The Application Portal for the ATS 2024 BEAR Cage Competition has closed.

Please see below for this year’s winner and finalists.

The 2025 BEAR Cage Application portal will open in late fall 2024.

We invite you to join us for the live competition in San Diego, CA.

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. 

For any questions about the application process or the competition for ATS 2025, please send an email to dddd@thoracic.org.

ATS 2024 BEAR Cage Competition

The 2024 BEAR Cage event was well received and attended. Congratulations to 2024 BEAR Cage winner, Dr. Eno-Obong Essien and the other finalists, all receiving cash prizes as well as mentorship for the next year.

Eno-Obong Essien, MD
Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine- Massachusetts General Hospital
“Endothelial-Targeted mRNA-Lipid Nanoparticles; A Novel Therapeutic for Treating Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome "

Eno-Obong Essien, MD presenting her winning proposal at the 2024 BEAR Cage.

Julio Huapaya, MD, MHS S
Critical Care Fellow, National Institutes of Health
“Integrating Myositis-Specific Autoantibody Quantification Using a Novel Assay and High-Density Proteomics for Precision Management of Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathy-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease”

Michael Miller, MD
Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship - University of California San Diego
“A Novel Intracorporeal Oxygenation Device for Patients with Severe Acute Lung Injury”

BEAR Cage finalists with judges and moderators