I am in my 3rd year as a postdoc. I have a full-fledged background in ecology/evolution. However, the genetic methods I use are directly applicable to cancer research and ppl have actually started using it for therapy discovery. And this is basically the main aim of my new postdoc. Problem is, I won’t have a publication in this area until early next year at the earliest (not to mention this new postdoc just got cut due to orange man upstairs… hence me looking for more funding to continue my research)
So my question is, can someone from an ecology background with the intent of applying their methods to cancer research be a competitive candidate for a K99? I figure since the K99 is to give someone the appropriated time to become independent, I would qualify, as 1-2 years of funding can help me establish myself as someone transitioning from Eco-evo to cancer research.
However, I have also heard that I would not even make the cut for a lack of publications in health research. (My most recent one is on humans but not related to cancer but is health-related. So basically 11 pubs on animals and 1 on humans, which at least shows Ive been transitioning..)