The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation announced the 16 early-career physician scientists receiving a total of $7.9 million in 2022 Clinical Scientist Development Awards. Through the Clinical Scientist Development Awards, the foundation funds promising physician scientists whose projects have the potential to advance the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease and to enable their transition to independent research careers.
Andrea Knittel, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the UNC Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, will lead a project titled, "Justice Core: Implementing Evidence-based Substance Use Disorder Treatment Through Alternatives to Perinatal Incarceration." Knittel is the medical director for Incarcerated Women's Health at the UNC School of Medicine
Peyton Thompson, MD, assistant professor of infectious diseases in the UNC Department of Pediatrics, will lead a project titled, "Simplifying Hepatitis B Care in Pregnancy by Combining Birth-dose Vaccine and Tenofovir: The COMBAT HBV Feasibility Trial."
"We are excited to support this group of Clinical Scientist Development Awardees, whose research projects encompass highly significant questions, approaches and insights yielded from their interactions with patients and the healthcare system," said Sindy Escobar Alvarez, director for medical research at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. "Whether improving understanding of disease mechanisms or illuminating insights into access to care, their contributions to the biomedical field are invaluable, and we look forward to following their important work."
The 2022 recipients, who will each receive grants of $495,000 over three years, emerged through a rigorous, multistage peer review process and comprise roughly 10% of the applicant pool. Their applications were evaluated on significance, originality and research approach of the scientific proposals, and the research environment.
