The Stanley Fahn Junior Faculty Award acts as a bridge to ensure promising early-career scientists stay in the Parkinson’s research field, helping us solve, treat, and end the disease. In today’s funding environment, as young scientists navigate the path from mentored to independent research, they face a “valley of death” between their scientific potential and the funding they need to make it happen. This award strives to avert Parkinson’s research talent loss. In conjunction with their institution’s commitment, the award gives junior investigators the support they need to secure their independent funding source (such as an NIH R01) and stay in the PD field. Becoming a career-long independent research leader in PD is the ultimate goal.
The Parkinson’s Foundation seeks clinical, pre-clinical, or basic research proposals from promising early-career scientists that will directly impact the understanding of PD. Successful projects should include novel PD research hypotheses and be inventive in methodology or approach.
Only one award will be granted per institution each year, though special exceptions may be considered. Interested applicants from within Duke should contact fundopps@duke.edu as early as possible.
Letter of Intent Due: Oct. 31, 2024
Junior faculty possessing a PhD, MD, or equivalent are eligible to apply. Applicants must meet the National Institutes of Health (NIH) definition of a "new investigator." The Parkinson’s Foundation anticipates the typical applicant will hold an assistant professor level position. We will consider earlier stage faculty and those with more experience provided they meet the above eligibility criteria. Applicants from Parkinson’s Foundation research centers are eligible to apply. We require a letter of support from the applicant’s department chair to demonstrate the institutional commitment to the applicant.
We restrict this program to applicants, regardless of citizenship, who are residents and faculty members at institutions in the U.S. and Canada, with a current instructor or assistant professor post. As a career development initiative, the program is not open to current or prior holders of NIH R01 awards or their equivalent. Applicants must be in a tenure-track position, or if an instructor, must have the intent to begin a tenure-track position by the award start date as confirmed by a support letter from their department chair. Only one award will be granted per institution each year, though special exceptions may be considered. Awardees may not concurrently hold an award from another source with overlapping specific aims.
Applications from groups that have been historically underrepresented or excluded in the scientific workforce, including but not limited to racial and ethnic groups, sexual orientation and gender identities, individuals with mental/physical disabilities, and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, are especially encouraged.
- Each award provides $300,000 in total costs. We approve deduction of indirect costs, not exceeding 10 percent of direct costs, from the total. We permit applicant salary support up to 40 percent of total salary.
- We award funds for three years — subject to annual progress reviews. Submission of an NIH R01 or equivalent is the required award milestone. The third year of funding is also contingent upon this.