Lantern Grants

NIH Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23)

The K23 is the mentored career award for clinicians whose research involves patients directly.

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What it funds

Patient-oriented research, meaning work with human participants such as clinical trials, mechanistic studies in people, or outcomes research, together with formal career development.

Who can apply

Clinicians with a health-professional doctorate or equivalent clinical credentials. U.S. citizens, non-citizen nationals or permanent residents, with at least 75% of full-time effort on the award.

Award size

Salary support plus research development funds at levels set by each institute.

Duration

3 to 5 years.

How applications are reviewed

Reviewers judge the candidate's potential, the mentoring team's track record in patient-oriented research, the career and research plans, and institutional commitment.

Deadlines

Standard due dates are 12 February, 12 June and 12 October (resubmissions 12 March, 12 July and 12 November).

Our summary, checked against NIH guidance in October 2026. Rules, budgets and dates change: always confirm in the current announcement before you apply.

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