The ATS Drug Device Discovery and Development (DDDD) Committee invites you to apply to the 11th Annual BEAR Cage (Building Education to Advance Research) competition by the February 10, 2025 deadline.

The top three submissions chosen by the DDDD Committee will pitch their highly innovative research 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 in May 2025 in San Francisco, CA.

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.

*Application instructions and eligibility requirements shown in link. **You will need to enter your ATS login information on the first page to get into the portal. If you do not already have an ATS login, you can create one on the login page.

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 judges Michaela Anderson, MD, Fabien Maldonado, MD, Kathryn Hibbert, MD (left) with finalists, Marco Almeda, MD, Sreyankar Nandy, PhD, and Ananth Charya, MD (middle), and BEAR Cage co-chairs, Nina Patel, MD and Josh Fessel, MD (right)