Organizations Across Sectors Unite Through the Winn Awards to Advance Better Science For All
A growing coalition of pharmaceutical companies, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and clinical research leaders is coming together through the Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials Award Program (Winn Awards) to train a new generation of physicians to solve one of healthcare’s most urgent challenges: improving representation in clinical trials and ensuring all communities have access to the latest advances in medicine.
As 80 talented medical students from across the country participate in the fifth annual cohort of the Winn Awards’ signature Clinical Investigator Pathway Program (Winn CIPP) at 18 top research institutions, leaders across sectors are reaffirming a shared commitment to ensuring that clinical trials better reflect and serve the populations most affected by disease.
The Winn Awards is a national initiative focused on preparing physicians and researchers to design and conduct clinical trials with a strong emphasis on community engagement, trust-building, and improving participation in research. Through immersive education, mentorship, and hands-on clinical research experiences, the program equips trainees with the tools needed to help advance more effective and accessible healthcare for all communities. The Winn CIPP accomplishes this by teaching medical students about the importance of offering clinical trials, exposing them to community-centered research, and helping them understand the pathways to becoming a physician-scientist who works on clinical trials.
What makes the initiative unique is not only its mission, but also the breadth of organizations working together toward this shared goal.
Established by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMS Foundation), an independent charitable organization, in 2020, the Winn Awards are supported by a growing coalition of funding partners and collaborators committed to strengthening the future clinical research workforce and improving participation in clinical trials. Funders supporting the 2026 Winn CIPP cohort include the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, Gilead Sciences, Amgen, Genentech, and AstraZeneca. These organizations join academic institutions, research centers, mentors, and nonprofit collaborators nationwide in supporting a growing movement to strengthen the future clinical research workforce.
“Clinical trials shape the future of medicine, but the future of medicine depends on building a clinical research workforce prepared to engage all communities,” said Dr. Robert A. Winn, newly appointed Vice President and Director of Fox Chase Cancer Center and namesake of the program. “The Winn Awards exists because leaders across sectors recognize that improving participation in clinical trials is not the responsibility of any one organization alone. It requires partnership, collaboration, and investment in people.”
Since its launch, the Winn CIPP has experienced rapid national growth, drawing hundreds of applicants annually from medical schools across the country. Students selected for Winn CIPP participate in a six-week summer externship that introduces them to clinical research early in their careers through service-learning experiences, mentorship, and educational programming focused on community-engaged research and clinical trial design.
This week, as the program draws to a close, participants and partnering organizations will come together from across the nation for the Winn CIPP Symposium, the program’s annual culminating event where students have the opportunity to connect with one another and learn from clinical research leaders. The symposium is being held at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois from July 9-11 this year.
“At the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, our work is grounded in expanding access to care and investing in the people and systems that make better health possible,” said Catharine Grimes, president of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation. “We established the Winn Awards to help address persistent gaps in clinical research, and we are proud to support the Winn Clinical Investigator Pathway Program (CIPP) as it continues to grow and expand its impact. What we are seeing across these cohorts is a powerful pipeline of future leaders committed to more inclusive, community-centered research — and that progress will shape the future of clinical trials.”
“Advancing clinical research requires collaboration across sectors and sustained investment in future leaders,” said Ponda Motsepe-Ditshego, vice president, Inclusive Global Health and Impact, Amgen. “The Winn Awards is helping build a pipeline of physicians and researchers prepared to strengthen connections between research and the communities it serves.”
“Genentech is honored to support initiatives that expand opportunities for future clinical researchers and address barriers preventing many communities from accessing the latest medical breakthroughs,” said Joy Russell, Vice President, US External Affairs, Genentech. “The Winn Awards represents an important investment in advancing community-centered care and building an inclusive future of healthcare for all.”
“AstraZeneca is dedicated to ensuring our clinical research includes people from a wide range of backgrounds, communities, and patient populations, so the findings better reflect the people these medicines are meant to help. As such, we are proud to support efforts that help foster innovation in community engagement to promote greater engagement in research,” said Roula Qaqish, Vice President, Head of Medical Affairs, US Oncology, AstraZeneca. “Programs like the Winn CIPP are helping prepare future leaders to advance research that can improve outcomes for all patients.”
The Winn Awards continues to grow as a national platform for collaboration among industry, academia, healthcare institutions, and nonprofit organizations united by a shared belief: better science requires broader participation, stronger community partnerships, and intentional investment in the future clinical research.
🔗 Learn more about joining this growing coalition of supporters dedicated to advancing Better Science For All at winnawards.org.
🔗 View the Winn CIPP Symposium program.
🔗 Read about this year’s talented students in the Winn CIPP Cohort 5 Bio Book.
About the Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials Award Program
Overall Winn Awards program
The Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials Award Program (Winn Awards) is transforming the future of clinical research. Through rigorous training, mentorship, and hands-on experience, we empower researchers with the skills and expertise to engage a broader range of patients — ensuring that the communities enrolled in trials reflect the populations affected by disease. By bridging this gap, we help advance treatments that are safer and more effective for all.
Visit www.winnawards.org for more information.
The Winn Clinical Investigator Pathway Program (CIPP)
The Winn Clinical Investigator Pathway Program is an immersive 6-week summer experience that introduces medical students to clinical research early in their training, instilling a research and community-oriented perspective that guides them throughout their careers. This foundation ensures that when they embark on their own research or patient care, clinical trials remain a key consideration.
Visit www.winnawards.org for more information.
