Conquer Cancer: Career Development Award (CDA)

CDA Award provides research funding to clinical investigators, who have received their initial faculty appointment, as they work to establish an independent clinical cancer research program. This is a mentored award and the research project is conducted under the guidance of a scientific mentor. The research must have a patient-oriented focus, including a clinical research study and/or translational research involving human subjects. Proposals with a predominant focus on in vitro or animal studies (even if clinically relevant) are not allowed. Applications in all areas of cancer research are accepted from U.S. and international applicants.

For 2027, dedicated donor funding is available for specific areas, including but not limited to those listed below. This list will be updated as new funding is confirmed.

• CDA in Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology
• Breast cancers

Eligibility:

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

• A physician (MD, DO, or international equivalent with explanation) working in any country.
• In the first to fourth year of a full-time primary faculty appointment in a clinical department at an academic medical institution at the time of grant submission. Faculty appointments may begin with the entry-level faculty position within the applicant’s institution (i.e., Instructor/Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Assistant Member).
• Have a valid, active medical license in the country where the research will be conducted during the CDA award term.
• Have completed productive postdoctoral research and demonstrated the ability to undertake independent investigator-initiated clinical research.
• A current ASCO member or have submitted a membership application with the grant application. To apply for new membership, or to renew an existing membership, visit asco.org/membership.
• Able to commit at least 50% of their time to research (applies to total research activities overall, not just the proposed CDA project) during the award period.
• Have a mentor from the sponsoring institution. If the mentor is not an ASCO member, a supporting letter from an ASCO member from the sponsoring institution must be included.
• Be up-to-date and in compliance with all requirements (e.g., progress reports, final reports, budget summaries, IRB approvals, etc.) of any past grants received from Conquer Cancer.
• Applicants with concurrent federal career development awards (e.g., K23, K08, or any other type of career development award), career development awards from private foundations, and institutional training grants (T32, KL2/K12 or equivalent) are eligible to apply provided there are no scientific and budgetary overlaps. Note: Conquer Cancer must be informed when a CDA recipient receives other career development awards during the term of the CDA and reserves the right to determine that the CDA may not be held concurrent with other funding. Past recipients of training fellowships (e.g., Young Investigator Award or an F32 grant) are eligible to apply.
• Applicants should not have been a Principal Investigator on any large project grants (e.g., R01 or international equivalent).

Applicants who are uncertain about their eligibility are encouraged to refer to the Eligibility section in the FAQ or contact our grants team for clarification and provide their latest CV for evaluation.

NOTE: While first year faculty may be eligible for both the Young Investigator Award (YIA)  and the Career Development Award (CDA) programs, they are restricted to a single submission. Applicants must only submit one application to either the YIA or the CDA competition and may not submit to both programs simultaneously.

Funding: up to $200,000 over three years.

www.asco.org/career-development/grants-awards/funding-opportunities/career-development-award