Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following criteria to qualify for a CDA:

• Be a physician (MD, DO or international equivalent) working in any country.
• Be 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. Application must be submitted before the applicant has had four full years as faculty. Faculty appointment 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 at the time of application.
• Have completed productive postdoctoral research and demonstrated the ability to undertake independent investigator-initiated clinical research.
• Be an ASCO member or have submitted a membership application with the grant application. To apply for new membership, or to renew an existing membership, go to asco.org/membership.
• Be able to commit at least 50% of full-time effort in research (applies to total research, not just the proposed project) during the award period.
• Have a mentor from the sponsoring institution who must provide a letter of support. 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. Eligible applicants are allowed to hold only one active grant from Conquer Cancer at a time.
• Applicants with concurrent federal career development awards (e.g., K23, K08, or any other type of career development award) and institutional training grants (T32, KL2/K12 or equivalent) are eligible to apply provided there are no scientific and budgetary overlaps.
• Applicants may not concurrently hold other career development awards from private foundations during the CDA-supported project term. Examples include but are not limited to:
  • Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation – ‘A’ Award Grant
  • American Association for Cancer Research - Career Development Award
  • American Cancer Society - Mentored Research Grant
  • Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation - Clinical Investigator Award
  • Doris Duke Charitable Foundation - Clinical Scientist Development Award
  • Komen Career Catalyst Award
  • Lymphoma Research Foundation -  Clinical Investigator Career Development Award
  • Leukemia and Lymphoma Society - Career Development Program, Scholar Awards and Scholar in Clinical Research Awards
  • Melanoma Research Alliance - Young Investigator Awards
  • St. Baldrick’s Foundation – St. Baldrick’s Scholar
• Past recipients of training fellowships (e.g., Young Investigator Award or an F32 grant) are eligible to apply.

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.

Funding Available

Areas with Dedicated Funding (as of April 11, 2024)

Application Instructions

All application materials must be in English and must be submitted through the Application Portal. Paper applications or applications sent by e-mail or fax will not be accepted.