Acknowledge the outstanding contributions of the investigators and educators you work with by submitting a nomination for one of our Translational Science 2025 Awards! ACTS provides its members a platform for advancing the discipline of clinical and translational science with which it relates to improving human health.
Award submissions are now closed.
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2025 Awards Program
Nomination Materials and Submission Instructions
- Any member of the award organization is eligible to submit a nomination. Self-nominations are welcome.
- No single nominee can be considered for any more than two (2) award categories.
- Nominators should submit the nominee's name, institution, and a summary of the nominee's key contributions based on the above criteria, not to exceed three (3) pages.
- Letters of support from up to two (2) additional individuals familiar with the nominee's contributions may also be submitted (2 pages max). No more than one (1) letter of support can come from within the nominee’s institution.
- Biosketch of nominee (NIH format) is required for submission of award nomination.
Two awards will be given at Translational Science 2025 that recognize senior investigators (at the Associate level or above, or equivalent rank or range) whose innovative research or education leadership has had a major impact on or through clinical and translational science. The recipients of these awards will each receive a complimentary registration to Translational Science 2025 and reimbursement for up to $500 in travel expenses.
The two ACTS Distinguished Investigator Awards include:
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The Edward H. Ahrens, Jr. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Patient-Oriented Research: Recognizes achievement in bench-to-bedside translational research. Emphasis is on transformational scientific achievement.
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Translation from Proof-of-Concept to Widespread Clinical Practice: Recognizes achievement in the realm of implementation and dissemination of translational solutions to illness and clinical problems.
Selection Criteria
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Senior investigators who have had significant national impact by virtue of contributions to clinical and translational science in one of the above designated categories, as evidenced by publications, funding and national dissemination of their work.
Please note that ACTS board members are ineligible for this award.
Three awards will be given at Translational Science 2025 that recognize outstanding accomplishment of trainees at the pre-doctoral, post-doctoral and early faculty (K) level. This award recognizes those whose translational research progress will have either immediate impact or potential to impact policy, care, or public health in the short term. There is a requirement that the research be submitted as an abstract for presentation at the Translational Science 2025 meeting. The recipients of these awards will each receive a complimentary registration to Translational Science 2025 and reimbursement for up to $500 in travel expenses.
The three Outstanding Trainee Awards include:
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The Pre-Doctoral Scholar Award: Recognizes achievement in translational research at the pre-doctoral level. Emphasis is on transformational scientific potential. Work is not expected to be independent, but nominations should emphasize the trainee’s input, innovative thinking and/or contributions to the work. Examples of outstanding achievement include receipt of substantial funding for their work, the potential for immediate or near-term impact on care, policy or practice, or first authorship in the publication describing the work. Individuals working towards terminal master’s degrees are also eligible.
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The Post-Doctoral Award: Recognizes high productivity and impact of post-doctoral work. Team science is valued and high productivity should be interpreted in terms of quality and not only quantity. Nominations should emphasize the post-doc’s contributions to the work. Potential contributors to high productivity include high impact and/ or highly innovative publication, potential for changing care or health policy, inclusion of stakeholders or participatory research methods, and significant funding for highly innovative work.
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Early (Faculty) Career Development Award: Recognizes high productivity and impact of early faculty research. Team science is valued and high productivity should be interpreted in terms of quality and not only quantity with an emphasis on the scholar’s contributions to the work. Potential contributors to high productivity include highly innovative and/or high impact publication, inclusion of stakeholders or participatory research methods, potential for changing care or health policy and significant funding as PI.
Selection Criteria
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The nominee may be in any one of the three categories.
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Nominations are invited of pre-and post-doc scholars and early career faculty (career development awardees) whose work has the potential to or is beginning to have national impact by virtue of contributions to clinical and translational science
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Only one award per institution will be accepted.
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There is a requirement that the research be submitted as a poster proposal for in-person presentation at the Translational Science 2025 meeting.
Please note that ACTS board members are ineligible for this award.
Two awards will be presented during Translational Science 2025 to clinical and/or translational investigators who have distinguished themselves as an educator, mentor and leader, resulting in significant scientific accomplishments by the next generation of clinical and translational researchers. This award recognizes global innovation and impact in education and mentorship for the health sciences. Students and trainees are also invited to submit nominations. The recipients of these awards will each receive a complimentary registration to Translational Science 2025 and reimbursement for up to $500 in travel expenses.
The two Distinguished Educator Awards include:
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The Rebecca Jackson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Education Innovation: Recognizes distinguished educators with significant accomplishments and widely recognized innovation and impact in health sciences education and clinical research training.
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The Mentorship Innovation Award: Recognizes distinguished mentors with outstanding innovation in mentorship resulting in significant scientific accomplishments by the next generation of clinical and translational researchers and/or innovative approaches in mentorship to promote diversity and retention of under-represented groups in translational research
Selection Criteria
Nominees should meet or exceed the following criteria:
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Distinguished career as a clinical or translational investigator.
