Biologists are increasingly required to not only work at the lab bench, but also to mine vast amounts of data to find the valuable clues that will address key challenges in cancer research and patient treatment. To proactively address this need, Damon Runyon has created a new funding mechanism designed to encourage quantitative scientists (trained in fields such as mathematics, physics, computer science, engineering, and others) to pursue research careers in computational biology.

The Damon Runyon Quantitative Biology Fellowship Award will support a new generation of computational scientists who will pioneer novel approaches to the design and interpretation of experiments in cancer research, to answer a myriad of important biological and clinical questions.

“Because this is in essence a new field at the nexus of traditional cancer research and data science, it is critical to draw fearless and brilliant young computational scientists to these problems to drive the field forward,” says Aviv Regev, PhD, of the Broad Institute and inaugural Chair of the new Quantitative Biology Fellowship Award Committee.

This support will help create an elite cadre of computational biology leaders with expertise and understanding in both quantitative and biological sciences—scientists who are capable of traversing both worlds with ease and are truly bilingual, comfortably speaking both languages fluently.

“Damon Runyon is well-positioned to launch this ambitious and bold endeavor. The Foundation has a long history of identifying and supporting visionary, early career scientists who are pioneering new fields in cancer research,” says Yung S. Lie, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.

The first class of Damon Runyon Quantitative Biology Fellowship Award recipients will be selected in spring 2020. Damon Runyon will invest in up to 15 fellowships over three years, totaling up to $3.6 million. 

To learn more about the guidelines and application process, please visit: Damon Runyon Quantitative Biology Fellowship Award 

The awardees will be selected by a distinguished committee of leaders in the field:

Aviv Regev, PhD, Chair, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Andrea Califano, PhD, Columbia University

Anshul Kundaje, PhD, Stanford University

X. Shirley Liu, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Lior Pachter, PhD, California Institute of Technology

Dana Pe’er, PhD, Sloan Kettering Institute/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Caroline Uhler, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Todd Golub, MD (ad hoc), The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

This post was originally published by Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. It is republished with permission.