The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance (PSSCRA) today announced the opening of applications for the 2025 Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize (formerly known as the Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research). The prize of $250,000 per year for three years is awarded annually to six scientists who are based in the greater New York City area. The Prize empowers researchers to pursue novel, high-risk/high-reward cancer research at a stage when traditional funding is lacking.
“We are thrilled to open the application process for the 12th year of the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize,” said Pershing Square Foundation Trustee Bill Ackman. “Past Prize winners have changed the field of cancer research and that makes the process of reviewing the new, innovative and bold proposals each year even more inspiring. We are proud to continue to support the best and brightest rising stars as they work to cure cancer.”
Applicants must have between two and six years of experience running their own laboratories by the award start date (July 2025), hold a PhD, MD, or MD-PhD (or degree equivalent), and be affiliated with a research institution in the greater New York City area. The greater New York City area includes New York City’s five boroughs, Long Island, Westchester County, New Jersey, Western Connecticut (Fairfield and New Haven Counties), and Philadelphia, PA. The deadline to submit a Letter of Intent is October 28, 2024 at 5:00pm ET. For more details on PSSCRA and the application process, including the full eligibility criteria, please visit the application submission portal: https://prizeapplication.smapply.io/.
Now providing funding and support for 71 investigators at 13 academic research institutions, the highly competitive Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize underwrites the bold research of cancer scientists at a formative stage in their careers. In order to facilitate collaboration and innovation, each Prize winner is given access to leaders in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries and the opportunity to present his or her work to scientific, business, and philanthropic audiences.
“We remain committed to our goal of building a community of talented scientists from a variety of fields and supporting their exploration of the most exciting and potentially revolutionary ideas,” said Olivia Tournay Flatto, PhD, President of The Pershing Square Foundation and Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance. “As the Prize enters its 12th year, we remain impressed and humbled by the quality of applicants and our steadfastly dedicated reviewers.”
“This has been a transformative award for my lab. We had no money to pursue this project, but what we had was a big idea that I felt strongly that we needed to pursue. Just at the point where I was going to put everything on hold, the PSSCRA came in and changed everything,” 2024 Prize winner David Simon, PhD, Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine remarked. “Don’t underestimate the importance of funding early-stage labs. The magnitude of the impact is disproportionately high!”
“The PSSCRA Prize has been a pivotal force in advancing my research, and the networking opportunities have been invaluable in broadening my scientific perspective and collaborative efforts,” said 2021 Prize winner Christine Chio, PhD, Assistant Professor at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “Their commitment to supporting researchers is profoundly appreciated and has a lasting impact on the scientific community. They have empowered researchers like myself to make meaningful contributions to the fight against cancer.”
“I am deeply grateful for the funding received from the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance. It has allowed us to pursue high risk-high reward research, and we are optimistic that it will be the basis for future innovations in cancer research,” remarked 2015 Prize winner Christine Mayr, MD, PhD, Member of the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Since concluding her project, Dr. Mayr has actively participated in PSSCRA’s application process as a member of the Scientific Review Council.
About the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance
The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance was formed in 2013 by The Pershing Square Foundation, which has since committed more than $43 million to 71 scientists, in partnership with The Sohn Conference Foundation. The Alliance is dedicated to playing a catalytic role in accelerating cures for cancer by supporting innovative cancer research and by facilitating collaborations between academia and industry. Annually, the Alliance awards the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize to early-career, New York area scientists who are engaged in cutting-edge cancer research. For more information, visit http://psscra.org/.
About The Pershing Square Foundation
The Pershing Square Foundation (PSF) is a family foundation established in 2006 to support exceptional leaders and innovative organizations that tackle important social issues and deliver scalable and sustainable global impact. PSF has committed more than $750 million in grants and social investments in target areas including health and medicine, education, economic development and social justice. Bill Ackman and Neri Oxman are co-trustees of the Foundation. For more information visit: www.pershingsquarefoundation.org.
About The Sohn Conference Foundation
The Sohn Conference Foundation supports cutting-edge medical research, state-of-the-art research equipment, and innovative programs. The Foundation raises its funds through the renowned Sohn Investment Conference in New York City and a number of premier investment conferences around the world.
The Sohn Conference Foundation honors the memory of Ira Sohn, a talented Wall Street professional whose life was cut short when he passed away from cancer at the age of 29. Ira’s friends and family founded The Sohn Conference Foundation in New York City in 1995. Since then, investment leaders from across the globe have been inspired to launch partner Sohn conferences and unite the financial community to support a number of charitable causes. To date, The Sohn Conference Foundation has raised over $95 million. More information on The Sohn Conference Foundation is available at www.sohnconference.org.
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Contacts
Christy Hudson
chudson@persq.org
