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Medical Health (Med Health) and Brain Behavioral and Mental Health (BBMH) Broad Portfolios recognize the critical contributions that non-clinician scientists make to our research program. The intramural nature of VA research encourages our investigators to make VA their primary professional focus. This includes participation in local and national committees, leadership of research core facilities, collaboration with clinician scientists, teaching, mentoring, and supervising junior investigators, and stewardship of shared resources.
In recognition of these efforts, we offer a funding mechanism to support the salaries of non-clinician scientists who have demonstrated extraordinary contributions to VA research beyond their own funded studies and programs: the Research Career Scientist (RCS) award.
The RCS award provides 5-years of salary support. The Senior Research Career Scientist (SRCS) award is provided to highly productive international leaders, who have achieved wide recognition of accomplishments in their research area, and provides 7-years of salary support. For more information about the RCS program, please refer to the documents below.
Please note that mid-term reports are no longer required for RCS awards as of October 1, 2024. Awardees must submit annual Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs) through eRA commons in lieu of the mid-term report.
RCS applications are accepted electronically via Grants.gov. Submission deadlines may be found in the RCS funding opportunity document (RFA) at: ISRM Notices of Special Interest (NOSIs) and Requests for Applications - https://vaww.research.va.gov/funding/rfa.cfm (Intranet only, copy and paste into your browser if you have VA network access) . Preapplications are required for all new, resubmission, and renewal RCS applications. The RCS RFA must be used in conjunction with the most current VA version of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
Inquiries about the RCS Program should be directed to rcs.materials@va.gov.
Med Health/BBMH Research Career Scientist AwardsUpdated 08/28/25 | |||
↕ Type |
↕ Name | ↕ Location | ↕ Research Area |
| RCS | Olszewski, Michal | Ann Arbor, MI | Lung Immunology |
| RCS | Bollag, Wendy | Augusta, GA | Acute & Combat-Related Injury (Wound healing) |
| SRCS | Dong, Zheng | Augusta, GA | Kidney Disorders (AKI) |
| RCS | Colgan, Sean | Aurora, CO | Digestive Diseases |
| SRCS | Clemens, Thomas L | Baltimore, MD | Bone Disorders |
| SRCS | Wang, Jian-Ying | Baltimore, MD | Gut Permeability |
| RCS | Chen, Yabing | Birmingham, AL | Cardiovascular Disease |
| RCS | Datta, Pran | Birmingham, AL | Cancer |
| SRCS | Verfaellie, Mieke | Boston, MA | Mental Health (Memory) |
| RCS | Dracheva, Stella | Bronx, NY | Mental health (depressive disorders) |
| SRCS | Haghighi, Fatemeh | Bronx, NY | Epigenetics (TBI, depression, suicidal behavior) |
| SRCS | Hazlett, Erin | Bronx, NY | Mental Health (Sz) |
