Two Dana-Farber physician scientists receive 2019 Clinical Scientist Development Award

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) today announced two Dana-Farber physician scientists have been honored with the 2019 Clinical Scientist Development Award. Giada Bianchi, MD, and Zuzana Tothova, MD, PhD, were selected from a pool of 210 applicants to each receive $495,000 over three years for independent clinical research.

Faced with the competing demands of both caring for patients and conducting research, physician scientists often experience a more challenging transition to an independent research career than other researchers. Through this award, early-career physician scientists are able to protect and dedicate 75% of their professional time towards clinical research. Since 1998, the foundation has awarded more than $144 million in Clinical Scientist Development Awards.

“Physician scientists are crucial to the clinical research field because they bring significant insights from their direct interactions with patients from the bedside to the bench,” said Betsy Myers, program director for medical research at DDCF. “For this reason, we are proud to support and protect the time devoted to research by these exceptional physician scientists as they balance their clinical obligations with research work, ultimately giving them greater opportunities to make vital contributions to the field.”

Bianchi was recognized for her project entitled, “Uncovering the Oncogenic Role of Ubiquitin Depletion During B Lymphocyte Differentiation” and Tothova for her project, “Therapeutic Targeting of Splicing in Cohesin Mutant Myeloid Malignancies.”

About the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, child well-being and medical research, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties. The foundation’s Medical Research Program supports clinical research that advances the translation of biomedical discoveries into new preventions, diagnoses and treatments for human diseases. To learn more about the program, visit www.ddcf.org.