Secrets of Early Career Funding Success: A Faculty Panel

Young investigator awards provide critical support to early career faculty, often serving as a funding bridge between postdoctoral years and fully independent investigator status. These awards, however, are usually very competitive. To give BU’s young investigators valuable insights about competing for them, we are convening a panel of faculty who have received numerous such awards, from both federal and foundation sources. The goal of this panel, then, is to provide young investigators at BU with insights about how to be competitive for early career funding—for example: • The right time to apply (e.g., publications in top journals, consulting with program officers). • Types of projects funders are looking for. • Importance of reference letters and statements of support. • Ways to set yourself apart from a large group of applicants. • Resources, both departmental and University-wide, to utilize. Panelists: Neil Ganem, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine. Dr. Ganem has received the Melanoma Research Alliance Jackie King Young Investigator Award, the Smith Family Foundation Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research, and the American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant. Dr. Ganem is also a Searle Scholar. Ahmad Khalil, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Khalil has received a PECASE Award, NIH New Innovator Award, DARPA Young Faculty Award, NSF CAREER Award, Hartwell Foundation Investigator Award, and a Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship. Laura Lewis, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Lewis has received a Society for Neuroscience Peter and Patricia Gruber International Research Award, NIH Pathway to Independence Award, One Mind Rising Star, and a 1907 Trailblazer Award. She is also a Pew Biomedical Scholar, Sloan Research Fellow, Searle Scholar, and a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences.