Career Awards for Medical Scientists

Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS) provide $700,000 over five years to bridge advanced postdoctoral/fellowship training and the early years of faculty service.    Candidate eligibility and institutional nomination requirements are set out below. 

The ideal candidate will be two years away from becoming an independent investigator, have at least two years or more of research experience, and have a significant publication record.

• Candidates must hold an M.D., D.D.S., D.V.M., Pharm.D., or equivalent clinical degree.
• Proposals must be in the area of basic biomedical, disease oriented, translational, or molecular, genetic, or pharmacological epidemiology research. Proposals that are in the area of epidemiology should contact BWF to determine the eligibility of the proposal. Proposals in health services research or involving large-scale clinical trials are ineligible.
• BWF encourages nominations from candidates who work in reproductive science.
• Candidates must be a clinical fellow, resident,  or a postdoctoral researcher and have at least two years of research experience at the time of application.
• Candidates who hold a junior faculty appointment (Lecturer, Instructor, Assistant Professor-non tenure track, etc.) may be eligible if they have been in a faculty position for two years or less at the time of application.
• Candidates must not be more than 120 months past their most recent doctorate.  No exceptions will be made.
• Candidates with a clinical degree not awarded in the U.S. or Canada must be licensed to practice in the U.S. or Canada.
• Candidates must be committed to a full-time career in research as an independent investigator at a North American degree-granting institution.
• Candidates must be nominated by accredited, degree-granting institutions in the U.S. or Canada.
• Candidates must be citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. or Canada at the time of application.  Persons who have applied for permanent resident status but have not received their government documentation by the time of application are not eligible.
• Permanent residents of the U.S. must provide a copy of their Permanent Resident Card with the application.
• Permanent residents of Canada must provide a copy of their Landed Immigrant Status form with the application.

• U.S. or Canadian institutions--including affiliated medical schools, graduate schools, and all related hospitals and research institutes--may nominate up to five candidates. 
• BWF encourages institutions to nominate women and underrepresented minorities.  If a woman or underrepresented minority is nominated within the initial five candidates, a sixth candidate may be nominated provided that candidate is a woman or underrepresented minority (i.e. African American, Hispanic, or Native American).
• NIH may nominate candidates who intend to continue their postdoctoral/fellowship training at the NIH, but such awardees must move to a degree-granting institution to assume a faculty position. The NIH will support these awardees during the postdoctoral/fellowship years, and BWF will support them for the first three years of their faculty appointment. Their total award will be $510,000. Postdoctoral fellows at the NIH should contact its Office of Intramural Research for information about its nomination procedures.

During the postdoctoral and faculty periods,

• Grants must be made to degree-granting institutions in the U.S. or Canada on behalf of the award recipient.
• Award recipients are required to devote at least 75 percent of their time to research-related activities.
• Indirect costs may not be charged against BWF grants.

View the different levels of program support in the postdoc and faculty award information.

Questions regarding candidate or institutional eligibility should be directed in advance to BWF by calling (919) 991-5134.  Consult this website for a list of frequently asked questions.