The BEAR Cage (Building Education to Advance Research) Competition is hosted annually by the Drug, Device, Discovery, and Development (DDDD) Committee. The program is open to early-stage investigators with highly innovative, translational, human-focused research proposals. The top three submissions are chosen by the DDDD Committee and the finalists are invited to pitch their proposals to a panel of translational science experts representing academia, industry, and governmental sectors in front of a live audience at the ATS International Conference.

The panel, with audience participation, will “vet” these proposals with each presenter, providing a unique “shark-tank” like learning environment that fuels real-time feedback and propels the strategic thinking required for these novel ideas to become innovations. After each presentation, the live panel and audience will have sufficient time to ask questions to each of the top three contestants. Ultimately, the panel will award one grand prize winner a $10,000 prize and the two runner-up proposals $2,500 each.

The overarching goal is that through participation in a competitive, public, and yet lighthearted session, the presenting investigators will identify ways to strengthen their research proposals and increase the likelihood of future funding and success, driving their ideas to actualization. To further promote this concept, each awardee is assigned a DDDD committee distance mentor to provide feedback and assistance in propelling their research forward.