Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellowship Award 2027: Four Years of Cancer Research Support
A four-year postdoctoral fellowship from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation supporting original cancer research, with a stipend rising from $70,000 to $76,000 per year, annual research expenses, and additional benefits for eligible physician-scientists and fellows with dependent children.
Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellowship Award 2027: Four Years of Cancer Research Support
The Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellowship Award supports early-career researchers pursuing original cancer research under the guidance of an experienced sponsor. The Foundation’s application-guidelines deadline chart lists the next review session for spring 2027: Proposal Central is scheduled to open on January 15, 2027, and completed applications are due by 4:00 pm Eastern Time on March 15, 2027. The prior August 14, 2026 session has closed. The published spring session has a selection meeting on May 8, 2027, and awards are scheduled to begin on the first day of July, August, September, or October 2027. The application is not open yet as of this page update, so prospective applicants should return to the official guidelines and Proposal Central when submissions open. The session-specific eligibility windows below follow the March deadline.
The program is intended to support a scientist’s development and a meaningful new direction in cancer research. It funds a four-year postdoctoral appointment, with funding after the first year contingent on satisfactory progress. The research can be theoretical or experimental and can address cancer causes, mechanisms, therapy, or prevention. A proposal must be distinct from the applicant’s graduate work and take place in a setting that expands the applicant’s scientific skills.
Key details
| Item | 2027 spring session |
|---|---|
| Funder | Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation |
| Application opens | January 15, 2027 |
| Deadline | March 15, 2027, by 4:00 pm Eastern Time |
| Selection meeting | May 8, 2027 |
| Award start window | July, August, September, or October 2027 |
| Award term | Four years; later-year funding depends on satisfactory progress reports |
| Stipend | $70,000, $72,000, $74,000, and $76,000 in award years one through four |
| Expense allowance | $2,000 per year for educational and scientific expenses |
| Additional support | Up to $100,000 in qualifying medical-school debt repayment for eligible physician-scientists; $1,000 per dependent child per year |
| Application portal | Altum / Proposal Central |
| Official instructions | Damon Runyon Fellowship Award application guidelines |
Funding and benefits
The four-year stipend schedule rises from $70,000 in the first award year to $76,000 in the fourth. The Foundation also provides a $2,000 expense allowance each year. The allowance is for the fellow’s educational and scientific expenses, with sponsor approval; with a written request, it may be used for health benefits. It is not for institutional overhead, postdoctoral registration fees, or fellowship taxes, and institutions may not automatically deduct fees without the fellow’s approval. No part of the fellowship grant may be used for indirect costs or institutional overhead.
The Foundation can repay up to $100,000 of qualifying medical-school debt for eligible physician-scientist awardees, with no more than $25,000 paid in any one award year. Applicants seeking this benefit must first apply to the NIH Loan Repayment Program. Qualifying debt is limited to eligible tuition and direct educational expenses and their interest; debt for general living expenses is not covered. Awardees must provide documentation and report loan status as required by the Foundation. Because debt repayment has separate eligibility and paperwork, physician-scientists should check the current award terms rather than assuming every education loan qualifies.
A dependent child allowance of $1,000 per child per year is also available. The fellow must submit the Foundation’s form and documentation of birth or adoption for each child. The allowance does not extend to a spouse. Fellows in the first and third funding years are required to attend the Foundation’s Fellows’ Retreats, which bring together researchers working in different cancer-related fields.
Who can apply
Applicants must have completed an MD, PhD, MD/PhD, DDS, DVM, DO, or equivalent degree. The application guidelines include session-specific degree and sponsor-lab dates for Level 1 basic scientists. For the March 15, 2027 deadline, the degree must have been conferred from September 15, 2025 through March 15, 2027, and the applicant must have joined the sponsor’s laboratory on or after March 15, 2026. These boundaries are specific to the 2027 spring session; candidates should compare their degree-conferral and lab-start dates with the official chart before investing in an application.
Level 2 is for physician-scientists who have completed residency and clinical training and will be board eligible in the United States by the fellowship start. They may apply before their initial assistant professorship appointment or equivalent; postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows, and clinical instructors are eligible. Level 2 candidates are expected to devote at least 80 percent of their time to Damon Runyon-supported research. Level 1 applicants are expected to devote 100 percent of their time to supported research.
Candidates holding or already awarded NIH K awards at the time of application are ineligible. Candidates holding institutional K12 awards may apply, but must relinquish K12 funding if selected. Applicants who have already accepted a postdoctoral research fellowship award are not eligible, and a T32 cannot be held concurrently with this fellowship. Applicants currently pursuing a degree are ineligible, and fellows may not pursue an additional degree during the award.
The proposed work must be conducted at a university, hospital, or research institution. Non-U.S. citizens may apply only for research at a U.S.-based institution. U.S. citizens may propose research outside the United States when the research and training opportunity are exceptional and offer career development that would otherwise be difficult to find in the United States. A structured postdoctoral program at a for-profit institution may qualify under the Foundation’s conditions; the institution pays the fellow’s salary directly and the Foundation may supplement it to match the program stipend if needed.
Research and sponsor fit
The Foundation welcomes theoretical and experimental research on cancer causes, mechanisms, therapies, and prevention, including molecular approaches to preventing inherited cancers. The proposed project should explain the cancer relevance clearly and give reviewers a convincing account of why the question matters, why the approach is original, and why the methods are suited to the aims.
The sponsor is central to the award. A sponsor must be a scientist in a tenured, tenure-track, or equivalent position who can supervise the work and provide active mentorship. The training plan should describe how the fellow will develop knowledge, technical and analytical skills, and the capacity for independent inquiry. No more than two Damon Runyon Fellows may be funded with the same sponsor at once, including co-sponsors. Only one application per sponsor, co-sponsor, or fellow is accepted in a review session, although an institution may submit multiple applications.
