William Webb, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, has received the Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials Career Development Award.  

The national award program, established by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, provides funding over two years to support early career physician investigators as they design and lead community-oriented clinical trials and improve participation in clinical research. 

The program’s support will advance Webb’s work to improve how clinical research for individuals with both mental illness and physical comorbidities is designed and conducted. Webb, who has developed clinical expertise in this area, hopes to make trials more accessible and relevant to populations that have historically been difficult to reach or underrepresented in clinical research.  

“More broadly, my goal is to develop a program of pragmatic, community-engaged clinical trials at the intersection of psychiatry and medicine,” Webb said. 

The program will begin with intensive clinical trials training this fall, followed by two years of mentored research and career development, including development of an investigator-initiated clinical trial. 

“This award gives us a unique opportunity to build a research program at KU focused on improving treatments and outcomes for people with serious mental illness,” Webb said. “KU has the clinical expertise, patient population and collaborative environment needed to make this work meaningful. I’m excited about the potential for this award to lay the foundation for a sustained program of research here at KU.”