Dr. Peggy Myung, assistant professor of dermatology and of pathology, is one of 18 scientists selected by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to receive a Clinical Scientist Development Award.
Given annually to early-career physician scientists, the award is valued at $495,000 over three years. Awardees were selected from a pool of 264 competitive applicants by review panels of distinguished scientists, who evaluated applicants on criteria such as rigor of unique research and commitment to excellence as independent clinical researchers.
Since 1998, the foundation has awarded 304 awards totaling more than $136 million to physician scientists between one and five years into their first faculty appointments — “a time characterized by the competing demands on recipients to perform both research and clinical care responsibilities.” The award makes possible for recipients to dedicate 75% of their professional time to clinical research in support of their transition to an independent research career.
Myung’s project is titled “Dissecting the epithelial-mesenchymal interactions at the interface of the human skin regeneration and cancer.” She received her M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. She is interested in hair follicle development and regeneration. Currently, she studies hair follicle development in mice and has a focus on how the dermal niche regulates hair follicle cell fate decisions.
The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is “to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, child well-being and medical research, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties.” For more information, visit the foundation’s website.