$122 million initiative funded by Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, Gilead Sciences, and Amgen.

Winn CDA is a 2-year program designed to support the career development of early-stage investigator physicians (as defined by NIH) who are underrepresented in medicine (URM) or who have a demonstrated commitment to increasing diversity in clinical research. The program prepares participants to become independent clinical trial investigators engaged in advancing health equity through their research and mentoring. The goal of Winn CDA is to transform the clinical research landscape by building and strengthening partnerships between clinical investigators and the communities where their patients reside, with a goal of ultimately engaging a patient population that mirrors the epidemiology of the disease studied.

The Award provides $120K/year for 2 years; funding is to protect 40% of the Scholars’ work time for program participation.

Winn CDA Scholar Eligibility:

  • Must identify as a racial/ethnic group designated as “underrepresented in medicine” OR have a demonstrated commitment to increasing diverse patient participation in clinical trials.
  • Must be a US Citizen, Lawful Permanent Resident, or hold a H-1B or O-1 Visa.
  • Must hold the degree of MD, MD/PhD, DO, or DO/PhD.
  • Must focus on one of the following clinical research areas: cancer (hematology and oncology), cardiovascular disease, or immunologic disorders.
  • Must be an Early-Stage Investigator (ESI).
  • Must be mentored by an experienced clinical investigator at an established clinical trial site and participate substantively in the mentor’s active clinical trial (it is not expected that scholars will have their own clinical trials). 

At the start of the program, Winn CDA Scholars participate in a 5.5-day intensive workshop on Design and Implementation of Clinical Trials. Then, over the course of 2 years, they engage in a Community-Oriented Clinical Trialist (COCT) curriculum that is designed to develop and train a new generation of first-rate clinical trialists with the additional knowledge, skills, and competencies to effectively engage with communities to foster active community participation in clinical and translational research.

The application will be open through May 12, 2023. Applicants may apply through the following link: https://winnawards.smapply.io/. The team will be hosting an Information Webinar Session on March 28 at 3pm Eastern Time – those interested in applying and learning more, can register for it here https://bit.ly/3JL8Yyt. More information about the program can be found on our Winn Awards website at https://diversityinclinicaltrials.org/