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AGA-Torrey Coast Foundation Fellowship-to-Faculty Transition Award in Upper GI Cancer

American Gastroenterological Association

Objective

The objective of this AGA Research Foundation award is to provide funds to clinical and postdoctoral fellows to protect time dedicated to clinical or translational research to aid in their transition to independence. Projects must focus on the epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment or patient outcomes of gastro-esophageal cancer.

Application requirements

• The proposed research must have relevance to upper-GI, gastro-esophageal cancer.
• AGA membership must be maintained throughout the two-year duration of the award.
• Applicants will be asked to self-assign their proposal to one of the following categories:
- Clinical: Research involving direct contact with human subjects or using clinical data to address problems related to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment or outcome of human diseases (e.g., clinical epidemiology). This category also includes research related to health care delivery (e.g., health services, health IT).
- Translational: Research focused on turning observations from the laboratory, clinic, and/or community into interventions that improve diagnostics and therapeutics. This category can involve human biospecimens or human data as resources for laboratory- or informatics-based investigation, or pre-clinical in vivo models provided they directly test human disease-relevant biology.
• Resources allocated through this award are intended to support the career development of the applicant. The applicant must allocate a minimum of 50 percent effort to the proposed project.
• Applicants are required to have a sponsor and mentor for the award; one individual may serve in the capacity of both positions. A sponsor (typically a division chief or department chair) is an individual who takes responsibility for the quality assessment of the proposed research project, the quality of the research environment within which the project will be undertaken, and the experience and expertise of the principal investigator and other key researchers involved. A mentor will supervise the principal investigator’s research activities ensuring timelines and deliverables and will work with the applicant to create a research career development plan.
• Applicants must submit a career development plan detailing their career goals and objectives. The plan should describe career development and training activities the applicant will pursue during the award period and provide a timeline for applying for faculty positions.
• The intent of this award is to protect time for research to facilitate generation of preliminary data and gain necessary experience to become more competitive for academic research appointments. Applicants whose proposed research activities overlap with aims already funded through a mentor’s grant must clearly delineate the scientific and experimental distinctions between their respective programs. This requirement applies to active grants and pending grants submitted by the mentor prior to review of this award or expected to be submitted during the term of the FFTA. It must also be clearly stated how the work submitted by the FFTA applicant is that of the applicant and not of the senior mentor(s).
• Biographical sketches for the applicant, mentor and other key personnel must be submitted.
• A list of the applicant’s current and pending other support.
• A complete research facilities and resources form.
• Upon notification of receipt of this award, the recipient must provide institutional approval from the appropriate committee for use of human subjects. Recipient must provide documentation from the appropriate regulatory committee if approval is not necessary.
• Recipients must submit scientific and financial progress reports to AGA annually and final reports 60 days after the end date of the award period. Report templates and instructions are provided to awardees at the time of acceptance. Second-year funding is contingent upon the submission and accuracy of this documentation.
• All publications, presentations and abstracts arising from work funded by this program must acknowledge support of the AGA Fellow-to-Faculty Transition Award.
• Additional pre-award policies are available on the Research Award Policies page.

Budget guidelines

• Applicants must submit a budget narrative justifying expenses in the budget.
• The following expenses are allowable:
- Salary and benefits for the principal investigator or other personnel. You must provide clear justification if the total budget is exclusively allocated to salary and benefits.
- Biostatistics/bioinformatics support.
- Supplies and/or equipment.
- Other direct expenses necessary to conduct the proposed research.
• The following expenses are not allowed:
- Salary and benefits of the mentor.
- Travel costs.
- Indirect costs.

Award overlap

At the time of application submission, applicants may not hold awards directly related to the proposed research from another organization (e.g., government agency, foundation, academic institution, professional society). If the applicant is granted the award and notified of a comparable award from another agency prior to the first payment of this award, the recipient must select one of the two awards (i.e., the recipient may not retain both awards). If a recipient is granted a comparable award following the first payment of this award, subsequent payments on this award will be reduced by 50%.

Selection criteria

The recipient will be selected based on the following criteria: applicant, career development plan, environment and institutional commitment, research plan, mentors and collaborators and relevance to digestive diseases and AGA’s mission.

Review process

A selection committee comprising members of the AGA Institute Research Awards Panel will review the proposals and select the award recipients. Applicants will receive a status notification on or before February 1, 2027, and funding will commence in July 2027.

