Celebrating 30 Years of Biomedical Excellence

Since 1992, we have been supporting groundbreaking medical research through the Smith Family Awards Program for Excellence in Biomedical Research. Its mission is to launch the careers of newly independent biomedical researchers with the ultimate goal of achieving medical breakthroughs.

At its 30-year mark in 2022, the Smith Family Awards Program for Excellence in Biomedical Research had supported 187 scientists with $40.1 million in grant funding and that number continues to grow.

Learn more about the program’s history in this three-minute video from the 30th anniversary celebration:

EXCELLENCE AWARD MILESTONES

1991: The “New Investigator Program” is launched by Harcourt General Charitable Foundation as a corporate philanthropic endeavor of the world’s largest English language medical publisher when Richard A. Smith controlled the company. The annual award program aims to achieve medical breakthroughs by supporting newly independent junior faculty engaged in basic research on AIDS, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Junior faculty from Massachusetts academic or research institutions may apply.

1992: The inaugural cohort of four awardees receive $100,000 each toward their research. Four to seven awards are given each year going forward.

1999: Harcourt General is sold and the New Investigator Program is moved to the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation, renamed as the Smith Family Awards Program for Excellence in Biomedical Research. The award program is expanded to include scientists working in physics, chemistry, and engineering whose research focuses on biomedicine.

2001: The Excellence Award is doubled to $200,000 per recipient.

2002: First biannual dinner is held for Excellence awardees during which a Prize for Outstanding Scientific Contributions is awarded to an Excellence alumnus who has made exceptional progress in their scientific discipline. An Excellence Alumni prize is awarded at the biannual dinner and poster session hereafter.

2006: Brown and Yale are added to the list of institutions eligible to nominate applicants.

2008: The Excellence Award is increased to $300,000 per recipient.

2018: To complement and build on the success of the Excellence Award Program, the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation creates the Odyssey Award Program. This program supports pre-tenure researchers to pursue creative and innovative inquiries with $300,000 of funding per recipient.

2022: The Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation expands their support for researchers beyond direct award funding dollars by launching the Alumni Awardee Mentoring Network and Awardee Scientific Communications Project. The Foundation approves an increase of both the Excellence and the Odyssey Award to $400,000 per recipient, starting with the 2023 cohort. The Foundation announces the creation of the $250,000 Richard A. Smith Excellence in Biomedical Research Alumni Prize.