About the Prize

Nominees(s) must hold a Master’s degree, M.D., Ph.D., D.V.M., or equivalent degree. Academic, government, NGO, or non-profit sector scientists may be nominated or may self-nominate but Centers, Programs, Institutes, Universities, etc. are not eligible for the Prize. There are no geographic restrictions. HESI staff and HESI elected leadership (Board of Trustees and Emerging Issues Committee science advisors) are ineligible for the Award.

Lifetime Achievement Award – $25,000: Awardees will have demonstrated fulfillment of the criteria for the Prize over the course of their professional careers — prospective programming or effort is not eligible for consideration. The work/impacts submitted for consideration for this Award must have taken place within the last five years. The entrant must have designed, performed, and/or personally directed the work described in their application.

Awardees must be willing to participate in the HESI Annual Meeting (June timeframe) to present their work and receive the award.

Nominees who do not win the Prize are eligible to reapply if they meet all other eligibility requirements.

Mid-Career Award – $75,000: Awardees will have demonstrated fulfillment of the criteria for the Prize and can reasonably be expected to continue to make contributions to their fields. Applications for the Mid-Career Prize must describe how the Awardee anticipates to use the Award to further the impact, reach, or breadth of their efforts. As this is not a Prize, not a grant, specific timelines and deliverables need not be specified. However, clarity and feasibility of the proposed activities will be evaluated. The entrant must have designed, performed, and/or personally directed the work described in their application and must be directly engaged in future work to be supported by Prize funds.

Awardees must be willing to participate in the HESI Annual Meeting (June timeframe) to present their work and receive the award.

Nominees who do not win the Prize are eligible to reapply if they meet all other eligibility requirements.

For purposes of this Award, Mid-Career is defined as 10-25 years following the date the Applicant’s highest degree was awarded. However, we recognize that career paths can take different routes reflecting individual circumstances and thus apply a flexible definition of these terms under this Award program. Leave for reasons such as maternity/paternity, family member care, personal disability or other factors may increase the time frame. In such instances, the type of leave, dates and duration must be included in the nomination/application information. This will be considered in determining eligibility during the review based on guidelines established by the European Research Council Decision C (2021) 930 of February 22, 2021 and the International Society for Computational Biology.

The HESI Innovation Prize recognizes exceptional scientists who share HESI’s commitment to synthesizing ideas, resources, and collaborators across scientific disciplines and sectors – and who have demonstrated particular creativity and impact in doing so. Awardees will have applied this approach to catalyze progress against the specified thematic focus (see below) in relation to one or more of the following areas that are central to HESI’s core operations: 1) safe and effective medicines, 2) food safety and security, 3) chemical and consumer product safety, and/or 4) environmental quality and sustainability. The Prize recognizes impact achieved via research, training/education, and/or programmatic approaches.

For 2022-2023, the HESI Innovation Prize will recognize individuals who have met the Award Objectives described above so as to help reduce disproportionate health burdens in under-served populations and/or to promote greater health equity.

One unrestricted cash Prize of $25,000 USD for the Lifetime Achievement Award and one unrestricted cash Prize of $75,000 USD for the Mid-Career Award. Awardees may elect to receive the prize money directly or may instruct that that the funds be paid to an institution with which he or she is affiliated. (If the Awardee elects for the Prize to be paid to an institution, HESI will work with the institution with the aim of ensuring that indirect costs are not deducted from the Prize funds. In exceptional circumstances HESI may opt to award two prizes in a given year or split the prize if there are co-applicants).

In addition to the cash prize, Awardees will also be provided with funding to cover travel and lodging to attend the HESI Annual Meeting to receive their Award and share a presentation about their work. If the meeting is held virtually, the Awardee will be invited to give an online presentation to the HESI membership.

Applications will be reviewed by the HESI Innovation Prize Review Board in relation to the objectives described above. The Prize Review Board has full and final discretion in selection of Awardees.

Awardees will be notified of their selection by February 20, 2023.