NIH High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program

The NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program was created to support exceptionally creative scientists with highly innovative research ideas. Learn about the NIH Director’s Pioneer, New Innovator, Transformative Research, and Early Independence Awards, supporting high-impact research from scientists at all career stages.

Dr. Basavappa received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Chicago for studies on the structure of tRNA. He then was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School in virus crystallography. Prior to joining NIH, he was Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, where he studied the structural aspects of mitotic control by targeted protein degradation. At Rochester, he also was a Research Scholar of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America and Director of the Biophysics and Structural Biology Program. He joined NIH in 2004, first at NIGMS and then in the Office of the Director. His current responsibilities include serving as Program Leader for the Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program.