Lilly Innovative Fellowship Program Award

Postdoctoral

Initiated in 2012, the Lilly Innovation Fellowship Award (LIFA) program was created to identify and foster exceptional post-doctoral scientists pursuing ground breaking research projects. The prestigious LIFA program pairs a post-doctoral scientist with their academic mentor and a Lilly scientist, who serves as an industry mentor, to advance an innovative research proposal developed by the fellow. The goal of the LIFA program is to focus on research topics or "Grand Challenges" that will drive innovation in scientific areas of greatest strategic interest to Eli Lilly and Company, while remaining general enough to foster disruptive innovation.

Post-doctoral scientists have an option to elect any of the following research arrangements upon mutual agreement with their academic mentor.

  • All research performed at academic institution in collaboration with Lilly mentor.
  • Research performed at academic institution, with a limited number of short-term (less than 6 weeks) "visiting scientist" trips to Lilly.
  • Research begins at academic institution and after a pre-determined time point, the post-doctoral scientist will transition full-time to a Lilly research site to complete the project under the LIFA Agreement.

Note: For research arrangements 1 and 2, the post-doctoral scientist will be an employee of the academic institution. However, in the research arrangement 3, the post-doctoral scientist will be an employee of the academic institution while at that location and then a Lilly fixed duration employee while at a Lilly site.

Research projects foster career development and are pre-competitive in nature; thus, publication both encouraged and expected. Career development resources and other benefits are provided, including up to four years of salary, benefits and limited travel support to attend scientific meetings while participating in the program.

Consideration for participation in the program is currently limited to invited academic research centers around the world.

For more information, click on one of the boxes below, or email LIFA@Lilly.com

Who Can Apply?

The LIFA program is by invitation only to selected academic research centers around the world. All applications must be submitted to Lilly by the office of the Dean for their institution. Interested applicants should contact their Dean for further information.

To qualify for consideration for the program, applicants must:

  • Have a doctoral degree (Ph.D., M.D. or equivalent) that is awarded by May 31, 2016, and expected to be no more than four years prior to May 31, 2016
  • Must obtain the commitment of an academic mentor who will serve as their post-doctoral sponsor and will support them in the application process
  • The post-doctoral position must not be contingent upon LIFA funding
Program Benefits

Recognizing that many post-doctoral training programs have not always prepared young scientists for the full spectrum of job opportunities available to them (academic, industry, biotech/start up, government, not-for-profit research), Lilly has designed this program to broaden post-doctoral scientists’ training experience.

Key to the success of this program will be the establishment of a true academic-industry training partnership where the post-doctoral scientist and their academic mentor are paired with a Lilly scientist who serves as an industry mentor. The research projects are designed to be "pre-competitive" to encourage publication and presentation of resulting data.

Program benefits include:

  • Full post-doctoral salary and benefits for up to four years
  • Limited post-doctoral travel support to attend scientific conferences
  • Annual payment to the university to support the post-doctoral scientist’s training
  • Relocation support when moving from the university to work at a Lilly research site
  • Participation in Lilly post-doctoral scientist development programs
  • Interaction with Lilly’s global scientific network and become part of Lilly’s community of current post-doctoral scientists and alumni
Grand Challenges

A primary driver for the Lilly Innovation Fellowship Award Program is to stimulate pharmaceutical innovation through training of the next generation of drug discovery and development scientists. In selection of a research topic, applicants are encouraged to address one of the significant problems, or "Grand Challenges," facing discovery or development of new pharmaceutical therapies. Proposals should be either directed at 1) key therapeutic area interests of Lilly, which include: diabetes, oncology, neurodegenerative disease, chronic pain and autoimmune disease or 2) fundamental scientific areas relevant to drug discovery and development, including: chemistry (excluding structure activity relationships), formulations, biopharmaceuticals, translational science, novel in vitro and in vivo assay technologies/modeling, drug safety, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics or analytics/biostatistics and bioinformatics. Some examples are provided below; however, this list is not exhaustive and should be considered as an illustration of the types of projects that would be of greatest interest for the LIFA program.

