The NIH MERIT award (Method To Extend Research in Time) Award (R37) was created by the National Institutes of Health in 1986. It is designed to provide stable, long-term funding support to outstanding, experienced investigators whose productivity is superior and who are deemed highly likely to continue to perform their research activities in an outstanding manner. The MERIT award provided funding for 5 years and could be renewed for up to 10 years. Unlike most NIH grant awards, the MERIT award cannot be applied for by the investigator. Researchers submitting an R01 that receives a fundable score are considered for the award. In 2018, the NIH began awarding MERIT awards to "Early Stage Investigators", who are in the first 10 years of their career.
Notable MERIT award recipients Name Institute YearDeborah PersaudJohns Hopkins University School of Medicine2026Shu JiangWashington University in St. Louis2021Xiang-Jin MengVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University2024 Joyce Huanhuan Chen The University of Chicago 2024 Jamil S. Saad, PhD University of Alabama at Birmingham 2023 Karen Pierce, PhD University of California San Diego 2023 Karen Adolph New York University 2006 Jeffery Alberts Indiana University 1998 Susan Amara National Institutes of Health 2004 Arnold Berk UCLA 2003 Mark Blumberg University of Iowa 2014 Gary Borisy Northwestern University 1989 Joan Brugge Harvard Medical School 1987 Joseph D. Brain Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health 1987 Donald S. Coffey Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine 1988 Chris Q. Doe University of Oregon 2013 John Engelhardt University of Iowa 2005Cindy L. EhlersScripps Research Institute2007 David L. Felten Oakland University 1989 Andrew Feinberg Johns Hopkins University 2001 Catherine Clarke Fenselau Johns Hopkins University 1991Jorge E. GalánYale University2000, 2015 Ethel Gilbert National Cancer Institute 2003 Patricia A. Grady NIH Shiv I.S. Grewal National Cancer Institute Alan Grodzinsky MIT 1994 Curtis C. Harris National Cancer Institute 2009 Eric Jacobsen Harvard University 2002 Muhammad Ashraf University of Cincinnati 2003 Lily Jan UCSF 2006 Jeremy J. Johnson University of Illinois Chicago 2019 Barbara B. Kahn Harvard University 2006 Kenneth W. Kinzler Johns Hopkins University 2002 Leonid Kruglyak Princeton University 2002 Hsiang-fu Kung National Cancer Institute 1998 M. Daniel Lane Johns Hopkins School of Medicine 1990 Mitchell Lazar University of Pennsylvania Xihong Lin Harvard University 2007 Andrew D. Luster Massachusetts General Hospital James L. Manley Columbia University Sean J. Morrison UT Southwestern 2009 Eric N. Olson UT Southwestern 2000Michele PaganoNYU School of Medicine2006 Pier Paolo Pandolfi Harvard Medical School 2005Peipei Ping University of California, Los Angeles2010 Carol Prives Columbia University 1996 Alexander Raikhel University of California Riverside Julius Rebek Scripps Research Institute 1996 Clarice Reid NHLBI Edward T. RyanMassachusetts General Hospital-Harvard University Sandra Schmid UT Southwestern 2000 John M. Sedivy Brown University 2009 Edward I. Solomon Stanford University 1995, 2002 Kevin Struhl Harvard Medical School 1993 Suresh Subramani UC San Diego Kenneth Thibodeau National Archives and Records Administration 2000 Inder Verma Salk Institute for Biological Studies 1987 Sean Whelan Harvard Medical School 2005 William T. Wickner Dartmouth Medical School Charles R. Wira Dartmouth College George Woude Van Andel Research Institute 1982 Hao Wu Harvard Medical School Margaret C. Wu National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 1989 Nancy Zahniser University of ColoradoPatricia SpearNorthwestern University1987, 1999 Dagmar Sternad Northeastern University 2022David A. SinclairHarvard Medical School2012BVV PrasadBaylor college of medicine2003BVV PrasadBaylor college of medicine2013
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