COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new fellowship program funded by $1 million in Pelotonia revenue will provide cancer research opportunities for up to 55 postdoctoral, graduate or undergraduate students at The Ohio State University.
Jeff Mason, director of the Pelotonia Fellowship Program, says plans call for $1 million from the inaugural Pelotonia – a grassroots bicycling tour that raised $4.5 million for cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James) last August – to provide individual fellowships of approximately $45,000-$50,000 for 12 postdoctoral researchers, $25,000 for 18 graduate students and $12,000 for 25 undergraduates.
All applications will be reviewed by an 11-member committee that awards the fellowships based on scientific merit, according to Mason.
The committee is chaired by Gustavo Leone, PhD, a professor in the Division of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics and a member of the Molecular Biology and Cancer Genetics program at the OSUCCC-James. The committee co-chair is Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, a professor in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and a member of the OSUCCC-James’ Cancer Control Program.
“This is an extremely beneficial program for the OSUCCC-James because it will fund cancer research here at OSU by our most promising undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers,” Leone says. “We want the money raised by Pelotonia to be increased exponentially with new discoveries and future grants that will eventually lead to a cancer-free world.”
Mason says the undergraduate fellowships will be for one year and are open to all OSU students – regardless of their academic discipline – who can propose a cancer-related research project. The undergraduate fellowship application deadline is June 15.
“The program fosters collaboration between students and our top researchers to infuse new lifeblood into the field that will help move discoveries forward,” Mason says. “The students select whose lab they’d like to work in part-time for three quarters of the year and full-time during the summer, with an international internship option for these students in development.”
The fellowships for graduate students will be for two years. “The money for grads is available post-candidacy, so they’ll already be working in labs when they apply,” says Mason. “Of the 18 slots, we want to open two for medical students so they can study in a lab for one year, which is something these students don’t normally get to do.”
As for the postdoctoral fellowships, Mason says these also would be for two years. He notes that some of these researchers could already be in labs at OSU and others could be recruited from other institutions in the United States or around the world.
The second annual Pelotonia is scheduled for Aug. 20-22. For more information, visit www.pelotonia.org
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (cancer.osu.edu) is one of only 40 Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States designated by the National Cancer Institute. Ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the top 20 cancer hospitals in the nation, The James is the 180-bed adult patient-care component of the cancer program at The Ohio State University. The OSUCCC-James is one of only seven funded programs in the country approved by the NCI to conduct both Phase I and Phase II clinical trials.
Eileen Scahill
Medical Center Communications
614-293-3737
Eileen.Scahill@osumc.edu