Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

Supports high-risk cancer science by funding early-career investigators through researcher fellowships and project grants.

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is a U.S. nonprofit founded in 1946 to back early-career scientists pursuing high-risk, high-reward cancer research. The foundation’s model is to identify promising postdoctoral fellows, physician-scientists, and junior faculty before they have long publication records, while requiring that the research be carried out at U.S. institutions.

Its seven award programs cover fellowships, clinical investigator support, quantitative biology, pediatric cancer, physician-scientist training, breakthrough scientists, and innovation grants. The record lists awards ranging from the four-year Fellowship Award, with annual stipends from $70,000 to $76,000 plus an expense allowance, to larger commitments such as the Clinical Investigator Award up to $600,000, the Physician-Scientist Training Award at $460,000, and the Rachleff Innovation Award up to $800,000.

Applications run through Proposal Central, and foreign nationals may apply so long as the research stays in the United States. The foundation’s edge is its willingness to fund ambitious cancer projects early, with mentor commitments, sponsor limits, and tightly defined award tracks that push work toward the clinic and the lab.