Research Award Program

2025 Research Funding

The Dermatology Foundation has played a significant role in the advancement of patient care through its Research Award Program since 1964. With support from the DF’s 16 research award categories, promising investigators have the opportunity to pursue innovative ideas and new knowledge that ultimately lead to breakthroughs in patient care. Funding is available in a wide range of research award categories.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES

Requests for Diversity Research Supplement Awards may be submitted beginning September 1st to November 1st.

Mid-career research award applications will be accepted beginning September 15th. The deadline for submission will be December 1st. Applicaiton Instructions and eligibility can be found on the specific award page.

Applications for career development awards, fellowships and grants are now being accepted. The deadline for submission is October 15th. Application instructions and eligibility can be found on the specific award page.

Award Categories

Announcing the 2024 Research Award Recipients

The DF congratulates its 2024 research award recipients! The Foundation’s Medical and Scientific Committee reviewed many promising proposals and identified those which are most meritorious and impactful for the future of dermatology. We are pleased to support the work of these individuals.

View Awardees [PDF]

The Dermatology Foundation is essential to progress. It provides funding to junior investigators doing skin research at a critical time in their careers. The support helps junior investigators establish an independent career because the DF funding comes at a time when few options for support exist. Research dollars typically are used to generate preliminary data important for applying for NIH grants that are necessary for a successful research career in cutaneous research."

George Cotsarelis, MD

Board of Directors Research Award Program Liaison
Chair of the Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania

Award Selection Process

Announcement of Award Offerings

The DF's Research Award Program (RAP) offers a variety of research awards intended to further the specialty and enable advancements in patient care. An emphasis is placed on supporting research that benefits the dermatology community at large and has significant potential to advance patient care. Applications for career development awards, fellowships, and grants are accepted annually in the fall.

Medical and Scientific Review

Identifying the most exemplary ideas and researchers is the role of the Medical and Scientific Committee and its Clinical / Medical / Surgical / Dermatopathology Panel, made up of 18 specialty leaders whose expertise spans the field. The committees review proposals following a rigorous process based on the National Institutes of Health study sections.

Recipients Announced and Funding Begins

Once the most meritorious applications are ranked, funds are allocated and approved by the DF Board of Directors. Award recipients are announced in the spring at the DF Annual Meeting of Membership and online. Funding begins July 1 of the year of application.

The impact of DF funding is profound. As a physician-scientist, I can say that not every specialty has this. It’s a real boon to dermatology to be able to provide our pathway of physician-scientists with the support that allows them to keep making the choice to deepen our knowledge of skin disease. These basic observations are then translated into great tools — such as those we now have for psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and other diseases.”

Tiffany C. Scharschmidt, MD

Associate Professor, UCSF Department of Dermatology

Research Award Program FAQs

The DF’s Research Award Program offers a variety of research awards intended to further the specialty and enable advancements in patient care. An emphasis is placed on supporting research that benefits the dermatology community at large and has significant potential to advance patient care. It is the expectation that the recipients of Foundation awards will be tomorrow’s expert teachers, innovative investigators, and master clinicians in dermatology.

Am I eligible?

General Eligibility

All DF-funded research must be conducted in the U.S. under the sponsorship of a department/division of dermatology that is ACGME-approved for training in dermatology. A project to be performed as a part of the U.S. government research program (except Veterans Administration), or to be performed at a private foundation without an academic affiliation to dermatology, is not eligible for funding. A project involving human subjects must have IRB approval at the time funding commences, i.e., July 1, and throughout the term of the award.

An individual who is a prior or current principal investigator (PI) on a federal grant is not eligible to receive a DF career development award, fellowship or grant.

The following two exceptions apply:

CDA awardees may have an effort on an NIH grant as long as he/she is not the senior PI who initiated the application and he/she does not have direct reporting responsibilities for this or prior federal awards. Total support from all federal grants must be less than 20% of their total effort during the term of the DF award. OR
The individual is the recipient of an NIH training grant or an equivalent grant from another granting agency.

Upon receipt as the PI of a federal grant, a DF CDA or grant will be withdrawn. Note, an individual who receives a federal grant that eliminates their status as a "new investigator" is not eligible to maintain/receive a DF CDA.

