The Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Career Development Award, in partnership with Pelotonia and the American Association for Cancer Research, supports innovative research addressing breast and gynecologic cancers.
The award is designed to advance the careers of early-stage scientists conducting basic, translational, clinical, or population-sciences research related to the understanding, prevention, interception, early detection, diagnosis, or treatment of women’s cancers. Projects addressing cancer health disparities and strategies to improve equity in outcomes are especially encouraged.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Applicants must hold a PhD, MD, MD/PhD, or equivalent doctoral degree in a relevant field.
- Applicants must have started their first independent faculty position within six years of the grant start date.
- Up to 12 months of additional eligibility may be considered for parental leave or justified personal or family leave.
- Applicants must devote at least 75% of their total professional effort to research in breast cancer or a gynecologic cancer.
- Applicants cannot be employees or subcontractors of a U.S. federal government entity or for-profit private industry.
- Applicants cannot hold another AACR grant concurrently.
Funding Details:
- The award provides USD 206,000 over two years.
- Graduate-student tuition associated with education and training may be included.
- The recipient must devote at least 75% of their total effort to breast or gynecologic cancer research.
- Professional membership dues and expenses unrelated to the proposed project are not eligible.
Deadline:
- Application deadline: September 3, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time.
- Award decision: November 2026.
- Grant term begins: December 1, 2026.
- The anticipated two-year grant period runs through November 30, 2028.
Further Information:
- Eligible projects may address breast cancer or any gynecologic cancer through basic, translational, clinical, or population-sciences research.
- Proposals focused on cancer health disparities, unequal outcomes, and approaches to achieving equity are especially encouraged.
- Applications require a six-page research proposal, one-page statistical analysis plan, project milestones, biosketch, budget justification, institutional reference letter, and signed applicant checklist.
- Applications must be submitted through ProposalCentral using the official templates; altering templates or failing to follow formatting requirements may result in rejection without review.
- Eligibility and application questions should be directed to the AACR Research and Grants Administration team at grants@aacr.org.