminary data provided should be from the PI, Mentor(s), or member(s) of the collaborating team. Career Development Plan: An individualized career development plan is required and should be prepared with appropriate guidance from the Mentor(s). The career development plan should include a clearly articulated strategy for acquiring the necessary skills, competence, and expertise that will enable the PI to successfully complete the proposed research project and foster the PI’s development as an independent kidney cancer researcher. An environment appropriate to the proposed mentoring and research project must be clearly described, although any deficiencies of resources and/or mentorship at the PI’s institution can be mitigated through collaboration(s) with other institutions. If the PI will be utilizing resources at another institution to successfully complete the proposed project, then the PI is strongly encouraged to designate a co-Mentor at the collaborating institution. Impact: Proposed research ideas should address a central critical issue or question in kidney cancer research or clinical care. High-impact research will, if successful, significantly advance current methods and concepts in kidney cancer. Investigators are strongly encouraged to incorporate the following components into their study design, where appropriate, in order to maximize the potential impact of the proposed research project: authentication of proposed cell lines; statistical rigor of preclinical animal experiments; incorporation of experiments to assess clinical relevance and translatability of findings. Studies utilizing data derived from large cohort patient studies that include long-term health records, biospecimen repositories, and pre-existing research, and that apply state-of-the-art genomic and/or proteomic analysis, bioinformatics, and/or mathematical models to such data are encouraged. The proposed research must be relevant to active duty Service members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the American public. The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY18 KCRP Physician Research Award will not exceed $200,000 . Refer to Section II.D.5, Funding Restrictions , for detailed funding information.

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