NIH K25 Grants — Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award
Reviewed by Dr. Meng ZhaoLast reviewed June 9, 2026Data refreshed September 5, 2026Editorial standards
Brings quantitative scientists (engineers, physicists) into biomedical research
Funding
Salary support + research support
Duration
3–5 years
Eligibility
Quantitative scientists transitioning to biomedical research
Activity code
K25
What is the NIH K25 grant?
The K25 funds engineers, physicists, computer scientists, and other quantitative researchers who want to apply their skills to biomedical research questions and need mentored training in a biomedical context.
Recent K25 awards from NIH RePORTER
Examples of funded K25 projects across the last two fiscal years. The matching-award count comes from the full result set; funding totals, averages, rankings, and examples use the first 500 records returned by NIH RePORTER. Figures reflect a snapshot last refreshed on September 5, 2026.
Example K25 projects from the sample
Intelligent Bioelectronic Implants for the Diagnosis and Neuromodulation of Neurogenic Bladder Dysfunction
1K25DK144708-01A1Zhengwei Li · UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, TX · $167,696 · awarded Aug 27, 2026 · NIHProject Summary Urological dysfunction following spinal cord injury (SCI) often includes neurogenic bladder and detrusor sphincter dyssynergia (DSD), where the external urethral sphincter (EUS) fails to relax during detrusor muscle contraction, resulting in inefficient bladder emptying. Unfortunately, current treatments—including pharmacotherapy, botulinum…
Optimizing Congenital Aortic Valve Surgery with Simulation-Guided Design
5K25HL175208-03Alexander Kaiser · STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CA · $181,872 · awarded Aug 21, 2026 · NIHPROJECT SUMMARY Congenital heart disease occurs in about 1% of births, making it the most common type of birth defect and leading cause of infant mortality in the United States. Congenital aortic valve disease, one category of congenital heart disease, frequently requires surgery. Despite generally positive results, undesirable outcomes remain common, and…
Multi-omic network methods for mapping molecular trajectories of age-related lung diseases
7K25HL175222-02Katherine Shutta · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE, MD · $126,322 · awarded Aug 20, 2026 · NIHChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are progressive lung diseases that are substantial sources of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Both diseases have common origins beginning with injury to the lung from environmental exposures such as cigarette smoke or particulates from biomass fuels. However, people with…
Translational XR and AI Technologies with Dynamic Soft Robotic Hearts for Immersive Clinical Training and Future Intraoperative Guidance in Interventional Cardiology
1K25HL186244-01Mohsen Annabestani · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV, NY · $100,805 · awarded Aug 19, 2026 · NIHProject Summary This K25 project aims to revolutionize structural heart intervention training and procedural guidance by developing an advanced extended reality (XR) platform integrated with AI, soft robotics, and fluoroscopy- compatible systems to address critical clinical challenges in procedures like atrial septal defect (ASD) closure, left atrial…
Ultra-Low Field MRI for Assessment of Congenital Heart Disease
1K25HL183904-01A1Jonathan Martin · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, TN · $174,621 · awarded Aug 19, 2026 · NIHPROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Objective: The goal of this research is to develop cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) techniques for monitoring congenital heart disease (CHD) that are more robust, safe, and accessible than conventional CMR, which is performed at high magnetic field strengths. I will achieve this by implementing CMR on an ultra-low field…
Roles of Red Blood Cell Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Complement Activation and Thromboinflammation in sickle cell disease
5K25HL159358-05Ran An · UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, TX · $106,486 · awarded Aug 17, 2026 · NIHPROJECT SUMMARY Sickle cell disease (SCD) is caused by abnormal polymerization of deoxygenated sickle hemoglobin, which damages red blood cells (RBCs), resulting in hemolysis and thromboinflammation. Sickled-RBCs lead to heterogeneous clinical complications in SCD and induce challenges in determining the exact therapeutic interventions. Extracellular…
Using Microfluidics to Identify Mechanisms of Platelet Dysfunction and Assess Therapeutic Efficacy in Traumatic Hemorrhage
