Unleashing Human Potential to Advance Science

Unleashing Human Potential to Advance Science

By reducing barriers to access and opportunity, R&D Impact supports young people with demonstrated potential to leverage their talent and ideas to push the boundaries of scientific exploration and positively impact their field of science.

ADVANCING DIVERSITY IN THE ONCOLOGY WORKFORCE

R&D Impact ASCO Oncology Summer Internships (OSI)
Beginning in 2022, an endowed fund established by R&D Impact at the ASCO Foundation supports Oncology Summer Internship awards.

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Oncology Summer Internships (OSI) are immersive summer internships for rising second-year medical students from populations underrepresented in medicine. With support from Conquer Cancer donors, students participate in ASCO-led virtual seminars on key oncology concepts, as well as institution-led in-person social events and daily clinical oncology shadowing. The 4-week summer program at select medical schools across the United States helps seed a more diverse oncology workforce. There are 52 students from 11 U.S. medical schools participating in the 2022 cohort. The ASCO Oncology Summer Internship Program is supported by the ASCO and Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation.

ADVANCING NOVEL RESEARCH
IN NEUROBIOLOGY

Neurobiology Spark Grants
R&D Impact Foundation Neurobiology Spark Grants at Harvard Medical School (HMS) support high-risk, high-reward neurobiology research.

Spark grants create opportunities for curiosity-based research and empower HMS researchers to pursue novel ideas, collaborate across disciplines and labs, and make fundamentally new discoveries about the brain. This program establishes a new avenue of support at the frontier of neurobiological research, creating opportunities for exploration that might not otherwise be available to researchers exploring novel ideas. Three cohorts of grant awardees will be funded over the next three years—with each grant supporting two years of research. R&D Impact hopes that by making funding for novel research more accessible to researchers outside the “system”, HMS will be able to tap into new ideas that will push the boundaries of neurobiology.

R&D Impact Foundation’s founders Susan DaSilva and Tom Roberts with the Dean of Harvard Medical School George Daley and his wife, Amy Edmondson.

EXPANDING REGIONAL ACCESS TO NEUROLOGY SERVICES
IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Zincare Postgraduate Neurology Training
R&D Impact Zincare grants support specialized, post graduate training for neurologists in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Zincare is a postgraduate neurology training program based in Lusaka, Zambia that seeks to expand in-country neurological services in Zambia and other sub-Saharan African countries. Since 2018, nine neurologists have completed the specialist program. These nine doctors now direct the only specialized neurology inpatient service and outpatient clinic in Zambia in addition to helping lead the training program. In 2023, R&D Impact approved support for two neurologists from Liberia and Tanzania to complete two years of training in neurology at the Zambia Post-Graduate Training facility. It is intended that graduates of the program will go on to develop training programs in their home countries, thereby expanding regional access to neurological services.

R&D Impact Foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for support.