  • To establish clinical efficacy and safety earlier in the drug discovery and development process for core areas of research interest to Lilly.
    • Improved validation of human disease targets and their associated risks for: Diabetes
      • novel targets with breakthrough potential in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (including robust weight loss, disease modification, addressing complications)
      • approaches for maintenance or regeneration of pancreatic T-cells Oncology
      • immuno-oncology efforts based on T-cell receptor with interests in T-cell stimulation, trafficking, infiltration and redirection as well as approaches removing suppressive signals on T-cells
      • bromodomain epigenetic targets
      • novel approaches and targets for manipulation of dysfunctional tumor microenvironment
      • identification of neoepitopes as targets for redirecting anti-tumor immune response Neurodegeneration
      • novel approaches to inhibition of Tau propagation
      • approaches for neurorestoration and proteostasis in neurodegenerative conditions Chronic Pain
      • identification of novel targets in areas of peripheral neuropathies, musculoskeletal, central neuropathic and headache prevention Autoimmunity
      • approaches targeting T-helper 17 cells, B-cells and immune checkpoint receptors approaches to utilizing immune checkpoints in development of auto-immune therapies
    • Animal models that reliably and predictably translate to humans (e.g. animal models for diabetes-associated cardiac failure or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, better animal models for pain and auto-immune diseases)
    • Use of adaptive judgment-based systems for application to data assessments for a given target or a clinical study
    • Technologies that predict likelihood of safety concerns with emphasis on translational safety.
    • In vitro or in vivo models for reliable prediction of human tolerability and pharmacology to guide process and product development of biopharmaceutical products.
    • Tissue compartment modeling and methods of studying disposition and subcutaneous absorption.
  • To discover mechanisms that identify the right medicine for the right patient.
    • Technologies (e.g. diagnostics, imaging, analytical chemistry, "big data" analysis) that best inform the choice of treatment in specific disease states of interest.
    • Pharmacogenomic approaches to targeted patient selection.
    • Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling strategies to improve human drug clearance and drug-drug interactions.
    • Methods and techniques that improve patient monitoring for both efficacy and safety endpoints in clinical trials.
  • To deliver exceptional patient outcomes.
    • Combination strategies based on patient tailoring and underlying genetics.
    • Detection of micro-metastatic cancer.
    • Identification of novel factors or pathways leading to adverse cardiovascular, renal or hepatic outcomes in patients with diabetes.
  • To simplify large-scale chemistry and protein production and minimize environmental impact.
    • Flexible manufacturing strategies for delivery of "green" synthetic processes.
    • Novel protein expression methods and approaches to large-scale biomolecule production.
    • Understanding ER-based protein folding and the use of cell engineering to improve the homogeneity of product.
    • Improving the reliability of scale-down models and predictive tools to reduce cost and time of developing manufacturing processes for therapeutic proteins.
    • Robust alternative (non-mammalian) expression systems for the production of proteins.
    • Novel approaches for rapid-acting insulins and glucose-sensing insulins.
    • Novel approaches for large scale manufacturing of therapeutic peptides.
  • To target and deliver biologics and small molecule therapeutics precisely.
    • Approaches for generation of orally bioavailable or brain penetrant large biomolecules.
    • Advanced analytical and informatics approaches to enable simultaneous optimization of molecules across multiple parameters.
    • Next generation formulation approaches to efficiently deliver potent oral drugs that have non-ideal physicochemical properties.
    • Directed delivery methods, such as antibody-drug conjugates and nano-technologies.
Lilly Therapeutic and Functional Areas currently participating in the LIFA program include:
  • ADME/Drug Disposition
  • Analytical / Statistical Sciences
  • Autoimmune and Inflammatory Diseases
  • Biomolecule Science & Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Diabetes
  • Diagnostics
  • Drug Delivery & Devices
  • Health Outcomes Research
  • Informatics
  • Medicinal/Discovery Chemistry
  • Neuroscience (pain, neurodegeneration)
  • Oncology
  • Pharmaceutical Sciences (biologics and small molecules)
  • Process Chemistry
  • Protein Production
  • Regulatory Sciences
  • Tailored Therapeutics (targeting therapies for the right patient with the right dose)
  • Toxicology

FAQ's

  • Who can apply?
  • Participation in LIFA is by invitation only to selected universities. All applications must be submitted to Lilly by the office of the dean of research for their university.

To qualify for consideration, the LIFA applicant is expected to be within 4 years of having completed a Ph.D., M.D. or equivalent degree and must have an academic mentor. Recent or prospective graduates are eligible to participate provided their doctoral degree is awarded by May 31, 2016 and they have obtained the commitment of an academic post-doctoral mentor who will support them in the application process.

All applicants must be associated with their academic mentor's laboratory and available to begin the program no Later than August 2016.

  • If I receive a Lilly Innovation Fellowship Award, do I need to relocate to a Lilly site?
  • No, the post-doctoral scientist has the option to elect any one of the research arrangements listed below during the application process upon mutual agreement with their academic mentor.
    • All research performed at academic institution in collaboration with Lilly mentor.
    • Research performed at academic institution, with a limited number of short-term (less than 6 weeks) “visiting scientist” trips to Lilly.
    • Research begins at academic institution and after a pre-determined time point, the post-doctoral scientist will transition full-time to a Lilly research site to complete the project under the LIFA Agreement.

Note: For research arrangements 1 and 2, the post-doctoral scientist will be an employee of the academic institution. However, in research arrangement 3, the post-doctoral scientist will be an employee of the academic institution while at that location and then a Lilly fixed duration employee while at a Lilly site.

