Training Awards

Career Development Award

Supports early-career faculty establishing independent type one diabetes research programs.

Breakthrough T1D — the rebrand of JDRF since June 2024 — is a U.S. nonprofit founded in 1970 that funds research to cure, prevent, and treat type 1 diabetes affecting an estimated 1.5 million Americans and 9.5 million people globally. One of the organization's strategic priorities is growing the T1D research community, which it pursues through a portfolio of training awards. The Career Development Award (CDA) is a faculty-level training grant aimed at early-stage investigators who are establishing independent T1D research programs at academic or research institutions.

All FY27 training awards share a uniform submission deadline of July 2, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET, and the CDA is no exception. Applications are submitted through the Breakthrough T1D portal at breakthrought1d.smartsimple.us. The award is designed for faculty-level researchers — principal investigators at the stage of launching an independent laboratory — not for postdoctoral scholars. Like all FY27 training awards in this cycle, the CDA now explicitly permits human subject research on long-term T1D complications including eye, kidney, and cardiovascular disease. Eligibility is limited to academic institutions and qualified research organizations; for-profit entities and nonprofits without research infrastructure are excluded. Precise award amounts, durations, and deliverable requirements are detailed in the governing FY27-CDA-RFA.pdf.

The CDA is a competitive, peer-reviewed mechanism. Applicants must demonstrate a clearly defined independent research agenda in T1D, alignment with Breakthrough T1D's priority research areas, and institutional support for their independence. The review process is coordinated by Breakthrough T1D scientists who may interact with applicants during and after the award period. The organization's Grant Handbook at breakthrought1d.org/granthandbook outlines policies common to all awards.