Slots: ADA will accept up to two (2) nominations per institution with one (1) nomination spanning basic through preclinical research and one (1) nomination spanning clinical through public health research.
Each nomination can be for either of the Pathway Program Award types: Initiator or Accelerator. Please be aware that if an institution nominates two (2) applicants with proposed projects covering the same phase of research (i.e. basic through preclinical research studies), one of the submitted applications will be administratively disqualified from consideration for funding.
Deadlines
Internal Deadline: Friday, May 23rd, 2025
LOI: N/A
External Deadline: Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025
Award Information
Award Type: Grant
Anticipated Award Amount: Up to $100,000 year in Phase 1, up to $325,000/year in Phase 2. Applicants may request up to seven (7) years of combined funding support for phases one and two. The proposed project budget should not exceed the maximum total budget up to $1,625,000 USD.
Who May Serve as Applicant: Applicants must currently be in research training positions (i.e. post-doctoral fellowships, research fellowships) and can have no more than seven (7) years of training since their doctoral degree.
Initiator award recipients cannot concurrently hold an NIH K99/R00 grant. All other Career Development awards are allowable (unless holding of concurrent awards is prohibited by the other granting agency).
Candidate’s must hold a full-time appointment at their sponsoring institution. Rare exceptions to full- time positions may be granted on a case-by-case basis and must be pre-approved by ADA Research Programs staff prior to application submission.
Applicants must hold a MD, PhD, DMD, DO, PharmD, DVM or an equivalent health- or science-related degree.
Applicant fellowship positions must be at university-affiliated institutions or other non-profit research institutions within the United States and U.S. possessions.
To assure continued excellence and diversity among applicants and awardees, the Association welcomes applications from all qualified individuals and strongly encourages applications from persons with diverse backgrounds, including minority groups that are underrepresented in biomedical research.
Individuals must have permission to work within the U.S., either as U.S. citizens or permanent residents, or with appropriate work visas/permits. Institutional confirmation of permission to work within the U.S. will be required at the time of application submission.
Link to Award: https://professional.diabetes.org/research-grants/current-funding-opportunities-pathway-stop-diabetes
Process for Limited Submissions
PIs must submit their application as a Limited Submission through the Research Initiatives and Infrastructure (RII) Application Portal: https://rii.usc.edu/oor-portal/. Use the template provided here: RII Limited Submission Applicant Template
Materials to submit include:
- (1) Two-Page Proposal Summary (1” margins; single-spaced; standard font type, e.g. Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, or Georgia typeface; font size: 11 pt). Page limit includes references and illustrations. Pages that exceed the 2-page limit will be excluded from review. You must use the template linked above.
- (2) CV – (5 pages maximum)
Note: The portal requires information about the PIs in addition to department and contact information, including the 10-digit USC ID#. Please have this material prepared before beginning this application.
Purpose
The Pathway to Stop Diabetes® Initiator award is designed to support early career researchers who have distinguished themselves during their research training as exceptionally talented and promising research investigators with a high likelihood of establishing successful, independent research programs and making seminal contributions in diabetes research.
These awards are highly competitive and intended to support particularly innovative and transformational ideas that have the potential to have an exceptional impact in diabetes with an emphasis on the investigator’s potential to significantly transform diabetes through research (‘moving the needle’) to improve the lives of people with diabetes. These awards provide salary and research support for applicants during late stages of mentored training through establishment as independent research faculty.
If funded, the Principal Investigator must agree to devote at least 75% of their total time and overall effort towards research. This percentage includes time dedicated to the Association-funded grant in addition to grants supported by other funding agencies. Please note that during the award’s duration,
the Principal Investigator must commit between 75-100% effort towards the Association funded project in phase one and between 50-75% effort towards the Association funded project in phase two.
Initiator awards will provide two (2) distinct phases of research support. Applicants may request up to seven (7) years of combined funding support for phases one and two. The proposed project budget should not exceed the maximum total budget up to $1,625,000 USD.
- Phase One: During phase one, applicants may request up to $100,000 USD per year (including 10% indirect costs) for up to two (2) years for mentored research training to allow investigators to complete on-going research, publish results, receive additional training, and develop independent research plans.
Phase two support will be approved by the ADA Research Programs team contingent upon adequate progress in phase one, as well as the receipt and approval of documentation verifying that:
- The candidate has obtained a faculty appointment at an accredited research institution.
- The institution has agreed to provide adequate laboratory space necessary to perform the proposed research and adequate time (75% effort) to dedicate to research.
- The institution provides the candidate with an adequate and protected start-up package.
Phase Two: During phase two, applicants may request up to $325,000 USD per year (including 30% indirect costs) for up to five (5) years to support independent research.
Visit our Institutionally Limited Submission webpage for more updates and other announcements.