Awards

UCSF Emerging Health Equity Scholar Award

Now Accepting 2026 Applications

The Multiethnic Health Equity Research Center (MERC) is excited to announce the fifth annual Emerging Health Equity Scholar Award. This year we are pleased to collaborate with the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education (CTCRE) and the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center (SCLC).

This year's award will recognize UCSF early career investigators who conduct racial and ethnic health equity research including health services, community-engaged, clinical, or translational research. Additional topics of interest are tobacco and commercial determinants of health.

Eligible individuals can submit a self-nomination application by January 30, 2026 by 5pm PST.

Apply Here

Award eligibility (Please contact us at [email protected] with any questions about eligibility criteria)

  • UCSF affiliation with any school on campus.
  • Early career investigator including Post-doctoral scholars, Fellows, as well as Research Scientists, Clinical Instructors, and Assistant Professors who are within the first three years of their appointment.
  • Research focused on racial and ethnic health equity, including health services, community-engaged, practice-based, clinical, or translational research.
  • We particularly encourage applications at the intersection of tobacco or commercial determinants of health and racial and ethnic health equity.

Self-nomination materials

Completion of application that includes:

  • Basic demographic information (optional)
  • Single PDF including:
    • 1-page personal statement to include: 1) prior and current scholarship in racial and ethnic health equity, and if relevant tobacco or commercial determinants of health, 2) how this research fits in with your career trajectory and future research agenda 
    • 5-page NIH biosketch
    • 1-page abstract of a recently completed research project that meets the award eligibility criteria above (400 words or less; can be published or unpublished work)

Award selection criteria

  • Significance and potential impact of applicant’s completed work in racial and ethnic health equity research (and if relevant tobacco or commercial determinants of health)
  • Quality of the abstract of completed research project – writing, appropriateness of methods, significance of results, conclusions/implications of work
  • Candidate and career trajectory in racial and ethnic health equity focused research
  • We will select for a variety of disciplines, topics, and experience of candidates to balance presentations at our annual research symposium where awardees are invited to give a brief presentation

UCSF does not use race, gender, sex, or other protected categories or proxies for protected categories in the selection process. 

Timeline

  • Self-nomination through completion of application here due January 30th by 5pm PST.
  • Awardees will be notified in early March. We intend to select 3 awardees.
  • Awardees will each present their completed research project in person in a 10 to 15-minute presentation followed by a moderated question & answer at the 2026 "It's About a Billion Lives" Annual Symposium on Friday, April 17, 2026, from 9am - 3pm at UCSF Mission Bay, Robertson Auditorium.

Past Awardees

2025
2024
2023
2022