| RCS | Hioe, Catarina E | Bronx, NY | Infectious Diseases (HIV) |
| SRCS | Pasinetti, Giulio M | Bronx, NY | Neurodegenerative (AD,ALS,GWI) |
| RCS | Fliesler, Steven J | Buffalo, NY | Sensory Loss (Vision) |
| SRCS | Ergul, Adviye | Charleston, SC | Cerebral Circulation |
| RCS | Banik, Naren | Charleston, SC | Spinal Cord Injury |
| SRCS | Becker, Howard | Charleston, SC | Alcohol Use Disorders |
| RCS | Tomlinson, Stephen | Charleston, SC | TBI, Stroke |
| SRCS | Rohrer, Baerbel | Charleston, SC | Sensory Loss (Vision) |
| SRCS | Shiromani, Priyattam J | Charleston, SC | Sleep Disorders |
| RCS | Shahrara, Shiva | Chicago, IL | Rheumatoid Arthritis, inflamation |
| RCS | Rana, Ajay | Chicago, IL | Cancer |
| RCS | Rasenick, Mark | Chicago, IL | Mental Health (Neuropsychiatry) |
| RCS | Pahan, Kalipada | Chicago, IL | Neurodegenerative disorders |
| SRCS | Pandey, Subhash C | Chicago, IL | Substance Use Disorders (Alcohol) |
| SRCS | Kineman, Rhonda | Chicago, IL | Diabetes |
| SRCS | Feinstein, Douglas L | Chicago, IL | Brain Disorders (MS) |
| RCS | Alrefai, Waddah A | Chicago, IL | Bile Acid Transport |
| SRCS | Dudeja, Pradeep K | Chicago, IL | Gastroenterology (Ion transport) |
| RCS | Hay, Nissim | Chicago, IL | Cancer |
| RCS | Cushion, Melanie T | Cincinnati, OH | Infectious Diseases (Pneumocystis) |
| RCS | Peachey, Neal S | Cleveland, OH | Sensory Loss (Vision) |
| RCS | Rector, Randy | Columbia, MO | Liver Disorders (NASH) |
| RCS | Mohan, Rajiv | Columbia, MO | Sensory Loss (Vision) |
| RCS | Smith, Charles J | Columbia, MO | Cancer (radiopharmaceuticals) |
| RCS | Bysani, Chandrasekar | Columbia, MO | Cardiovascular Disease |
| SRCS | Rather, Philip N | Decatur, GA | Infectious Diseases (Acinetobacter Baumannii) |
| SRCS | Shafer, William M | Decatur, GA | Infectious Disease (Gonococcal Infection) |
| RCS | Madhabushi, Anant | Decatur, GA | AI, Precision Oncology |
| RCS | Merlin, Didier | Decatur, GA | Gastroenterology (IBS) |
| RCS | Tregellas, Jason | Denver, CO | Mental Health (Schizophrenia) |
| SRCS | Vazquez-Torres, Andres | Denver, CO | Infectious Diseases |
| RCS | Rishi, Arun K | Detroit, MI | Cancer (Breast) |
| RCS | Mateika, Jason H | Detroit, MI | Lung Disorders (Apnea) |
| SRCS | Kowluru, Anjan | Detroit, MI | Diabetes (Beta cells) |
| SRCS | Beckham, Jean C | Durham, NC | Mental Health (PTSD, SUDs) |
| RCS | Kimbrel, Nathan A | Durham, NC | Genomics Research/Suicidality |
| RCS | Chen, Suzie | East Orange, NJ | Cancer (Melanoma) |
| RCS | Citron, Bruce | East Orange, NJ | Traumatic Brain Injury, Gulf War Illness |
| RCS | Yao, Qizhi | Houston, TX | Cancer |
| RCS | Bellido, Teresita | Indianapolis | Bone biology/osteocytes |
| RCS | Francis, Heather | Indianapolis | Digestive Diseases |
| RCS | Allen, Matthew | Indianapolis, IN | Bone Disorders |
| SRCS | Nakshatri, Harikrishna | Indianapolis, IN | Cancer (Breast) |
| RCS | Robling, Alexander | Indianapolis, IN | Bone Disorders |
| RCS | Rahmouni, Kamal | Iowa City, IA | Cardiovascular Disease |
