Disease Models & Mechanisms: a short history of supporting early-career researchers

The scope of Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM) encompasses different communities - clinicians, basic researchers, translational scientists, patients and their advocates and families, as well as many different disease areas and model systems used to interrogate mechanism and possible therapy. Since its launch, DMM has maintained a commitment to supporting the next generation of scientists, supported by its publisher, the not-for-profit The Company of Biologists. Such initiatives include First Person interviews, Conference Travel Grants, Travelling Fellowships and the annual Outstanding Paper Prize. In this Editorial, we trace the history of the support offered by DMM, with a particular focus on the hugely popular Conference Travel Grants, and highlight testimonials from grant recipients.