Junior Faculty Development Award Grant

The Junior Faculty Development Award, funded by the American College of Gastroenterology, offers $450,000 over three years to support junior researchers in gastroenterology or hepatology. Aimed at ACG members, this award allows recipients to dedicate 50% of their time to clinical research, enhancing their skills and advancing their careers. Eligible candidates include those within seven years post-fellowship who can guarantee protected research time. The initiative fosters novel research that directly impacts gastrointestinal health.

The ACG Institute for Clinical Research and Education and the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) are proud to support junior investigators working toward independent careers in clinical research in gastroenterology or hepatology, and invite eligible applicants to apply for a $450,000, three-year career development award, to be funded from July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2029. This award supports 50% research time and is only available to ACG members.
The goal of the Junior Faculty Development Award is to assist promising clinical researchers in developing research careers that have a direct bearing on clinical gastrointestinal practice. This award provides the protected research time and time dedicated to developing research and leadership skills in order to advance a junior faculty member’s career with novel research.
This grant is designed to support research that is principally focused on digestive or liver diseases. The patient population or disease target should be principally related to the gastrointestinal tract, liver, biliary system, pancreas, or neuroenteric science, including any translational, clinical, social science, or health services research studies that pertain to managing such patients or conditions. For example, a study about microbiota would be appropriate if it pertains to a digestive disease. In contrast, a study that is principally about HIV would likely not be appropriate unless it directly relates to how HIV affects digestive health. Since its inception in 1997, the Junior Faculty Development Award has provided over $18 Million in funding to over 79 recipients.

Eligibility

ACG Member at the time of applicationPhysician (MD, MBBS, or DO)Junior Faculty less than 7 years post GI or Hepatology fellowship trainingFull-Time faculty position as part of a gastroenterology or hepatology department at a university, medical school, or health care institution at the time of funding (July 2025), should it be approvedU.S. or Canadian-based Able to guarantee 50% protected research time for the entirety of the three years. Candidates must devote at least 50% of their effort to clinical research related to gastroenterology or hepatology and must have a Preceptor who can provide mentorship. A letter from the Division Chief must certify that the award will provide 50% protected time to the recipient in accordance with the terms of the award.
You must be a member of this organization to apply for this award - become a member. The Principal Investigator must be an ACG member in good standing. ACG membership must be active no later than October 2024.

Ineligibility

Established InvestigatorsIndividuals who hold an NIH grant (e.g., R01, R29, K08, K23, KL2, KL12), a VA HSR&D Career Development Award, or who have been granted a career development award (either intramural or extramural) by another organization.Individuals who have held an academic position for greater than 7 years.Fellows-in-training.Projects that support laboratory or animal research projects. Award overlap: ACG does not provide duplicate funding.Applications utilizing the same science may not be submitted for two different ACG grant categories (for example the same project/science is submitted for both the Junior Faculty Award and Clinical Research Award) and if this occurs they will not be evaluated by the Committee.ACG limits funding for a PI to one grant in a single award cycle. If a given investigator submits projects in two or more RFA categories and more than one is deemed worthy of funding, the larger grant will be funded. If the applicant was awarded an ACG research award within the last three (3) years, they cannot apply for the same grant category in which they were awarded. They may apply for a different grant category, as the College is not trying to limit the progression of research (pilot award to CRA or JR Faculty Award), but rather the same investigators being funded repeatedly.