UCSF Women's Health Research Scholar Award

Accepting Applications!

The Women's Health Clinical Research Center (WHCRC) is excited to announce the Emerging Women’s Health Research Scholar Award. This award will recognize UCSF early-career investigators (postdoctoral fellows or junior faculty) who show exceptional promise in conducting impactful clinical or translational research focused on women’s health. 

Eligible individuals can submit a self-nomination application available here (1-page brief response to questions, NIH biosketch (old or new template, or curriculum vitae if biosketch is not available), and a 1-page abstract of a completed research project) by Friday, September 4, 5pm PT

 

The award includes a small monetary prize and an invitation to deliver a brief research presentation at this year’s Women’s Health Research Symposium, “Building and Sustaining a Clinical Research Career in Women’s Health”. The symposium will be held on the UCSF Mission Bay campus on Friday, October 30, 2026, from 12pm-5 pm PST and will include keynote speaker, Dr. Beth Karlan, and featured presenter, Dr. Monica Gandhi. 

Award eligibility (Please contact us at [email protected] with any questions about eligibility criteria)

  • Have a UCSF affiliation with any school on campus; and
  • Be an early career investigator, including post-doctoral scholars, fellows, clinical instructors or assistant professors within the first three years of faculty appointment; and
  • conduct clinical or translational research in women's health

Self-nomination materials

Completion of application that includes:

  • Personal statement (500 words or less) to include:
    1. prior and current scholarship in women's health, and
    2. how women's health research fits in with your career trajectory
  • NIH Biosketch (new or old format) preferred, or curriculum vitae 
  • 1-page abstract of a completed clinical or translational research project in women's health (500 words or less; can be unpublished work or recently published within the past ~2 years)
  • Submitted here by Friday, September 4, 2026, 5pm PT

Award selection criteria

  • Significance and potential impact of applicant’s completed research work and research trajectory in women's health
  • Quality of the abstract of completed research project – writing, appropriateness of methods, significance of results, conclusions/implications of work
  • Candidate and career trajectory in women's health research

Timeline

  • Self-nomination through completion of the application is due Friday, September 4, 2026 by 5 pm PT.
  • Awardees will be notified by September 30, 2026. 
  • Awardees will each present their completed research project in a 10 to 15-minute presentation followed by a moderated question & answer at the UCSF Women’s Health Research Symposium on Friday, October 30, 2026.

Presented by:

Women's Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) Program