Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Rita Allen Foundation Backs Innovative Biomedical Research
The Rita Allen Foundation Scholars program has been around since 1976, but I bet you’ve never heard of it. Some programs are like that—kind of under the radar, even though they’re doing big, ambitious things. This one’s covert because the foundation that spawned it isn’t solely or even mostly about medical research. It’s a civic engagement foundation, first and foremost, but it also has a thriving program looking for young leaders in biomedical research.
The focus here is on supporting basic biomedical research in the fields of cancer, immunology, and neuroscience. There also is currently a joint award for scholars in pain research, which the Rita Allen Foundation supports in partnership with the American Pain Society. The program embraces innovative research with above-average risk and groundbreaking possibilities. Scholars have gone on to win the Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine, the National Medal of Science, the Wolf Prize in Medicine and the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences....