Title:
The Howard Temin Award (K01) (for reissue)

Contact:

David Eckstein, Ph.D.
Cancer Training Branch/Office of Centers, Training and Resources
National Cancer Institute
6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 7019, MSC 8346
Bethesda, MD 20892-8346
Telephone: (301) 496-8580
FAX: (301) 402-4472
E-mail: eckstein@mail.nih.gov

Objective of Project:

The goal of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Howard Temin Award is to bridge the transition from a mentored research environment to an independent basic cancer research career for scientists who have demonstrated unusually high potential. This special award is aimed at fostering the research careers of outstanding junior scientists in basic research who are committed to developing research programs in understanding human biology and human disease as it relates to the etiology, pathogenesis, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human cancer. The major objective of the award is to sustain and advance the early research careers of the most promising M.D.’s and Ph.D.’s while they consolidate and focus their independent research programs and obtain their own research grant support. To achieve this objective, the Howard Temin Award offers candidates up to 5 years to gain additional skills and knowledge in human cancer research, including up to 3 years in a mentored environment followed by transition to the equivalent of a junior faculty position to develop an independent research program.

Description of Project:

The Howard Temin Award provides up to five consecutive 12-month appointments. Each award is non-renewable and non-transferable from one Principal Investigator to another. At least 75 percent of the recipient's full-time professional effort must be devoted to the career development plan/research proposed in the Temin application and the remainder must be devoted to activities related to the development of a successful research career focused on human cancer research. The recipient must receive appropriate mentoring for at least the first year of the grant and for no more than the first 3 years. The candidate may move to the unmentored (independent) research phase only on the award anniversary dates of the second, third, and fourth year of support.

The candidate must have a research or a health professional doctoral degree or its equivalent, must have completed at least 3 years of postdoctoral research at the time of award, and must have demonstrated highly productive research activity and high potential for establishing an independent research program in the period after the doctorate. The candidate's research proposal must include work on the etiology, pathogenesis, prevention, diagnosis, control or treatment of HUMAN cancer. Work developing or refining model systems will be supported only if the proposed research objectives actively test the relevance of the model to human cancer. The candidate must be able to describe a career development program that takes maximum advantage of the research and educational resources relevant to the candidate's career development. The institution must have a well-established track record of conducting research directly relevant to human cancer and faculty who are highly experienced in human cancer research and can serve as mentors. Candidates must be able to identify an individual with extensive experience in human cancer research that can serve as a mentor for the initial mentored phase of this award.