About the Foundation
The Ray Thomas Edwards Foundation, established in 1997 as a
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was funded by an endowment
from the late Ray Edwards.
The foundation will be terminated in 2022 and its assets
transferred to the Edwards-Yeckel Research Foundation,
recently formed to conduct, support, and disseminate
basic scientific research aimed at better understanding the
central nervous system, with the objective of improving
human health.
Foundation mission
Foundation mission
The Ray Thomas Edwards Foundation is devoted to providing
financial support for basic research in the biomedical
sciences. The Foundation recognizes that discovery and
innovation in the biomedical sciences for the public's good
depends on the training and support of the highest quality
young scientists in the very best research environments. In
pursuit of this goal, the Foundation offers a Career Award in
the Biomedical Sciences for researchers working in San Diego
County. The purpose of the award is to foster the development
of biomedical researchers who are early in their careers,
during the critical transition to becoming independent
investigators. The Foundation supports research across the
spectrum of the biomedical sciences, including: biochemistry;
cell, developmental, molecular, and structural biology;
endocrinology; immunology; microbiology; neurobiology;
physiology; virology.
Financial support has been provided to the Salk Institute for
Biological Studies, The Scripps Research Institute, University
of California, San Diego, and the Neurosciences Institute
through various awards and charitable contributions granted by
the Foundation.
Career Development Awards
Career Development Awards
The Ray Thomas Edwards Foundation Career Development Award in
the Biomedical Sciences is intended to foster the development
of biomedical researchers who are early in their careers and
to help them make the critical transition to becoming
independent investigators. The goal of the program is to help
bridge the gap between completion of research training and
attainment of status as an independent research scientist. To
facilitate the career development of promising biomedical
research scientists, funding is provided for the purchase of
appropriate laboratory equipment and salary support for
laboratory personnel, including postdoctoral fellows, graduate
students, and technicians.
Kristian Andersen, Assistant Professor in the Neurobiology Section, Division of Biological Sciences, UCSD, 2017-2019.
Chih-Ying Su, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Neurobiology Section, Division of Biological Sciences, UCSD, 2016-2018.
Janelle Ayres, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Nomis Foundation Laboratories for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 2015-2017.
Andrew Ward, PhD, Assistant Professor of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at The Scripps Research Institute, 2014-2016.
Hu Cang, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Wait Advanced Biophotonics Center at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 2013-2015.
George Sen, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine/Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 2012-2014.
Emily Troemel, PhD, Assistant Professor in Biology, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, 2011-2013.
Jill Leutgeb, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Neurobiology Section of Division of Biological Sciences at University of California-San Diego, 2010-2012.
Tatyana Sharpee, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, 2009-2011.
Lei Wang, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Chemical Biology and Proteomics Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, 2008-2010.
Dorian B. McGavern, PhD, formerly Associate Professor in the Molecular and Integrative Neurosciences Department at The Scripps Research Institute, now at NIH, 2007-2009.
Gentry Patrick, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology at University of California, San Diego, 2006-2008.
Jeffrey A. Long, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Plant Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 2005-2007.
James G. Umen, PhD, formerly Assistant Professor in the Plant Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, now at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 2004-2006.
Joseph G. Gleeson, MD, Associate Professor in Neurosciences at University of California, San Diego, 2003-2005.
Foundation Fellowship Awards
David Gonzalez, PhD, Assistant
Professor of Pharmacology at University of California, 2015.
Lisa
Boulanger, PhD, formerly Assistant Professor of Biology
at University of California, San Diego, now Assistant
Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, 2007.
Tracy
L. Johnson, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology at
University of California, San Diego, 2004.