| SRCS | Bishop, Gail A | Iowa City, IA | Cancer (Immunology) |
| RCS | Banerjee, Sushanta | Kansas City, MO | Cancer |
| RCS | Basnakian, Alexi | Little Rock, AR | Kidney Diease |
| RCS | Ho, Shuk-Mei | Little Rock, AR | Cancer (Prostate) |
| RCS | Morris, Andrew | Little Rock, AR | Lipid metabolism (carfiovascular and metabolic disease) |
| SRCS | Shmookler Reis, Robert J | Little Rock, AR | Neurodegenerative Diseases (AD) |
| SRCS | Mohan, Subburaman | Loma Linda, CA | Bone Disorders |
| RCS | Kiser, Philip | Long Beach, CA | Sensory Loss (Vision) |
| SRCS | Said, Hamid M | Long Beach, CA | Gastronterology (Vitamin Transport) |
| RCS | Chatterjee, Saurabh | Long Beach, CA | Gulf War Illness |
| RCS | Zhang, Guang-He | Louisville, KY | Bone health |
| RCS | Ahmad, Nihal | Madison, WI | Cancer (Skin) |
| RCS | Kimple, Michelle | Madison, WI | Diabetes |
| RCS | Setaluri, Vijayasaradhi | Madison, WI | Cancer (Melanoma) |
| RCS | Vemuganti, Raghu | Madison, WI | Stroke |
| RCS | Wang, Xiao Jing | Mather, CA | Cancer |
| RCS | Chen, Hongwu | Mather, CA | Cancer |
| RCS | Xiang, Yang | Mather, CA | Cardiovascular Disease |
| RCS | Zaika, Alexander | Miami, FL | Cancer (Esophageal Reflux and Carcinoma) |
| RCS | Barrientos, Antoni | Miami, FL | Neurodegenerative Diseases |
| SRCS | El-Rifai, Wael | Miami, FL | Cancer (gastric) |
| SRCS | Vazquez-Padron, Roberto | Miami, FL | Cardiovascular Disease |
| RCS | Griffith, Thomas | Minneapolis, MN | Sepsis, immune response, urology |
| SRCS | Joyce, Sebastian | Nashville, TN | Infectious Diseases (TB immunology) |
| RCS | Chen, Jin | Nashville, TN | Cancer (Lung) |
| SRCS | Pozzi, Ambra | Nashville, TN | Kidney Disorders |
| RCS | Rhoades (Sterling), Julie | Nashville, TN | Cancer (metastatic disease) |
| RCS | Nyman, Jeffry S. | Nashville, TN | Bone Disorders |
| RCS | Lazartigues, Eric D | New Orleans, LA | Cardiovascular Disease |
| SRCS | Wu, Xue-Ru | New York, NY | Cancer (Bladder) |
| SRCS | Del Poeta, Maurizio | Northport, NY | Infectious Diseases |
| RCS | Freeman, Willard | Oklahoma City, OK | Aging |
| RCS | Galvan, Veronica | Oklahoma City, OK | Neurodegenerative Diseases |
| SRCS | Van Remmen, Holly | Oklahoma City, OK | Diabetes and Related Disorders |
| RCS | Miller, Benjamin | Oklahoma City, OK | Musculoskeletal atrophy |
| SRCS | Richardson, Arlan G | Oklahoma City, OK | Biology of Aging |
| RCS | Wyatt, Todd A | Omaha, NE | Lung (Alcohol and Smoking) |
| RCS | Singh, Amar B | Omaha, NE | PTSD-associated gut dysbiosis, IBD |
| RCS | Dhawan, Punita | Omaha, NE | Cancer (colon) |
| SRCS | Davis, John S | Omaha, NE | Endocrine Disorders |
| RCS | Kharbanda, Kusum | Omaha, NE | Gastroenterology (NASH) |
| SRCS | Casey, Carol A | Omaha, NE | Digestive Diseases (AFLD) |
| RCS | Chua, Katrin | Palo Alto, CA | Cancer, Aging |
| RCS | Huang, Ngan | Palo Alto, CA | Regenerative Medicine |
| RCS | Fan, Jie | Pittsburgh, PA | Surgery (Shock) |
