Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS)

Funding Agency:
Burroughs Wellcome Fund

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund is committed to fostering the development of the next generation of biomedical scientists and is committed to supporting degree-granting institutions to achieve this goal. The career development of young scientists has been a major funding theme at BWF and various programs have provided major support to promising young scientists to help them make the transition from late postdoctoral training to early faculty service. 

The Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS) was introduced in 2007 to specifically address the declining participation of physicians engaged in academic biomedical research. The CAMS award provides support to facilitate the transition from mentored position to independence for the early career physician scientist. The program is ideal for the physician scientist considering an academic career.

CAMS is a highly competitive program that provides $700,000 in support over five years for physician scientists (M.D., D.O., D.V.M., D.D.S.), who are committed to an academic career, to bridge postdoctoral/fellowship training and the early years of faculty service.

Proposals must be in the area of basic biomedical, disease-oriented, or translational research. Proposals in health services research or involving large-scale clinical trials are not eligible. BWF anticipates making up to 14 awards including up to two awards to clinically trained psychiatrists who focus their research at the interface between psychiatry and neuroscience

Deadline: Oct. 17, 2023

 

Agency Website

Eligibility Requirements

Competitive candidates for the CAMS award will have at least two years of research experience, be two years away from becoming an independent investigator, be a first author on at least one publication in a high impact top-tier journal, and have a significant publication record.

Applications must be approved and signed by an official responsible for sponsored programs (generally from the grants office, office of research, or office of sponsored programs) at the degree-granting institution. Candidates should contact one of these offices for an authorized signature before submitting the grant application. The following eligibility requirements must be adhered to and will be strictly enforced.

  • Candidates must hold an M.D., D.D.S., D.V.M., or D.O. degree.
  • Candidates must not be more than 13 years past their clinical doctorate degree. To meet this requirement, applicants must have received their clinical doctorate degree on or after January 1, 2005.
  • Candidates may hold a junior faculty appointment (Lecturer, Instructor, Assistant Professor-non-tenure track, etc.). However, candidates with tenure track appointments are not eligible.
  • Candidates that have non-tenure track faculty appointments with institutional start-up funds or hold an NIH R01 are not eligible.
  • Candidates must submit proposals through accredited, degree-granting institutions in the U.S. or Canada. Candidates must obtain approval and signature by an authorized official at the degree-granting university in the U.S. or Canada.
  • An authorized official at the degree-granting institution must verify candidate’s immigration status as part of the application.

Eligibility Note: BWF will make up to two additional awards to clinically trained psychiatrists who focus on research at the interface between neuroscience and psychiatry. These proposals must clearly demonstrate evidence of integration of neuroscience and psychiatry in project design.

Amount

$700,000

Amount Description

The Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS) program supports $700,000 awards over five years for physician-scientists to bridge advanced postdoctoral/fellowship training and the early years of faculty service.

Awards are made to institutions on behalf of the awardees.  The institutions are responsible for disbursing the funds and for maintaining adequate supporting records and receipts of expenditures. Indirect costs may not be charged against the awards.

Funding Type

Award

Duke Awardees

2014: Christina Eleanor Barkauskas, M.D.
Epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk in lung fibrosis and alveolar homeostasis

2014: Sudarshan Rajagopal, M.D., Ph.D.
Dissecting Receptor Signaling Pathways in Pulmonary Hypertension

2011: ​Karin Elisabeth Finberg, M.D., Ph.D.
Identification of Novel Genetic Regulators of Mammalian Iron Homeostasis

 

Eligibility

Medical Fellow/Resident
Post Doctoral Fellows
Women and minorities encouraged

Category

Environmental & Life Sciences
Medical
Medical - Basic Science
Medical - Clinical Science
Medical - Translational

External Deadline

October 17, 2023