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The Lasker Scholars program provides a unique opportunity for clinician-scientists to receive a combination of intramural and extramural NIH research support.

The program has two phases. The first phase will support scholars in the IRP for 5 years, with the possibility of an extension of this phase for an additional 2 years. Lasker Scholars will be appointed as independent tenure-track investigators within an NIH Institute or Center, a process that includes being hired as a full time employee at the NIH and completing the procedures required of new Federal government employees. The IRP will provide space, research expenses, full salary, and Federal employee benefits. Scholars will develop independent research activities over the course of their stay in the IRP, and will be formally reviewed by a panel of senior extramural investigators every 2 to 4 years to evaluate their research progress.

Upon successfully completing the initial IRP phase of the program, the Lasker Scholar will be eligible for two options in the second phase:

Option 1. Remain in the IRP with continued intramural funding and progression to tenured senior investigator status after appropriate assessment. Retention in the IRP will be dependent on the development of a mutual agreement between the Scholar and the IRP. Tenure at the NIH requires evaluation and approval by the Â鶹´«Ã½ Deputy Director for Intramural Research.

Option 2. The Scholar can receive up to 3 years of support to continue independent research at an extramural sponsoring institution. This support is contingent upon obtaining an appropriate extramural position at an eligible institution, and the successful NIH programmatic review of the scholar’s progress during the intramural phase of the award. Lasker Scholars can request direct costs of up to $499,000/year (plus applicable indirect costs). Scholars must complete 5 years of research in the IRP to be eligible for the extramural Lasker Scholars Grant.

Research Areas of Interest

The Intramural Research Program will give highest priority to those applications which propose research within the fields given below, listed by participating Institutes/Centers. Applicants are strongly advised to contact the Institute/Center scientific contact person listed in the Program Announcement, to obtain feedback regarding the programmatic appropriateness of their research to the goals of the Â鶹´«Ã½ intramural research program.

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

• Medical oncology, medical hematology-oncology, pediatric hematology/oncology, radiation oncology, surgical oncology, pathology, neuro-oncology, urology, myeloid malignancies, health disparities, data science and artificial intelligence. Specific areas within these categories include genitourinary oncology, lymphoid malignancies, neuro-oncology, immunotherapy (including cell therapy and transplant), women's cancers, aeoro-digestive cancers, molecular diagnostics, functional imaging.
• Cancer etiology and prevention, cancer genetics, clinical epidemiology of cancer.
• Cancer prevention including development and testing of interception agents (including small molecules, vaccines and biologics), novel and precision methods for screening, early detection, and management of average- and high-risk cohorts, early diagnostic biomarker development, behavioral cancer prevention interventions, and additional cancer prevention-oriented translational research.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

• Translational research aimed at developing new diagnostics and clinical therapeutics for heart, lung, and blood diseases.
• Translational research aimed at developing new diagnostics and clinical therapeutics for asthma.
• Translational in vivo gene therapy research for heart lung and blood diseases.
• Tumor immunotherapy and experimental stem cell transplantation.
• Translational research in critical care medicine and sickle cell anemia.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

• Clinical allergy/immunology, Clinical infectious diseases, Virology.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

• Complex lymphatic anomalies, genetic causes of obesity, neurosciences, pediatric/adolescent gynecology, rare genetic disorders and inborn errors of metabolism, skeletal health and metabolic bone disease.

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

• Normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, taste, smell, speech, and language.

National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

• Research related to health care disparities in managing communicable and non-communicable diseases and patient-clinician communications.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

• Clinical Neurosciences

National Library of Medicine (NLM)

• Computational approaches to integrating, mining, and tracking data relevant to public health surveillance, particularly for underserved populations.
• Natural language processing, presentation, and understanding of consumer/patient health information.
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning to support automated decision making, genome-phenome data linking, bias reduction, and image-based diagnostics for health care.
• Secure integration of patient health information into a distributed/federated data ecosystem.
• Computational modeling of biological processes with focus on their impact on health and disease.

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

• Epidemiological, clinical, and translational research focusing on the role of the nervous system, other physiological systems, and psychosocial factors in perceiving, modifying, and managing pain, including approaches that apply to the concept of whole person health and health restoration.