Financial Support for Trainees
The Cancer Biology GIDP has several options for financial support for students who are in the Program. Applications are solicited annually and awardees are selected based on their productivity and their promise of becoming an independent researcher.
T32 Training Grant (CA009213)
The Cancer Biology Program maintains a T32 training grant. This grant has been active since 1978 and provides support for six predocs and two postdocs. The grant provides full stipend support plus a small amount of funds for travel to a relevant scientific conference. Appointments to the training grant are for one year with a second year possible providing that the trainee has shown acceptable progress in his/her research. The program coordinator announces a call for applicants when training slots become available.
Eligibility: CBIO graduate students must be working in the laboratory of a CBIO mentor and they must have successfully completed their oral defense in order to apply. Postdoctoral applicants must be working in or have agreed to work in the laboratory of a CBIO advisor and have completed doctoral-level training (PhD, PharmD, MD, DrPH or equivalent). All applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
The Application Process: Graduate students must supply a CV and three letters of recommendation. In addition, the applicant’s advisor must also submit his/her CV and a letter of nomination that describes the cancer-related research project. Applicants submit these documents to the Program for evaluation and ranking.
Postdoctoral applicants also must supply a CV, three letters of recommendation, along with a CV from his/her advisor and a nomination letter that outlines the cancer-related research project and the advisor’s evaluation of the applicant’s skills and potential for becoming an independent researcher.
The Program announces the outcome of the applications once the evaluations have been completed.
Commitments and Expectations: Recipients of T32 training funds agree to provide an annual progress report that outlines their accomplishments during the past year and their plans for the coming year. Professional skill-building workshops and networking opportunities are available to the T32 trainees. T32 trainees are expected to exhibit scholarly productivity in the form of publications.
The Bowden Fellowship
Tim and Diane Bowden, natives of Cincinnati, Ohio, were junior high school sweethearts and married in 1966. They moved to Tucson in 1978 when Tim joined the faculty of the Department of Radiology, Division of Radiation Oncology at the U of A. Dr. Bowden received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Ohio Wesleyan University and a doctorate in experimental oncology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He held a two-year postdoctoral appointment at the German Cancer Research Institute in Heidelberg and was a staff fellow at the National Cancer Institute before he was recruited to the UA.
Diane Bowden’s career spanned 22 years at Carondelet Health Network where she started as a programmer and became responsible for the health system’s financial software and medical records software systems. She is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati in anthropology and sociology, and the UA in management information systems.
G. Timothy Bowden, PhD, is a founding member of the Cancer Biology Graduate Interdisciplinary Program and is now a professor emeritus at the University of Arizona. Dr. Bowden is an accomplished advisor who mentored more than 25 postdoctoral fellows; 20 PhD students; 5 master’s degree students and several dozen undergraduate students. He also served on PhD supervisory/dissertation committees for 88 students.
In 2015 Dr. Bowden and his wife Diane established the Bowden Fellowship intended to support an exceptionally talented cancer biology graduate student in his/her pursuit of a doctoral degree in cancer biology. Students interested in applying for the Bowden Fellowship must include a current CV, three letters of support as well as a current CV from his/her mentor and a letter describing the nature of the cancer-related research project. Duration of the fellowship is for one year.
The Cockrum Innovation Award
Jim Cockrum built his career solving difficult problems. Maybe that’s why the quest to find a cure for cancer doesn’t intimidate him. “My first job threw me into computer programming in 1960. Everything was unexplored, and there was no place to turn to for solutions. We didn’t know that something couldn’t be done; we just did it,” said Cockrum, now retired from IBM. When Cockrum and his wife Maria made a giving plan, cancer research rose to the top of their priority list. After learning about several University of Arizona programs, they chose to fund an endowment for the UA Cancer Biology Graduate Interdisciplinary Program through a bequest, as well as making an immediate gift. “It exactly matches our interests,” he said of the Program, which trains students earning doctoral degrees in cancer biology, the comparative study of the biology of normal and cancerous cells and tissues, to conduct innovative research. The couple’s endowment will be used to attract the brightest students to the Biology Graduate Interdisciplinary Program and empower them to serve as cancer research pioneers, now and in perpetuity. “We hope this endowment can provide the support to not only pursue but succeed in providing a cure in this, the most horrible of all human maladies,” said Cockrum.
The Cockrum Innovation Award is intended to encourage graduate students in the Cancer Biology GIDP to pursue new and innovative approaches to cancer cure and/or prevention. Students with ideas for projects should submit a one-page description of their project and how it represents an innovative approach. The award could be used to incorporate new technologies, initiate collaborations across disciplines, or acquire skills that are key to conducting cutting-edge cancer research. A letter of support from the student’s advisor and from potential collaborators (if relevant) are also required. Applications are accepted once a year and are for one year only.
CBIO is pleased to announce the Cockrum Innovation Award. This award consists of up to $12,500 of research supplement to be spent towards innovative cancer research. The award is meant to provide research support to qualified graduate students to pursue new directions/approaches that may otherwise have been unfeasible. This includes direct research costs for research supplies/services as well as travel for collaboration and/or research training purposes to advance your project (workshops, training and/or usage of new methods/equipment here at UA or other institutions). This award is not for student salary/stipend support.
Eligibility: CBIO PhD candidates who have passed their comprehensive exams, are in good standing, and have support from their PI mentors.
To Apply: Please send the following as one PDF document to Elaine Fiala (efiala@email.arizona.edu) by 05/30/2021
- Research proposal - up to 2 pages maximum with emphasis on why the research approaches and questions are innovative and how this award would facilitate the proposed work.
- Suggested format
- Background
- Cancer relevance
- New direction/approach to be pursued
- Why the new direction/approach is innovative
- Current CV
- Budget and justification
- Letter of support from mentor
- Letter of support from any other collaborators/mentors involved (if applicable)
Awards will be made by 07/01/2021.
An ad hoc committee will review the submissions
John and Betty Anderson Memorial Fellowship for Cancer Research
In 1998 the family of John and Betty Anderson established the John and Betty Anderson Memorial Fellowship. Their wish was to support first-year graduate students who have elected to pursue a career in cancer research. The Program makes an announcement of the Fellowship’s availability every three years and applicants may submit an application at that time.
Please contact Cynthia Miranti, PhD, PI, cmiranti@email.arizona.edu for information.