Career Award In Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Overview of the Program

Since 1963, the Harvey L. and Maud C. Sorensen Foundation has supported children’s health in California.  In 2023, the Foundation’s Board of Directors established a Career Award in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.  This prestigious award aims to support either clinician-scientists as they transition from their fellowship training to junior faculty positions or junior faculty who are seeking permanent, tenure-track positions at accredited medical schools in California.  The Foundation’s long-term goals are to support translational research that will result in effective preventions and treatments for children with psychiatric disorders, to address the growing shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists who are pursing academic research careers, and to cultivate mentors to succeeding generations of child psychiatrists.

The Harvey L. and Maud C. Sorensen Foundation invites early-career child and adolescent psychiatrists who are pursuing academic research careers to apply to the 2025 Career Award in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP).

Career Awards will be awarded on a competitive, peer-reviewed basis and will provide $200,000 in annual funding for a maximum of three years based on scientific review and progress.

The Career Award may be awarded at any of the following seven accredited medical schools in California: UC Davis, UC San Francisco, UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, University of Southern California, and Stanford.

The Foundation is governed by a 7-member Board of Directors.  The Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee advises the Board of Directors on the quality and competitiveness of candidates, reviews and evaluates applications, and selects the awardee each year.

Eligibility and Qualifications

• Applicants must hold an MD or MD/PhD.
• Applicants must have completed their CAP training or be a PGY-4, PGY-5, or PGY-6 trainee. Junior faculty whose title does not exceed Assistant Professor are also eligible.
• Applicants may hold a Career Development (K) Award from NIH, but this award cannot serve as the institutional commitment to the K Award. The Sorensen Foundation Career Award would supplement other sources of funding.
• Applicants who have received previous support from the Foundation may still be eligible; please contact the Foundation at to confirm eligibility.
• Career Awards may be awarded at any of the following seven accredited medical schools in California: UC Davis, UC San Francisco, UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, University of Southern California, and Stanford.
• Applicants must have a mentor who holds a full-time faculty or primary appointment at the applicant’s sponsoring medical school. Applicants must obtain a letter of support from their mentor.

Terms of the Awards

Career Awards will provide $200,000 in annual funding for a maximum of three years based on scientific review and progress. Payments will be sent directly to the sponsoring medical school and can be applied toward salary and benefits or to support a research project.

Timeline For Application Submission

The Foundation must receive the candidate’s completed application and mentor’s letter of support before 3:00 pm (PST) on January 31, 2025. Application materials should be submitted as a single PDF attachment to: .

The Foundation will notify candidates of the status of their application by March 18, 2025. Finalists will interview with the Scientific Advisory Committee on April 18, 2025. Award decisions will be announced by April 23, 2025. Awards may be activated between July 1, 2025, and September 30, 2025.

Application Procedures

Please see the Apply for a 2025 Career Award section of this website for application instructions.  The application includes multiple components: 2025 Application Form, candidate’s biosketch and bibliography of relevant publications, personal statement, technical statement of proposed research, mentor’s NIH biosketch, and mentor’s letter of support.  Applicants should work with their mentor and grants officer to prepare the application in advance of the deadline to avoid errors and omissions.

The Foundation does not provide candidates with critiques of their applications or their rankings in the review process.

The Scientific Advisory Committee emphasizes the following criteria in selecting candidates to interview:

• The accomplishments of the candidate and perceived potential of the candidate;
• The commitment of the candidate to an academic research career in child and adolescent psychiatry;
• The relevance of the proposed research into the prevention of or treatment for psychiatric disorders among children and/or adolescents;
• The commitment of the principal investigator to provide significant and personalized leadership to mentor the candidate and support his/her career development; and
• The accomplishments of the principal investigator in the candidate’s field of inquiry.

Conditions of the Award

Awardees must comply with the following conditions of the fellowship award:

• Activate the fellowship between July 1, 2025 and September 30, 2025.
• Notify the Foundation promptly if plans change and the awardee is unable to continue the supported research. The award cannot be transferred to a different institution or mentor.
• Send the Foundation a brief report at the end of the academic year (June 30, 2026) summarizing the progress of the research project.
• Acknowledge the support of the Harvey L. and Maud C. Sorensen Foundation on curriculum vitae and in all published papers resulting from the research project and provide the Foundation with one reprint of each publication.