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Education Innovation Award:
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Mentorship Innovation Award:
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Documented national leadership in clinical research education programs, issues, and funding.
Please note that ACTS board members are ineligible for this award.
This award has been established by ACTS to acknowledge and catalyze the growing importance of interdisciplinary teams to the translation of research discoveries into clinical applications and eventually widespread clinical practice. This award is intended to recognize the success of organized teams comprised of individuals committed to the advancement of the science of Team Science itself.
The nominated team selected to receive the Team Science Award will collectively be recognized during Translational Science 2025. A primary representative will be designated by the team and will be the recipient of the award on behalf of the team. This representative will receive a complimentary registration to Translational Science 2025 and reimbursement for up to $500 in travel expenses.
Selection Criteria
Nominated teams’ success in the science of Team Science will be judged based on the degree to which their team’s contributions have been disseminated, adopted, and contributed to more effective team building and team functionality.
Additional Requirements for the Team Science Award
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The primary concentration of the research area must be indicated.
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A narrative describing in-depth the team’s success in the science of Team Science for which the team is being nominated, as well as the significance and impact of the research, must be included.
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Nomination materials should highlight the work of the team being nominated and the impact of that work.
Please note that ACTS board members are ineligible for this award.
This award has been created to recognize individuals who, through their careers of mentoring, policy-making, or team building have contributed to a more inclusive and diverse workforce. Success may be evidenced by a track record of contributing to career development of their own mentees, or to the workforce of their organization or other groups or networks. The recipient of this award will receive a complimentary registration to Translational Science 2025 and reimbursement for up to $500 in travel expenses.
Selection Criteria
Nominees should excel in one or more of the following criteria:
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Widely recognized innovation and impact in attracting and retaining underrepresented groups in science through recruitment, institutional policies, or other strategies.
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Outstanding success as a mentor of trainees from underrepresented groups.
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Documented national leadership in attracting members of underrepresented groups to translational science.
Please note that ACTS board members are ineligible for this award.
This award has been established by ACTS to acknowledge the importance of and to further catalyze the growth of research focused on health equity, injustice, and issues of disparity in care supporting the translation of research discoveries into clinical applications to practice and eventually widespread impact on health. Proactive interaction between academic researchers and community partners is particularly crucial to continue progress and accelerate health impact.
The research or teams selected to receive the 2025 Addressing Health Equity through Partnership and Innovation Award will collectively be recognized during Translational Science 2025. The representative from the team will be cited at the meeting for their leadership role in fostering health equity and addressing issues resulting in health disparities. The recipient of this award will receive a complimentary registration to Translational Science 2025 and reimbursement for up to $500 in travel expenses.
Selection Criteria
For the purpose of this award, a team is comprised of independent faculty-level researchers and community-based, governmental or other partners providing complementary interdisciplinary expertise, each of whom have made separate substantive and quantifiable contributions to the research being recognized. Team members may be working within the same institution or at several institutions and can be working locally or across states/regions. Teams must comprise academic researchers as well as external partners which can include community partnerships, advocacy communities, or other similar groups. The research that the team conducts should be high impact.
Additional Requirements for Addressing Health Equity through Partnership and Innovation Award
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The name and contact information for one main point of contact who currently serves on the team being nominated must be included.
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A list of all members of the team, their professional titles and affiliations, with a description of each member's substantive and quantifiable contribution to the team, must be included. The list must include a description of the roles of both the academic and community partner in the accomplishment/impact.
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The primary concentration of research/health impact area must be indicated.
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A narrative describing in-depth the research or health impact accomplishment or accomplishments for which the team is being nominated, as well as the significance, innovation, and impact of the research, must be included.
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Narrative explains how partnership directly addresses heath equity issues.
Please note that ACTS board members are ineligible for this award.
The Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS) invites submissions for the inaugural JCTS Publication Award. The mission of the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science (JCTS), the official journal of the ACTS and the Clinical Research Forum, is to provide a forum for disseminating advances in clinical and translational science. JCTS publishes high quality articles on research that spans the translational continuum, inclusive of education research that informs the development of the translational workforce. Topics of interest for the award include publications representing original research advances or investigations into how to best develop processes and/or a workforce to advance clinical and translational science. The recipient of this award will receive a complimentary registration to Translational Science 2025 and reimbursement for up to $500 in travel expenses.
Publications eligible for this award include papers published in JCTS between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2024.
Additional Requirements for the JCTS Award:
- A letter of nomination describing the research accomplishment, including a 300-word study summary describing innovations resulting from the study and/or the potential impact of the findings for the advancement of clinical and translational science.
- A hyperlink to the JCTS publication.
View a comprehensive list of past Translational Science Award Winners.
View Past Award Winners