DDCF Elevates Its Commitment to Physician Scientists at the Subspecialty Level in 2021
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Grants $2.42 Million to 11 Doris Duke Physician Scientist Fellows – Almost Doubling Its Contribution to Subspecialty Fellows in the Program’s Third Year, Relative to 2020.
New York, June 22, 2021 – The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) today announced the 11 medical subspecialty fellows receiving a total of $2.42 million in grants through the 2021 Doris Duke Physician Scientist Fellowship. In response to the volume of high-caliber research proposals received, DDCF has, relative to last year, nearly doubled grants through the program, which was launched in 2019 to promote the transition of emerging physician scientists at the subspecialty fellowship stage into faculty-level positions.
While fellows training in medical subspecialty fields typically receive funding from their departments for short-term research experiences, a dearth of opportunities exists for obtaining external support for extended, mentored research during this phase. DDCF has designed the Physician Scientist Fellowship to address this gap in support and launch promising physician scientists – who bring invaluable insights to the research enterprise from their interactions with patients – into the next phase of their clinical research
careers.
“We are pleased to support this exceptional and diverse cohort of Doris Duke Physician Scientist Fellows, who stood out for their inventiveness and deep dedication to improving the lives of people affected by debilitating diseases,” said Sindy Escobar Alvarez, program director for medical research at DDCF. “In a year that has demanded immense grit from medical trainees, we are proud to express our commitment to emerging physician scientists by providing these 11 subspecialty fellows with the resources they need to advance their vital contributions to clinical research and elevate their transition to faculty-level opportunities.”
The 2021 Doris Duke Physician Scientist Fellows were chosen through a competitive, peer-review process by an external panel of accomplished physician scientists. Each selected fellow is receiving two years of funding at $110,000 per year, a total of $220,000 for the entire grant term, and will work under the supervision of a mentor who will guide them toward successful biomedical research careers.
A list of the 2021 Physician Scientist Fellows and their research project titles can be found below:
Leela Davies, M.D., Ph.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Project name: Predictive Antibody Signatures of Tuberculosis Progression
Kevin I. Duan, M.D., University of Washington
Project name: Assessing the Value of Post-Discharge Home Oxygen After a COPD Exacerbation
Joline M. Fan, M.D., M.S., University of California San Francisco
Project name: Global and Regional Brain Network Properties of Sleep-Wake States as Drivers of Ictogenesis
John Mark B. Gubatan, M.D., Stanford University School of Medicine
Project name: Vitamin D Regulation of α4β7+ B Cell Immunophenotypes and Mucosal Antibody Response to Commensal Gut Bacteria in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Jonathan D. Herman, M.D., Ph.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Project name: Whole Proteome Antibody Correlates of Protection from Malaria
Adrienne H. Long, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University School of Medicine
Project name: Understanding Thymic Education of Self-Specific CD8+ T Cells to Guide Development of Novel Cancer Immunotherapies
Jeffrey W. Patterson-Fortin, M.D., Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Project name: Exploiting Synthetic Lethality in Microhomology Mediated End-Joining for Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
Alexandra Power-Hays, M.D., Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Project name: The Alternative Dosing and Prevention of Transfusions (ADAPT) Study: A Prospective Trial of Hydroxyurea to Reduce Blood Transfusion Need in Children with Sickle Cell Anemia in Uganda and an Assessment of Pharmacokinetics-Guided Hydroxyurea Dosing
Nathan H. Raines, M.D., MPH, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Project name: Niacinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+) Metabolism in Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) Events and Early Chronic Disease Among Individuals at Risk for Chronic Kidney Disease of Nontraditional Cause (CKDnt)
Drew J. Schwartz, M.D., Ph.D., Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Project name: Impact of Antibiotic Prophylaxis and Treatment of Travelers' Diarrhea on the Microbiome, Resistome and Horizontal Gene Transfer
Marina N. Sharifi, M.D., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Project name: Multiplex Liquid Biopsy as a Novel Biomarker for PI3K Inhibitor Therapies
About the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, child well-being and medical research, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties. The foundation’s Medical Research Program supports clinical research that advances the translation of biomedical discoveries into new preventions, diagnoses and treatments for human diseases. To learn more about the program, visit www.ddcf.org.
Contacts:
Kristin Roth-Schrefer, Communications Director
kschrefer@ddcf.org / 212.974.7003
Delaney Dryfoos, Communications Assistant
ddryfoos@ddcf.org / 212.974.7006