Pathway to Stop Diabetes -- Initiator & Accelerator Awards

Pathway to Stop Diabetes® has a simple, yet revolutionary goal: to find scientists at the peak of their creativity and provide them with the flexibility and resources they need on the road to breakthrough discoveries. We attract and retain brilliant scientists in diabetes. Our three areas of focus—awarding research grants, providing access to scientific and career mentoring from leading diabetes researchers, and creating a diabetes think tank—are each key components of a unique formula to cultivate the next generation of leaders, whose discoveries will stop diabetes and its burdens once and for all.

This call for nominations will prioritize translational applications that move knowledge and discovery gained from basic research to its eventual translation into patient and population benefit. The ideal applicant will propose innovative research that will be an important step towards the eventual goal of improving the lives of people at risk of diabetes or living with the disease - and the pathway to this impact is clear. Our vision is to create a pathway to launch the next generation of trailblazers in diabetes research.

Initiator Award (INI)

• Award Term: Up to 7 years
• Applicant Type: Postdoctoral Fellow
• Maximum Funding: Up to $100,000 USD per year in Phase 1, Up to $325,000 USD per year in Phase 2
• Initiator Award Description: This two-phased award is designed to support the transition of scientists from mentored training to independent research faculty.
• Applicant Eligibility: Eligible applicants must currently be in research training positions (post-doctoral fellow, research fellowship) and have no more than seven years of research training following terminal doctoral degree. Applicants cannot concurrently hold an NIH K99/R00 grant. Candidates must be identified through institutional nomination; applications will be accepted only from individuals with the appropriate institution support.
• Funding Support: Initiator Awards provide two distinct phases of research support: Phase 1 provides up to two (2) years of support for mentored training at a maximum of $100,000 USD per year (including 10% indirect costs). Phase 2 provides up to five (5) years of support for independent research at a maximum of $325,000 USD per year (including 30% indirect costs). The overall total combined support for Phase 1 and Phase 2 is $1,625,000 USD

Accelerator Award (ACE)

• Award Term: Up to 5 years
• Applicant Type: Early Career Faculty
• Maximum Requested Budget: $325,000 USD per year
• Accelerator Award Description: This award is designed to support exceptional, independent early-career researchers who have distinguished themselves as promising investigators and are in the beginning stages of establishing successful, sustainable diabetes research programs.
• Applicant Eligibility: Awards are available to early-career diabetes investigators proposing innovative and ambitious diabetes-related research programs. Applicants must hold faculty positions and have demonstrated independent productivity in diabetes research. Applicants may currently hold independent NIH funding (K, U or R awards, including an initial R01/U01) but must not have applied for (regardless of outcome), or received, an R01/U01 renewal or a second R01/U01 award. Candidates must be identified through institutional nomination; applications will be accepted only from individuals with the appropriate institution support.
• Funding Support: Accelerator Awards provide research support of up to $325,000 USD per year (including 30% indirect costs) over five (5) years for a maximum total of $1,625,000 USD

Application Instructions

Please submit as one combined pdf labeled with PI’s Lastname, Firstname:

1. A one‐page letter of intent, identifying which track you are applying for, with a description of proposed aims and approach.
2. If the final application requires a statement of broader impacts, please summarize your plans to address the specific requirements on an additional page.
3. CV (not biosketch) of the PI including past grant funding.

to limitedsubs@uw.edu by 5:00 PM Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Proposals are due to the sponsor 7/23/2025 so you will need to have your materials in to the Office of Sponsored Programs by 7/14/2025 if given the go‐ahead by the Limited Submissions review committee.