The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has announced grants totaling $8 million to strengthen the clinical research field by providing opportunities that help advance the careers of young scientists.

Through its Clinical Scientist Development Awards program, the foundation enables early career scientists to reserve three-quarters of their professional time for independent clinical research. This year, seventeen awardees will receive up to $486,000 each over three years to conduct research and establish a laboratory. And through its Clinical Mentorship Program, which supports the development of a mentoring relationship between a DDCF-funded clinical scientist and a medical student who has an interest in becoming a future clinician investigator, DDCF awarded grants of $64,800 each to ten teams of medical students and investigators previously funded through the foundation. Each student will take a year off from medical school to participate in a full-time clinical research experience.

"The Clinical Research Mentorships and Clinical Scientist Development Awards exemplify the foundation's deep commitment to bolstering the field of clinical research by encouraging young people to enter research, and providing early career investigators with support as they make the critical shift into independent careers," said Betsy Myers, director of the foundation's Medical Research Program.

For a complete list of grant recipients, visit the DDCF website.