The Pew Charitable Trusts supports groundbreaking research by early-career biomedical scientists working to improve human health. Since its founding in 1985, the portfolio has evolved into four robust grant programs that help researchers pursue some of science’s greatest challenges. Now more than 1,000 members strong, this network of scientists continues to conduct innovative research and mentor, inspire, and collaborate with one another to advance health and medicine around the world.
Programs
Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences: Provides funding to young investigators of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of human health. The program makes grants to selected academic institutions to support the independent research of outstanding individuals who are in their first few years of their appointment at the assistant professor level. Learn more.
Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences: Provides support for young scientists from Latin America to receive postdoctoral training in the United States. Fellows who return to Latin America will receive additional funding to start their own lab. The program gives these individuals an opportunity to further their scientific knowledge by promoting exchange and collaboration between investigators in the United States and Latin America, resulting in advances in research in Latin America. Learn more.
Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research: A national initiative designed to support promising early-career scientists whose research will accelerate discovery and advance progress toward finding a cure for cancer. The program is funded by The Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust and administered by Pew. The Stewart Trust has invested in innovative, cutting-edge cancer research and scientists for more than 15 years. Through this partnership, Pew-Stewart scholars have tremendous potential to solve some of cancer’s weightiest challenges. Learn more.
Innovation Fund: This award supports alumni and advisers of Pew’s three biomedical research programs. Investigators partner on collaborative research projects to spark cutting-edge discovery across disciplines.
History
Pew’s biomedical programs began when the first class of Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences received funding in 1985. The group met in Phoenix the following year, kicking off a tradition of annual scientific meetings and community-building that continues to this day. The Pew biomedical scholars program marked the first time the Pew family name was publicly attached to a project, and today, it remains the organization’s longest-running initiative.
Over the course of the program’s early years, Pew scholars—all working in the United States—recognized the opportunity to expand their community and to support science beyond this country’s borders. In 1991, this led to the creation of the Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences, which provides funding to talented scientists from Latin America to conduct postdoctoral training in the United States and offers additional funding if fellows choose to start a lab in Latin America. Fellows go on to publish studies, train other scientists, and hold leadership roles across academia and government.
In 2014, Pew and the Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust recognized a need for funding intended specifically for early-career cancer research. Since then, the Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research has supported promising researchers focused on better understanding cancer’s origins, diagnosis, and treatment.
As a vote of confidence in the power of collaborative, interdisciplinary research, Pew created the Innovation Fund in 2017 to encourage partnerships among alumni of Pew’s three biomedical programs. Combining their unique areas of expertise, pairs of researchers are selected annually as Innovation Fund investigators and receive funding to tackle complex questions in human biology and disease.
Impact
Today, more than 1,000 scholars and fellows are uncovering fundamental knowledge about basic scientific principles, engineering new medications and treatments for complex ailments, and pushing for greater opportunities for promising scientists in the field.
Many Pew-supported researchers have been recognized for their contributions, including with preeminent scientific honors such as the Nobel Prize, Lasker Award, MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship, and Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers recipients. Numerous scientists have also been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, and other honorary roles. Moreover, Pew scholars and fellows are committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists through leadership roles at their own institutions and throughout the field.
More Information
If you have program questions or want more information, please contact the following:
- Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences: [email protected].
- Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences: [email protected].
- Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research: [email protected].
For media inquiries, please reach out to Erin Davis, communications manager, at [email protected].