5K25HL161401-05Susan Shea · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH, PA · $128,072 · awarded Aug 17, 2026 · NIHThis proposal consists of a five-year plan to develop Susan M. Shea, PhD into an independent translational scientist in the field of trauma-induced coagulopathy (TIC) and therapeutic assessment of hemostatic blood products. The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is an outstanding institution for Dr. Shea to establish her research program, as there is a…
Correlating Genotype and Phenotype of Metastatic Cancer Cells In Vivo Using Nanolaser Optical Barcode
7K25CA301033-02Sangyeon Cho · RICE UNIVERSITY, TX · $23,525 · awarded Aug 7, 2026 · NIHProject Summary. The complex dynamics of metastatic cancer, which include processes like plasticity, immune evasion, and therapy resistance, pose significant challenges to effective treatment. While emerging single-cell sequencing technologies now aid in understanding the unique genome expression of individual cancer cells within heterogeneous tumor…
Statistical physics and network-based approaches for elucidating molecular biomarkers of COPD
5K25HL166208-04Xuwen Wang · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL, MA · $189,000 · awarded Aug 7, 2026 · NIHPROJECT SUMMARY Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed airflow from the lungs. As a common complex disease, COPD has high global morbidity and mortality. Indeed, deaths due to respiratory disease numbered nearly four million, which was mostly contributed by COPD. There is a clear demand to…
Machine learning-based methods for phenotyping dementia patients from electronic health record data
5K25AG083064-04Roy Adams · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, MD · $136,001 · awarded Aug 6, 2026 · NIHPROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Candidate: Dr. Roy Adams applies for this K25 Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award with the goal of building a productive independent research career as a methodologist focused on developing electronic health record (EHR)-based models and tools to improve our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and related…
Mechanogenomics of the asthmatic airway epithelium
5K25HL168157-04Margherita De Marzio · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL, MA · $188,920 · awarded Aug 3, 2026 · NIHSummary/Abstract Airway wall remodeling is one of the most documented hallmarks of asthma. Despite being a key clinical trait of long-term asthma, this pathological condition remains largely uncontrolled even with front-line therapies. Remodeling processes have been traditionally described as an aberrant response to chronic inflammation. However, this…
Predicting symptom onset and clinical progression with blood biomarkers of Alzheimer disease
1K25AG095391-01A1Kellen Petersen · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, MO · $151,480 · awarded Aug 3, 2026 · NIHPROJECT SUMMARY This Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award consists of an integrated career development plan and research project designed to enable Dr. Kellen Petersen to become an independent investigator focused on applying advanced mathematical and computational models to the study of Alzheimer Disease (AD) and blood-based biomarkers.…
Funding institutes in the sample
| Institute | Awards | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| NIH | 107 | $15.6M |
Most frequent institutions in the sample
- BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL — 11 awards
- JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY — 6 awards
- MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL — 6 awards
- COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES — 6 awards
- WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES — 5 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA — 5 awards
- WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV — 4 awards
- ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI — 4 awards
Source: NIH RePORTER. Verify any award in the official record by searching its project number. See our data methodology for how this sample is built and its limitations.
Decision guide
Choose K25 when
Choose K25 if your terminal degree is outside biomedical sciences and you need mentored time to learn the biomedical domain.
Choose another mechanism when
PhDs already trained in biomedical research should use K01 or K99/R00.
Who applies for K25
PhDs in engineering, physics, mathematics, computer science, etc., looking to transition into biomedical research.
Compare nearby NIH grant mechanisms
Searchers often land on K25 while deciding between adjacent NIH activity codes. Compare scope, NIH staff involvement, budget scale, and applicant stage before choosing a funding opportunity.
Career development for new investigators needing mentored training
Postdoc → faculty transition (mentored K99 then independent R00)
For broad grant lookup, use the NIH grant search to find funded examples by activity code, PI, institution, and award year.
Search tips for K25
- K25 PIs often anchor computational and engineering departments at AMCs.