Pioneer Awards

There is a lack of funding for sex- and gender-based research, in addition to a lack of awareness that conducting sexually dimorphic studies is critical to advancing knowledge that can lead to breakthrough discoveries effecting changes and improvements in clinical care across every medical discipline.  In service of our mission to increase the sex- and gender-based research portfolio at Northwestern, the Institute developed its Pioneer Awards program to provide investigators with seed funding ($25,000 each) who either currently study, or would like to initiate new research focusing on, the sex and gender determinants of health and disease. We strive to provide the catalyst that will encourage the Northwestern community to take the lead in designing and analyzing experiments based on sex. The knowledge gap will tighten with our continued efforts to help the research community (researchers, NIH, FDA and IRBs) transform their practices to a system that highly values sex as an important research variable.  In turn, this transformation will translate into optimal care for both men and women.

Specifically, this program:

• Enables early career investigators to conduct pilot studies that will help build their portfolio, thereby enhancing their ability to compete for large federal grants.
• Permits a senior investigator to explore a new and innovative research direction.
• Provides a mechanism for senior investigators to mentor young scientists who are interested in sex- based research that will support these young investigators to work in their clinic or lab.
• Advances our knowledge of women’s health through innovative research and a collaborative spirit that allows researchers to “think outside the box”.

In 2007, we distributed two awards to researchers investigating two important areas in sex-specific research – depression and cardiovascular disease. In 2008 we developed a more formal application process that surprisingly resulted in 60 submissions. While we were able to fund only five of the extraordinary proposals submitted, we believe that by enticing investigators to break real or perceived barriers in much needed sex-based research, we are advancing the women’s health research agenda at Northwestern University. For the 2009 round of funding, we decided to require investigators to submit only those studies that were specifically designed to address sex and gender determinants of health and disease. Our submission number dropped to 20, indicating that while those who are interested in sex and gender based biology are conducting outstanding research, the Northwestern research community as a whole needs to consider this essential variable with more rigor.

On September 9, 2009 we announced the five 2009 recipients, bringing the total projects funded ($25,000 each) through this mechanism to 12, or $300,000.  We are just beginning to observe the exciting outcome of these projects in the form of increased federal grant applications and numerous peer-reviewed publications. To view the list of past and presently funded researchers, including project summaries see below.

5 Key Impact Areas in 2007 and 2008

• Sleep - Fred Turek, PhD
• Peripheral Vascular Disease - Melina Kibbe, MD & Melissa Hogg, MD
• Infectious Disease - Kimberly Scarsi, PharmD, MS, BCPS
• Mental Health - Jackie Gollan, PhD
• Neuroscience - Catherine Woolley, PhD

Currently Funded Pioneer Award Recipients - 2009/2010 Funding Announcement [PDF]

• Sex Differences in HIV Transmission-Minh Dinh, MD
• Gender Differences in Heart Stress Differences-Martha Gulati, MD
• Sex Differences in Opioids - Dhanesh Gupta, MD
• Neonatal Androgens- Franck Mauvais-Jarvis, MD, PhD
• Skeletal Effects of Estrogen and Androgen - Paula Stern, PhD

Funding for 2011/2012 is not currently available.