Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging (K76 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging K76 Clinical Trial Not Allowed is a federal career development grant administered by the National Institute on Aging within the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services. The program is designed to advance the research, career development, and leadership capabilities of early-stage clinician-scientists whose work is relevant to aging, geriatrics, older adults, or age-related diseases and conditions. The broader NIH Emerging Leaders Career Development Award seeks to develop scientists capable of taking active leadership roles in transformative research and healthcare change. The Beeson program specifically addresses the need for clinician-scientists with the research and academic leadership skills necessary to advance aging and geriatric research. The award supports clinically relevant basic, translational, clinical, patient-oriented, behavioral, social science, genetic, biological, neuroscientific, and other research related to aging. Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias are identified as a current high-priority area. Candidates may use the award to expand their research area and pursue research, professional development, and leadership activities consistent with future leadership in their chosen field. The program provides protected time for three to five years. The total project period may not exceed five years. The overall direct cost limit is 225000 dollars per year, including allowable salary and research development costs. Allowable research development expenses may include career-development tuition and fees, supplies, equipment, technical personnel, travel to research meetings or training, and statistical services. Recipients are expected to budget for travel to the annual domestic Beeson scholars meeting. Mentor salaries and salaries for secretarial and administrative assistants are not allowed. Indirect costs are reimbursed at 8 percent of modified total direct costs. Cost sharing is not required. Eligible applicant organizations include public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, small businesses and other for-profit organizations, state, county, city or township, special district, and tribal governments, eligible federal agencies, United States territories or possessions, independent school districts, public and Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations, faith-based or community-based organizations, and regional organizations. Foreign organizations, non-United States components of United States organizations, and foreign components are not eligible. The individual candidate must have Early-Stage Investigator status at application submission, although certain applicants whose status expired in 2025 or 2026 may be considered case by case. The candidate must have a clinical doctoral degree or an eligible doctoral degree in a clinical discipline and, by the time of award, must be a United States citizen, non-citizen national, or lawful permanent resident. Candidates are expected to have prior faculty-level competitively awarded research support or to have leveraged faculty-level research development support to establish an independent research line, along with evidence of leadership. Multiple PDs or PIs are not allowed. At award, candidates must have a full-time academic appointment and generally commit at least 75 percent of full-time professional effort to the career development program. Applicants must identify a qualified primary mentor before submission. The mentor must supervise the research and career development experience, support advancement of the candidate as a researcher and emerging leader, and document sufficient research support and facilities. A mentoring team may be used, but one person must serve as primary mentor. Applications must follow the NIH Career Development K application instructions and the program-specific requirements in the funding announcement. Required materials include the applicable SF424 forms, the PHS 398 Career Development Award Supplemental Form, candidate background and career goals, a career development and training plan, research strategy, responsible conduct of research plan, mentor and co-mentor statements, applicable collaborator or consultant support letters, institutional environment and commitment documentation, and human subjects materials when applicable. A Data Management and Sharing Plan is required when the proposed NIH-funded research will generate scientific data. Required reference letters are submitted separately through the eRA Commons Submit Referee Information process. Applications must be submitted electronically to Grants.gov using NIH ASSIST, an institutional system-to-system solution, or Grants.gov Workspace and must subsequently be tracked in eRA Commons. Required organizational registrations include SAM, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov, and the same Unique Entity Identifier must be used consistently. PDs or PIs must have an eRA Commons account and ORCID registration linked to their eRA Commons profile. The earliest submission date is October 10, 2026. New applications are due November 10, 2026, while eligible renewal, resubmission, or revision applications for that cycle are due November 12, 2026. Later listed due dates include June 12, 2027 and June 12, 2028 for new applications and July 12, 2027 and July 12, 2028 for applicable resubmission or revision applications. Applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization. The announcement expires July 13, 2028. Scientific and technical merit is assessed through NIH peer review. Reviewers consider the candidate, career development plan and goals, research plan, mentors and collaborators, and institutional environment and commitment. Reviewers assess the candidate's potential to become a productive independent investigator and leader, the quality and appropriateness of the career development and leadership plan, scientific merit and relevance of the proposed research, mentoring qualifications and support, and the institution's commitment and resources. Funding decisions also consider scientific and technical merit, availability of funds, and relevance to program priorities. For the November 2026 cycle, scientific merit review is anticipated in March 2027, Advisory Council review in May 2027, and the earliest start date is July 2027. NIA intends to support approximately eight general aging awards and four Alzheimer's disease or Alzheimer's disease-related dementias awards each year, subject to appropriations. Independent clinical trials are not permitted, although candidates may obtain research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor. Scientific and eligibility questions may be directed to NIATraining@mail.nih.gov, and grants management questions may be directed to NIA-NOFO-Grants@nih.gov.

Demonstrate prior or current competitive faculty-level research support, lead-author peer-reviewed publications, and concrete leadership accomplishments. Present a logical progression from prior research and leadership experience to the proposed career development activities and eventual independence. Align the research directly with aging, older adults, geriatrics, or AD and ADRD priorities and explain eventual clinical relevance where appropriate. Establish a strong mentoring plan with sufficient mentor research support and clear monitoring of progress toward independence and leadership. Document strong institutional commitment, resources, and protected time for the required minimum 75 percent effort. Budget for required annual Beeson meeting travel. Do not propose to lead an independent clinical trial, although mentored clinical trial research experience is permitted. Follow NIH Career Development K instructions and all NOFO-specific requirements because noncompliant applications may be delayed or not reviewed.