Dr. Nehal N. Mehta has been named the inaugural Lasker Clinical Research Scholar, through a joint initiative of the US’ National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. Mehta, who was an instructor of cardiovascular medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has joined the intramural programme at the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
The Lasker Clinical Research Scholar initiative seeks to honour the contributions of Mary and Albert Lasker to the NIH and to the overall biomedical community. Through this competitive programme, NIH and Lasker Foundation aim to nurture the next generation of great clinical scientists. The programme will select talented early-stage researchers and provide them with the opportunity to carry out independent clinical and translational research for five to seven years at the NIH campus in Bethesda.
Scholars will have access to NIH resources including the NIH Clinical Center, the largest hospital in the world devoted to clinical research. The Lasker Foundation will provide additional developmental support to Mehta and future scholars while they are working at NIH by funding travel to scientific meetings and providing them with the opportunity to participate in selected foundation activities, including the Lasker Award ceremonies.
After completing their initial tenure, Mehta and subsequent Lasker clinical research scholars will have the opportunity to remain at NIH as tenured investigators or join the faculty of an extramural research institution, where they can receive up to five years more of NIH financial support.
