Kenneth Rainin Foundation invites applications for Early Career Catalyst Award

The Kenneth Rainin Foundationaims to enhance quality of life by championing the arts, promoting early childhood literacy, and supporting research to cure chronic disease.The foundation invites letters of inquiry for the Early Career Catalyst Award. Through the program, grants of $500,000 each will be awarded to support the work of two early career investigators in any field whose research has the potential to improve the lives of people living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). One grant will support a basic research project, and the other will support a translational/therapeutic research project. Both basic and translational projects must be conceptually and/or technically innovative. Priority for translational projects will be given to applicants using human samples and/or datasets in their aims and objectives. To be eligible, applicants must be an assistant professor or equivalent. If an applicant is not currently a faculty member but will be by October 1, 2024, they will need to include a letter from the institution to confirm the institution’s commitment to the applicant and the applicant’s official start date. Applicant must be an independent researcher, with a doctoral degree and no more than five years from the time of appointment to an independent faculty position, including institutional support of at least $750,000 and lab space. If an applicant has had time off for family or personal reasons, this time will not count toward the five years. Investigators from underrepresented groups in science are encouraged to apply.Letters of inquiry are due March 29, 2024, and selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal, due June 12, 2024.For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the Kenneth Rainin Foundation