The Pew-Stewart Scholars for Cancer Research supports assistant professors of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of a cure for cancer. The award provides $300,000 in flexible support—$75,000 per year for a four-year period. For the 2025 award, one nomination will be invited from each of the participating institutions listed at the bottom of this page.

In line with The Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust’s mission to invest in innovative, cutting-edge cancer research that may accelerate and advance progress toward a cure for cancer, applications are invited from nominees conducting cancer research. This program is distinct from the Pew Scholars Program, and it follows a different, but parallel set of guidelines and procedures for nominating an applicant whose research is related to cancer.

Eligibility for the 2025 Award

Candidates must meet all of the following eligibility requirements:

• Hold a doctorate in biomedical sciences, medicine, or a related field, including engineering or the physical sciences.
• As of Aug. 28, 2024, run an independent lab and hold a full-time appointment at the rank of assistant professor. (Appointments such as research assistant professor, adjunct assistant professor, assistant professor research track, visiting professor, or instructor are not eligible.)
  • Current appointments such as research assistant professor, adjunct assistant professor, assistant professor research track, visiting professor, or instructor are not eligible to apply. Please note that the applicant must not have been appointed as an assistant professor at any institution and have run an independent lab prior to June 10, 2020. 
• Must not have been appointed as an assistant professor at any institution prior to June 10, 2020, whether or not such an appointment was on a tenure track. Time spent in clinical internships, residencies, in work toward board certification, or on parental leave does not count as part of this four-year limit. Candidates who need an exception on the four-year limit should contact Pew’s program office to ensure that application reviewers are aware an exception has been given.
• May apply to the program a maximum of two times. All applicants must be nominated by their institution and must complete the 2025 online application.
• If applicants have appointments at more than one eligible nominating institution or affiliate, they may not reapply in a subsequent year from a different nominating entity.
• May not be nominated for the Pew Scholars Program and the Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research in the same year.

Based on their performance during their education and training, candidates should demonstrate outstanding promise as contributors in science relevant to the field of cancer. This program does not fund clinical trials research. Strong proposals will incorporate particularly creative and pioneering approaches to basic, translational, and applied cancer research. Candidates whose work is based on biomedical principles but who bring in concepts and theories from more diverse fields are encouraged to apply.

Ideas with the potential to produce an unusually high impact are encouraged. Selection of the successful candidates will be based on a detailed description of the work that the applicant proposes to undertake, evaluations of the candidate’s performance, and notable past accomplishments, including honors, awards, and publications. In evaluating the candidates, the National Advisory Committee gives considerable weight to both the project proposal and the researcher, including evidence that the candidate is a successful independent investigator and has the skill set needed to carry out their high-impact proposal.

Funding from the NIH, other government sources, and project grants from nonprofit associations do not pose a conflict with the Pew-Stewart program. If you have questions concerning eligibility, please contact Pew Biomedical Programs (Pew-Stewart@pewtrusts.org) in advance of applying.

Award Terms

Funding terms

An award of $75,000 per year for four years will be provided to the sponsoring institution for use by the Pew-Stewart scholar, subject to annual review of his or her progress. Grant agreements will be issued in August of the award year. The awarded funds may be used at the discretion of the Pew-Stewart scholar, for personnel, equipment, supplies, or travel directly related to the Pew-Stewart scholar's research and as to best advance his or her research and career.

• The amount of the award that may be used for the principal investigator’s salary is limited to $12,500 per year (including benefits) or $50,000 over the duration of the grant. There are no limits on student or postdoctoral salaries.
• Not more than 8 percent ($24,000) of the total award value may be allocated for facilities and administration (F&A) charges or indirect costs (IDCs).
• Should the funds not be immediately required, they may be accumulated and carried over through the grant period and, with written approval of the program office, the grant may receive a no-cost extension for one additional year (without additional funds).
• Subawards are allowed.

Investigator effort

It is expected that Pew-Stewart scholars will spend at least 80 percent of their time in work or activities related to the accomplishment of their overall research goals (which are not restricted to the specific aims proposed for this award). However, Pew provides flexible support to the general research aims of the Pew-Stewart scholar and does not require effort reporting.

Annual meeting attendance

During the four-year grant term, program participants are required to attend an annual meeting held in March or April. All eligible expenses for attendees’ travel, lodging, and meals are paid by Pew and the Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust. The meeting provides Pew grantees an opportunity to present their research and for scientific collaboration and exchange with other scholars and members of the Pew-Stewart National Advisory Committee.

Annual reports

Annual progress reports are required, describing cancer research accomplishments, project status, and future directions. In addition, financial reports are required annually accounting for general grant expenditures. Funding for the second, third, and fourth years is contingent upon timely submission of acceptable financial and narrative progress reports and attendance at the annual meeting during the four-year term.

Participating Institutions

For the awards to be made in 2025, one nomination will be invited from the leaders of the following 94 cancer research centers and institutions:

Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania 
Albert Einstein Cancer Center
Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes- Jewish Hospital
Anderson Center for Cancer Research, The Rockefeller University 
Arizona Cancer Center, University of Arizona 
Boston University-Boston Medical Center Cancer Center
Brown University
California Institute of Technology
Cancer Center at Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Irvine 
City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center  
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center  
Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine 
Dana Farber/ Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard University 
David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center 
Fox Chase Cancer Center  
Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center 
Fred Hutchinson/University of Washington Cancer Consortium
Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University 
Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center 
Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University 
Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Iowa 
Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina 
Howard University Cancer Center, Howard University
Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah 
Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indiana University 
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles
Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health and Science University 
Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone, NYU Langone Medical Center  
Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore 
Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky 
Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota 
Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University 
Mayo Clinic Cancer Center
Mays Cancer Center, University of Texas Health San Antonio
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Moffitt Cancer Center
National Cancer Institute
Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama
Penn State Cancer Institute, Pennsylvania State University
Purdue University Center for Cancer Research, Purdue University 
Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University 
Roswell Park Cancer Institute  
Salk Institute Cancer Center
Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medical College  
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute 
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital  
Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford University
Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University School of Medicine 
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers University 
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
The Jackson Laboratory Cancer Center  
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute 
The Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center 
The University of Kansas Cancer Center 
The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center  
The University of Texas Medical Branch
The Wistar Institute Cancer Center  
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center 
University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center 
University of California, San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of California, Santa Cruz 
University of Colorado Cancer Center 
University of Florida Health Cancer Center
University of Hawaii Cancer Center  
University of Illinois Cancer Center, University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Massachusetts Cancer Center
University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center 
University of New Mexico Cancer Center 
University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center 
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hillman Cancer Center
University of Vermont Cancer Center
University of Virginia Cancer Center 
University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center 
University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center
Van Andel Research Institute
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center  
Wilmot Cancer Institute, University of Rochester
Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University 
Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Yale Cancer Center, Yale University School of Medicine

National Advisory Committee

The Pew-Stewart National Advisory Committee provides scientific leadership to the program, reviews all applications, and identifies candidates to be recommended to the Pew board to be named Pew-Stewart scholars.

Current members of the National Advisory Committee include:

Chair:

Helen Piwnica-Worms, Ph.D.
Professor of Experimental Radiation Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Members:

Navdeep S. Chandel, Ph.D.
David W. Cugell Professor of Medicine & Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University 

Howard Y. Chang, M.D., Ph.D.
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research 
Professor of Dermatology and Genetics
Stanford University

Susan Kaech, Ph.D.
Professor and Director
Nomis Foundation Chair
Nomis Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Sohail Tavazoie, M.D., Ph.D.
Leon Hess Professor 
Director, Black Family Metastasis Center 
Rockefeller University