The postdoctoral training environment should be a genuine new opportunity. The Foundation will not fund a direct extension of the applicant’s graduate work in approach, technique, or exact area of study, and it will not consider a proposal to continue training in the laboratory where the applicant received a PhD. Staying at the same institution where the degree was earned is discouraged, especially in the same department; applicants in that situation must explain the reasons in their application. A strong application makes the distinction between prior work and the proposed research easy to evaluate and shows what new expertise the sponsor and environment will provide.
Application steps and required materials
Applications are submitted through Altum / Proposal Central. After the application opens, applicants should search the portal for “Damon Runyon Fellowship Award,” review the session instructions, and follow the required sequence. Hard-copy and emailed applications are not accepted. For the spring deadline, all three reference letters must be uploaded by the deadline; the applicant cannot submit the application until every letter has arrived. Enter referees’ email addresses in the application so Proposal Central can provide their upload access. Letters should be two to three pages, written by people other than the sponsor who can assess the applicant’s qualifications and potential for independent cancer research. For applicants with a PhD, one reference must come from the thesis advisor.
The official guidelines require materials in a specified sequence. Applicants should download the current forms in Proposal Central and check the instructions there before assembling the final application. The published checklist includes:
- A signed application cover sheet, including the demographic survey; a co-sponsor cover sheet is required when applying with two sponsors.
- The sponsor’s NIH-compliant biosketch, and a separate co-sponsor biosketch when applicable.
- The sponsor’s letter of support assessing the candidate and potential for independent cancer research, plus a detailed training plan of up to two pages. Co-sponsors provide joint versions where the guidelines call for them.
- The sponsor’s mentorship track record listing graduate and postdoctoral trainees and their current positions from the prior ten years; a co-sponsor provides a separate record.
- The applicant’s NIH-compliant biosketch, research-support form if applicable, and a separate bibliography with hyperlinks to publications. Preprints may be linked.
- An applicant letter of approximately two pages describing previous research and teaching, the transformative impact of the applicant’s graduate research, and, if relevant, why the applicant will train at the degree institution. The same-lab restriction still applies.
- A one-page personal statement on anticipated impact and career development; personal background is optional.
- A commitment statement of no more than one paragraph describing a long-term career in cancer research and plans after the postdoctoral period.
- A diploma copy to confirm degree conferral. Candidates who completed all PhD requirements, including the defense, but have not yet received a diploma may submit the required graduate-school letter with defense and conferral dates.
- A summary of research form, not exceeding one page and matching the abstract.
- A research proposal of no more than five pages, single-spaced in 12-point type with margins of at least half an inch. It should include a summary, background, aims, methods, cancer significance, and the relevance of the applicant’s and sponsor’s experience. Figures and tables are included in the limit; full-title references are not.
- Up to two one-page collaboration letters, if applicable, describing collaborators’ contributions of equipment, materials, or expertise. These are not reference letters.
The applicant should ensure the application is complete well before the portal cutoff. The Foundation’s stated deadline is a firm submission deadline, and the reference-letter dependency means late requests to referees can prevent an otherwise finished application from being submitted. Sponsors should be given time to prepare their training plan and mentorship record, while referees need to know the deadline and upload process.
Review, award terms, and planning
The Fellowship Award Committee reviews the proposal, the candidate and sponsor’s qualifications and productivity, and the research training environment. It recommends awardees for approval by the Foundation’s Board of Directors. Reviewers assess the importance of the problem, originality, appropriate methods, and clarity; they also consider whether the setting can strengthen the candidate’s ability to conduct independent and substantive research. The Foundation does not share written reviewer comments with applicants.
Awards are made to the sponsoring institution for the fellow’s support. The fellowship is intended for full-time research, and annual progress reports determine whether funding continues beyond the first award year. Fellows must report research progress, publications, presentations, collaborations, outreach, sponsor assessment, and intellectual-property information. Financial records are maintained by the institution, with expenditure reporting and any required return of unspent funds under the Foundation’s timelines.
Fellows may not hold another award or grant that supplements their stipend, and budgetary overlap is not allowed. Additional awards for research expenses require prior Foundation approval. Fellows also may not enter confidentiality agreements that prevent or delay publication or presentation of supported research. The Foundation provides leave policies for medical or family emergencies and parental leave, with advance notice and consistency with institutional policies.
Practical preparation
Before the portal opens, identify a sponsor whose mentoring and research environment genuinely broaden your skills. Discuss the proposed project early enough to distinguish it from your doctoral work and to agree on a realistic training plan. Check the two Level 1 date tests against your records, or confirm that you meet the Level 2 clinical and appointment criteria. Ask referees well in advance, particularly the thesis advisor when that letter is required, and explain that their letters must be uploaded before portal submission is possible.
Use the Foundation’s current forms as the final authority on document format, signatures, and any portal-specific fields. Confirm that the sponsor and any co-sponsor can provide the biosketches and mentorship records, and gather degree documentation and any loan or dependent-child materials relevant to benefits you plan to claim. A clear, complete application lets reviewers focus on the science, the candidate’s potential, and the value of the training environment.
The next published deadline is March 15, 2027, at 4:00 pm Eastern Time, and the application is scheduled to open on January 15, 2027. These dates, the Level 1 eligibility windows, and the application checklist are published in the official Damon Runyon Fellowship Award application guidelines. The program overview describes funding, eligibility, and award terms. Applicants should use the live instructions and forms in Proposal Central once the session opens.