| SRCS | Chen, Jun | Pittsburgh, PA | Brain Disorders (Stroke, TBI) |
| RCS | Sun, Dandan | Pittsburgh, PA | Stroke, TBI |
| SRCS | Vandenbark, Arthur A | Portland, OR | Brain Disorders (MS) |
| RCS | Riscoe, Michael K | Portland, OR | Infectious Diseases (Malaria) |
| SRCS | Phillips, Tamara | Portland, OR | Substance Use Disorders (Alcohol) |
| SRCS | Cowart, Lauren A. | Richmond, VA | Metabolic Disorders |
| RCS | Zhou, Huiping | Richmond, VA | Digestive Diseases |
| RCS | Gao, Allen C | Sacramento, CA | Cancer (Prostate) |
| RCS | Wray, D. Walter | Salt Lake City, UT | Cardiovascular Disease |
| RCS | Yang, Tianxin | Salt Lake City, UT | Renal Hypertension |
| RCS | Vadlamudi, Ratna | San Antonio, TX | Cancer |
| SRCS | Strong, John (Randy) | San Antonio, TX | Biology of Aging |
| SRCS | Webster, Nicholas J | San Diego, CA | Diabetes (Insulin Receptor Gene) |
| RCS | Simmons, Alan | San Diego, CA | Pain/PTSD |
| RCS | Patel, Hemal | San Diego, CA | Cardiovascular Disease |
| RCS | Risbrough, Victoria | San Diego, CA | TBI, PTSD |
| RCS | Head, Brian | San Diego, CA | Neurodegenerative Diseases |
| SRCS | Ford, Judith M | San Francisco, CA | Mental Health (Schizophrenia) |
| SRCS | Jarvis, Gary | San Francisco, CA | Infectious Diseases (Neisseria) |
| SRCS | Dahiya, Rajvir | San Francisco, CA | Cancer (Prostate) |
| RCS | Chang, Wenhan | San Francisco, CA | Neurodenerative Diseases, bone disorders |
| RCS | Chao, Linda | San Francisco, CA | Neurodegenerative Diseases, Gulf War Illness |
| SRCS | Cecchini, Gary | San Francisco, CA | Mitochondrial Diseases |
| RCS | Raffai, Robert | San Francisco, CA | Diabetic Atherosclerosis |
| RCS | Liu, Jialing | San Francisco, CA | Brain Disorders (Stroke) |
| RCS | Lau, Yun-Fai Chris | San Francisco, CA | Cancer (Prostate) |
| RCS | Strigo, Irina | San Francisco, CA | Neurobiology (Pain) |
| RCS | Kraemer, Brian | Seattle, WA | Aging and neurodegenerative diseases |
| SRCS | Siegel, Jerome M | Sepulveda, CA | Sleep Disorders |
| SRCS | Tsukamoto, Hidekazu | Sepulveda, CA | Alcoholic Liver Disease |
| RCS | Aguiar, Ricardo C | South Texas VA HCS | Cancer (Lymphoma) |
| SRCS | Chalfant, Charles E | Tampa, FL | Cancer (NSCLC) |
| SRCS | Bickford, Paula C | Tampa, FL | Neurodegenerative Diseases (AD, PD, TBI) |
| SRCS | Crawford, Fiona | Tampa, FL | Brain Disorders (AD & TBI & GWI) |
| SRCS | Kindy, Mark S | Tampa, FL | Neurodegenerative Diseases (AD, PD, TBI) |
| RCS | Wu, Mack | Tampa, FL | Surgery (Sepsis) |
| RCS | Staruschenko, Alexander | Tampa, FL | Kidney Disease |
| RCS | Mohapatra, Shyam S | Tampa, FL | Nanotherapeutics (RSV,Cancer) |
| RCS | Mohapatra, Subhra | Tampa, FL | Cancer (Colon) & TBI |
| RCS | Patel, Niketa | Tampa, FL | Obesity, Diabetes |
| RCS | Vendantam, Gayatri | Tucson, AZ | Infectious Diseases (C. difficile) |
| RCS | Zhu, Haining | Tucson, AZ | Neurodegenerative Disorders |
| SRCS | Gukovskaya, Anna S | West Los Angeles, CA | Pancreatitis |
| RCS | Brecha, Nicholas C | West Los Angeles, CA | Sensory Loss (Vision) |