Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award in Pain
Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award in Pain supports early-career investigators studying pain mechanisms and developing new analgesics through basic research to improve chronic pain treatment.
Funder: Rita Allen Foundation
Due Dates: October 14, 2026 (Applications open) | December 9, 2026 (Application) | December 16, 2026 (Supporting letters)
Funding Amounts: $150,000 per award over three years; two or more awards annually
Summary: Supports early-career investigators conducting innovative basic research on pain mechanisms and new analgesics to improve chronic pain treatment.
Key Information: Applicants must be within three years of starting a tenure-track position or equivalent; senior postdocs and associate professors are ineligible.
Description
The Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award in Pain supports early-career investigators whose basic science research has high potential to uncover new pathways for improving chronic pain treatment. Established in 2009 and offered in partnership with the U.S. Association for the Study of Pain (USASP), the program focuses on the molecular biology of pain and basic science related to developing new analgesics. Recipients choose the projects supported by their awards.
The program seeks researchers who have completed their training and demonstrate distinguished achievement or extraordinary promise in basic pain research. Its research portfolio includes neuropathic pain, spinal cord pain circuits, neuro-immune interactions, cancer-related pain, and mechanisms of pain remission and relapse. Funded work also explores opioid-induced analgesia and approaches to effective, durable, non-addictive pain treatment.
