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Sustaining the Biomedical Workforce: Innovative Pathways for Retaining and Supporting Physician-Scientists

Tuesday, September 9th, 2025
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM

A Joint Workshop from the American Junior Investigator Association (AJIA) and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM)

‍Physician-scientists are essential to bridging bench research and patient care. However, these unique professionals face mounting challenges, including unstable funding, prolonged training timelines, limited institutional support, and competing clinical and research demands that threaten the viability of this critical career path. This workshop will convene leaders from academia, government, industry, philanthropy, and health systems to confront long-standing structural challenges and explore bold, innovative models for sustaining physician-scientist careers. Through retrospective analysis, forward-looking panels, and solution-driven breakout sessions, participants will co-develop actionable strategies to support and retain this critical segment of the biomedical workforce.This workshop is co-sponsored by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Lasker Foundation.

Agenda:


Additional speakers to be announced


8:30 am | Registration and Networking Breakfast


9:00 am | Welcome and Opening Remarks

‍- Victor Dzau, National Academy of Medicine
- Jennifer Kwan, AJIA, Yale University

9:15 am | Keynote

- Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health

9:45 am | The Yellow Berets: The Most Successful Program Ever Developed for Training Physician-Scientists

- Bob Lefkowitz, Duke University

10:15 am | Panel 1: Lessons from Past Efforts

This opening panel will provide a retrospective look at national efforts to support physician-scientists, offering a candid assessment of what has and hasn’t worked. This “postmortem” sets the stage for bold new thinking grounded in lessons learned.

- Moderator: Juanita Merchant, University of Arizona
- Sam Gill, Doris Duke
- David Ginsburg, University of Michigan
- Mukesh Jain, Brown University
- Louis Muglia, BWF (virtual)
- Ivy Ng, Singapore Health System (virtual)
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11:30 am | Lunch‍
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12:00 pm | Panel 2: Physician-Scientists in an Evolving World of Science & Technology

This panel will explore the evolving identity of physician-scientists and their critical role in accelerating the translation of discovery into improved health outcomes, with a focus on integrating digital health and entrepreneurial models, advancing team science, and strengthening training pathways.

- Moderator: Joseph Wu, Stanford University
- Robert Califf, Duke University
- Vivian Cheung, Brown University
- Elena Fuentes-Afflick, Association of American Medical Colleges
- Anna Greka, Broad Institute
- Kenneth Mandl, Boston Children's Hospital
- John Sampson, Duke University & University of Colorado

1:15 pm | Panel 3: Bold Models for Sustainable Support

This panel will highlight innovative domestic and global models for sustaining physician-scientist careers, examining state-driven initiatives, mission-oriented and public-private funding strategies, the role of philanthropy and venture capital, and emerging synergies between health systems and universities.

- Moderator: Vivian Lee, Harvard Business School
- Say Beng Tan, Singapore NMRC
- Carol Jabet, Fonds de recherche du Quebec (virtual)
- Michelle Le Beau, Cancer Prevention Initiative of Texas
- PJ Utz, Stanford (virtual)

2:30 pm | Afternoon Break‍

2:45 pm | Breakout Sessions: Designing Innovative Solutions

Framing of Breakout Sessions: Evan Noch, University of Texas Southwestern (10 minutes)
Opening Remarks: Kyu Rhee, Cornell (15 minutes)

Facilitated Small Groups Discussions

- Policy and Communication, NAS Lecture Room
Lead: Yvette Seger, FASEB & Mary Woolley, Research!America
- Innovative Funding Mechanisms, NAS Lecture Room
Lead: Ruben Flores-Saaid, Ligand & Andrew Zinn, UT Southwestern
- Redefining Success and Impact, NAS 125
Lead: Olivier Elemento, Weill Cornell
- Retaining the Pipeline, NAS 118
Lead: Brendan Lee, Baylor
Novel Paradigms for Training, NAS Board Room
Lead: Linda Demer, UCLA & Talia Swartz, MSSM

4:15 pm | Report-Out and Group Discussion
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- Jennifer Kwan, AJIA, Yale University
- Evan Noch, UT Southwestern

5:00 pm | Closing Reflections & Call to Action
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- Victor Dzau, NAM
- Jennifer Kwan, AJIA, Yale University

5:30 pm | Informal Networking Reception‍

6:00 pm | Adjourn‍