Application process

The application deadline is September 15, 2026. Applications are only accepted through the AGA Grants Management System. Click the “Apply Now” button to create an account and/or submit an application. Applicants may preview the application as it will appear in the AGA Grants Management System. Please note that this preview is for reference only; all applications are completed online by selecting the “Apply Now” button.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

🧠 1. Strong Focus on Gastroenterology & Hepatology (Non-Negotiable)

Projects must directly address:
- GI or liver diseases
Common areas:
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
- GI cancers
- Liver disease (NAFLD, cirrhosis)
- Microbiome research

👉 Weak GI relevance → low success probability

🎯 2. Clear Clinical or Patient Impact (Top Predictor)

Successful proposals:

Demonstrate:
- Improvement in diagnosis, treatment, or outcomes
Focus on:
- Patient care
- Disease management
- Prevention

👉 Key question:
“Will this improve care for patients with GI or liver disease?”

🔄 3. Translational Research (Bench → Bedside) (Critical)

Preference for:
- Translational and clinically relevant research
Includes:
- Biomarkers
- Therapeutics
- Clinical trials

👉 Pure basic science is less competitive unless clinically linked

👩‍🔬 4. Early-Career Investigator Development (Major Priority)

Many AGA awards target:
- Fellows and junior faculty

Evaluation includes:

Career trajectory
Independence potential

👉 Strong mentorship is essential

🧪 5. Feasible, Well-Structured Study Design

Must include:
- Clear aims
- Methodology
- Timeline

👉 Overly ambitious or poorly designed studies are frequently rejected

💡 6. Innovation in Key GI Areas

High success rates in:

Microbiome & gut–brain axis
Precision medicine
AI in GI diagnostics
Novel therapeutics

👉 Innovation must be clinically meaningful

🤝 7. Strong Mentorship & Institutional Support

Mentor should:
- Have a strong research track record
Institution must provide:
- Clinical exposure
- Research infrastructure

👉 Mentorship quality significantly impacts outcomes

📊 8. Alignment with AGA Priority Topics

Higher success when aligned with:

Digestive cancers
Chronic liver disease
IBD
Functional GI disorders

👉 Topic alignment improves competitiveness

📈 9. Potential for Future Funding & Publications

AGA funding is often:
- Seed funding for NIH or major grants

👉 Projects that:

Generate preliminary data
Lead to publications
→ score higher

💰 10. Appropriate Scope & Budget

Funding is typically:
- Pilot to mid-scale
Projects must be:
- Focused
- Achievable

👉 Over-scoped proposals are commonly rejected

📊 Summary: Key Predictors (Ranked)

Highest impact factors:

GI/hepatology focus
Clinical impact
Translational relevance

Moderate predictors:
4. Early-career development
5. Feasibility
6. Innovation

Supporting factors:
7. Mentorship
8. Topic alignment
9. Future funding potential

💡 Insider Insight

Compared to NIH:

American Gastroenterological Association is:
👉 clinically focused + career-development oriented
👉 emphasizes pilot and translational research

👉 Key evaluation question:
“Will this project improve GI care and help develop a future investigator?”

✔️ What wins:

Translational GI research
Strong mentorship
Feasible pilot studies

❌ What struggles:

Pure basic science
Weak clinical relevance
Overly ambitious projects

Specialties

Gastroenterology

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicants for this award must hold an MD, PhD and/or equivalent degree (e.g., MBBS, MBChB, DO) and hold a clinical or postdoctoral fellow position at an institution in North America (United States, Canada or Mexico).
- Clinical fellows must be in the final year of fellowship training or those in the year following the end of their fellowship training at the time of application.
- Postdoctoral fellows must have at least four years and fewer than six years of postdoctoral research at the time of application and be actively preparing to seek faculty positions before this award concludes. Postdoctoral applicants must clearly describe their plan for establishing scientific independence from their current mentor(s) and plans – including timeline – for applying to faculty positions.
• Awards are intended for fellows and therefore applicants who have existing commitments for permanent faculty positions prior to the start date of the award are ineligible.
• Fellowship-to-faculty transition award applicants are ineligible for an AGA Research Scholar Award in the same awards cycle. Contact awards@gastro.org if you are unsure which mechanism is a better fit.
• AGA membership is required at the time of application submission. Please visit the AGA membership page or call 301-654-2055 for membership information.
• Applicants must have a mentor who is an AGA member at the time of application.
• Applicants performing exclusively basic research are ineligible.
• Applicants who are physician-scientists, female or from racial/ethnic groups underrepresented in biomedical research are strongly encouraged to apply.

Eligible Countries:

Canada

Mexico

United States

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: American Gastroenterological Association

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 4930 Del Ray Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814

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