Fellowship recipients may receive NIH training grants or an equivalent grant from another granting agency.

Important Note: The Foundation utilizes the NIH definitions of “principal investigator” and “co-investigator” to administer this policy, as found in the Glossary of NIH Terms

Additional Requirements for all CDAs

1. Candidates with an M.D.; M.D., Ph.D.; or D.O. must be no greater than 12 years beyond their terminal degree — as of January 1, 2025.

2. Candidates with a Ph.D. must be no greater than 8 years beyond their terminal degree — as of January 1, 2025.

3. Junior faculty member in a department or division of dermatology with an ACGME-approved dermatology residency program, through Assistant Professor level.

4. Anyone who is a prior or current principal investigator (PI) on a federal grant is not eligible to receive a DF career development award. The following two exceptions apply:

CDA awardees may have an effort on an NIH grant as long as he/she is not the senior PI who initiated the application and he/she does not have direct reporting responsibilities for this or prior federal awards. Total support from all federal grants must be less than 20% of their total effort during the term of the DF award.

The individual is the recipient of an NIH training grant or an equivalent grant from another granting agency.

Important Notes: An individual who receives a federal grant that eliminates their status as a “new investigator” is not eligible to maintain/receive a CDA. The Foundation utilizes the NIH definitions of “principal investigator” and “co- investigator” to administer this policy, as found in the Glossary of NIH Terms.

5. Research award recipients may not simultaneously hold a DF career development award and a grant. As a result, applicants applying for a new career development award may also apply for a grant though they cannot receive funding for both. Current CDA recipients applying for a second or third year of funding cannot also apply for a DF grant.

6. Strong institutional commitment for the individual’s career development.

Learn about additional award-specific eligibility requirements for each DF career development award in the CDA award description pages.

How do I apply for a research award?

The Foundation offers 16 funding opportunities in the five (5) categories: Mid-career, career development, fellowship, research grants and diversity supplement awards. Applications for all awards are to be submitted online. The DF utilizes three award portals for application submission and award management:

Mid-Career Research Award Portal -- for all mid-career awards, including the Bristol Myers Squibb Psoriasis Research Award
CDAFG Research Award Portal – for all career development, fellowship, grant requests
DRSA Research Award Portal – for all Diversity Research Supplement Award applications

If you are a new user of the DF system of portals, you will be asked to create a profile and select a password on your first visit. Once complete, this profile and password will be linked to all three portals, enabling you to apply for additional funding in any category, in the future. For quick reference user guides, see the award-specific pages on this site.

Early Career Support

Career Development Awards
Investing in our specialty’s most promising researchers helps them to establish the track records and data needed to secure major federal awards. For 2025 new award recipients will receive $75,000 in annual support for up to 2 years.

Research Fellowship
Our specialty’s newest investigators are its future leaders. Investing in them early in their careers makes future innovation possible. This award provides a one-year salary stipend of $35,000 to the most promising physician-scientists who have recently completed their dermatology residency training.

Grants

Diversity

The DF is dedicated to improving the diversity of physician-researchers in our specialty, which will ultimately benefit patient care. The Diversity Research Supplement Award provides support for a 6-to-12-week mentored investigative opportunity for medical students belonging to a minority group underrepresented in medicine. Due to the unique timing and structure of this award, information is available in the fall, and applications are due September 1 and November 1 of each year.

I'm a current award recipient. How do I provide the final research or financial report required by the Foundation?

Reporting Forms

The Foundation requires the submission of final research and financial reports for each research award granted. Both reports must be completed and submitted no later than 60 days following the end of the award period to receive the final award payment. The new research award portal system has automated the reporting process. The DF system will email each award recipient when a report is due, provide submission instructions and enable you or your institution to provide the information online.

If your award began in 2022 or earlier, please complete the financial or research templates provided here. The completed forms should be sent to dfrap@dermatologyfoundation.org.

Download Reporting Templates

Attention Department Chairs and Program Directors

The Chair's Comments of Support form [Word] must be completed by the Dermatology Department/Division Chair/Chief for all career development award and fellowship applicants. Please be sure to respond to each question thoroughly. Keep in mind, the applicant’s potential to contribute to dermatology, mentor, training environment, and the institution’s support of the applicant are key criteria in the DF’s application review process.