  • If I receive a Lilly Innovation Fellowship Award, who will pay my salary and benefits?
  • If you are selected to receive a Lilly Innovation Fellowship Award, your salary and benefits will be provided directly to you by either your institution or Lilly, depending on what research arrangement you have elected.
  • Research arrangement 1 or 2: You will be an employee of the academic institution. Therefore, the salary and benefits will be paid directly to you by your institution. Lilly will provide funds for your salary and benefits to your institution.
  • Research arrangement 3: Your salary and benefits will be provided directly to you by your institution while you are at that site. However, when you relocate to Lilly as a fixed duration employee, your salary and benefits will be paid directly to you by Lilly.
    • In the United States, post-doctoral scientists will be asked to apply for a Lilly fixed duration employee position as a post-doctoral scientist for purposes of paying your salary and benefits.
    • In other geographies, you may have Lilly contractor status in which post-doctoral salary and benefits will he paid directly to you through an employment agency under contract with Lilly.

Eli Lilly and Company operates with the highest of ethical standards and requires every employee and contractor, including post-doctoral scientists, to read and adhere to the Company's code of conduct and employment policies.

  • How many years must the post-doctoral scientist commit to the LIFA program?
  • As this is a training program, there is a minimum amount of time required to gain meaningful benefit and successfully complete an innovative research project. Thus, a minimum two-year commitment is expected. The program is designed to free post-doctoral scientists from the worry of fund-raising by providing salary, benefits, and limited travel support for up to four years. Post-doctoral scientists are expected to actively participate in the training program and must make satisfactory progress to receive the full term of support.
  • What portion of the award duration must be spent working at a Lilly Research Laboratories’ (LRL)site?
  • It depends on the research arrangement selected by the post-doctoral scientist. Under research arrangements 1 and 2, you are not required to spend any time at Lilly Research Laboratories. However, it is anticipated that the nature of the project may require visits to Lilly Research Laboratories as a visiting scientist. This will be discussed and agreed upon between the post-doctoral scientist and both the academic and Lilly mentors. Under research arrangement 3, it is anticipated that the post-doctoral scientist would pursue their research project while working at a Lilly site for two years.
  • Can I apply for a LIFA fellowship in the US if I am not a US permanent resident or US citizen?
  • We recommend that all potential applicants consult with their university’s international scholars program to determine feasibility of participation. Our expectation is that the university will continue to support the LIFA post-doctoral scientist’s US work authorization in partnership with Lilly. If you or your university has any questions, please contact us at LIFA@lilly.com.
  • Will Lilly relocate a LIFA post-doctoral scientist to begin post-doctoral work at a university?
  • The LIFA program is not able to provide funding for a post-doctoral relocation to begin work at an academic institution. Lilly will fund the relocation when moving from the university to work at a Lilly research site.
  • If I am selected in the preliminary screening, does it mean that I will get the Lilly Fellowship Award?
  • No, LIFA is a very competitive post-doctoral fellowship award. Preliminary screening is the first step in the LIFA selection process. In the preliminary screening, Lilly will ensure that the project is pre-competitive in nature and is aligned with LIFA “Grand Challenges.” If you pass the preliminary screening, a Lilly mentor will be assigned to work with you and your academic mentor to prepare a final application package. All final application packages will be reviewed by the LIFA committee and scored based on the strength of the candidate, strength of the proposal (novelty, potential impact, and innovation) and the track record of the academic mentor. Only a subset of final applications will be advanced to “candidacy.”
  • Does the LIFA program support clinical trials research?
  • Although the LIFA Program is not intended to support the implementation of clinical trials per se, an application that proposes innovative ways to enhance clinical-stage chemistry processes,analyze clinical or health outcomes data, or translate basic research findings to clinical data sets (e.g., biomarkers) and similar research endeavors could be within scope.
  • If I am advanced to "candidacy." am I certain to receive the Fellowship Award?
  • Being selected as a LIFA "candidate” is an honor in itself, as this means your application was judged as having exceptional merit relative to other applicants from around the world; however, this is the first step. There are additional steps before a Fellowship Award can be conferred.
    • First, your academic institution will need to sign a post-doctoral Training Partnership Agreement with Lilly
    • Second, if you will transition full-time to a Lilly research site to complete a project as a fixed duration employee (research arrangement 3) you will undergo a routine security and conflict of interest assessment. Individuals considered for US fellowship positions will also need to evaluate their US employment eligibility.

Normally, these steps can be completed within a few weeks after you advance to “candidacy.”

  • What are the important dates for LIFA applicants?

October 28, 2015 – Call for preliminary research proposal sent out

January 28, 2016 – Preliminary application deadline

February 2016 – Communicate decision to all applicants / Send out full application package

April 26, 2016 – Final application deadline

May/June 2016 – Selection and decision communicate to all applicants

June/July 2016 - Post-doctoral onboarding/contraction process begins. Funding begins once the post-doctoral Training Partnership Agreement between Lilly and the Academic institution is signed.

  • Is the Lilly mentor selected solely by the company, or do the postdoctoral fellow and the university mentor have any input into the process?
  • The Lilly mentor selection process is handled internally at Lilly.
  • January 28, 2016: Preliminary application deadline
  • February, 2016: Decision communicated to all applicant AND full application package sent to selected applicants
  • April 26, 2016: Final application deadline
  • May/June 2016: Finalists selected and decisions communicated to all applicants
  • June/July 2016: Contracting
  • August 2016: Funding/research begins

 

 

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