Funding opportunity for breast cancer researchers: Susan G. Komen grants

Early-career DOs conducting breast cancer research may obtain funding through the Susan G. Komen foundation. The organization is accepting grant pre-applications through Wednesday, June 17, 2015.

This funding opportunity falls within one of the AOA’s key research areas—chronic diseases. The AOA is placing added emphasis on examining the effect of osteopathic medicine on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of common chronic diseases and conditions with high public health impact.

“This opportunity presented by Komen will allow the osteopathic medical profession to further examine its focus on patient-centered care, quality of life, and patient satisfaction, therein highlighting how osteopathic approaches to medicine can lead to improvements in patient outcomes and reduction in health care costs,” says Kenya D. McRae, JD, PhD, the AOA’s vice president of research and development.

Grant opportunities include:

• Career Catalyst Research: Available to junior faculty members to support hypothesis-driven research projects.
• Postdoctoral Fellowships: Open to postdoctoral fellows at academic institutions to fund their basic research projects.
• Graduate Training in Disparities Research: Grants intended to establish or sustain training programs for graduate students interested in researching disparities in breast cancer outcomes.

“Komen is opening the door to not only osteopathic clinician-researchers, but also osteopathic medical students and PhDs who conduct research pertaining to the osteopathic philosophy,” McRae says. “These grants will assist with the development of a pipeline of researchers vested in cancer research—more specifically, the reduction and elimination of breast cancer. DOs, faculty members and students need to answer the call and become even more visible than they currently are.”

Learn more about the eligibility requirements and funding levels for each grant.