The NIH has selected three researchers as new Lasker Clinical Research Scholars as part of a joint initiative with the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation to nurture the next generation of great clinical scientists.

This highly competitive program provides talented early-stage researchers the opportunity to carry out independent clinical and translational research for five to seven years at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md. The researchers also have the possibility of additional years of financial support, at NIH or an NIH-funded research institution, upon project review.

The scholars are Hans Ackerman, M.D., D.Phil.; Andrea Apolo, M.D.; and Falk Lohoff, M.D. They join two NIH Lasker scholars hired previously.

“Identifying talented and innovative scholars early in their careers is paramount to building a robust cadre of physician-researchers,” said Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., NIH director. “We hope this continued effort with the Lasker Foundation leads to major scientific discoveries that impact human health.”

Ackerman is chief of the physiology section in the Sickle Cell Branch at NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. He is studying how metabolic and genetic factors affect blood flow in people with sickle cell disease, with a special emphasis on stroke and kidney injury in adults. He also is working with the Sickle Cell Research and Treatment Center in Bamako, Mali, to identify the major causes of death and disability in children with sickle cell disease.

Apolo is chief of the Bladder Cancer Section at NIH’s National Cancer Institute, where her research involves developing and designing clinical trials to test novel agents for the treatment of urologic cancers. Her primary research interest is in bladder cancer (urothelial carcinoma). In particular, she is working to develop new bladder cancer targeted therapies such as anti-angiogenesis compounds, Met inhibitors, and immunotherapeutic combinations.

Lohoff is chief of the Section on Clinical Genomics and Experimental Therapeutics in the Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies at NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. His research focuses on heritable and non-heritable genetic aspects that influence the onset, progression and treatment of alcohol use disorders and addictions. Findings from these studies are translated into human clinical studies using diverse approaches, including molecular biomarkers, pharmacogenetics, epigenetics and functional imaging genetics.

Lasker scholars have access to the NIH Clinical Center, the largest hospital in the world devoted to clinical research. The Lasker Foundation will provide additional developmental support to the scholars while they are working at NIH by funding travel to scientific meetings and providing the opportunity to participate in selected foundation activities, including the Lasker Award ceremonies.