Craig H. Neilsen Foundation

Focus: Improve the understanding of traumatic spinal cord injury and develop new approaches to alleviate the dysfunction and complications that follow.

Career Stage: All career stages

Deadline (anticipated)
June 10, 2023: Letter of Intent
If invited, Proposal due November 11, 2023

Amount: $400,000
Funding for each year of the two-year project is up to $200,000 for a maximum total cost of $400,000.

Description
Spinal Cord Injury Research on the Translational Spectrum (SCIRTS) funding supports pilot studies that lay essential groundwork, allow either junior or established PIs to test the feasibility of novel methods and procedures and/or collect new data that can lead to or enhance larger-scale studies.

Postdoctoral Fellowships
Two-year Postdoctoral Fellowships encourage early-career training and specialization in the field of spinal cord injury research.

Pilot Research Grants
Two-year Pilot Research Grants help to establish new investigators in the field of spinal cord injury research and assume the risk inherent when established investigators undertake new directions in their work. These grants cultivate new lines of research, help move work across the translational spectrum and generate essential preliminary data.

Senior Research Grants
Three-year Senior Research Grants encourage senior-level investigators to expand the scope of their work into new directions through targeted studies with high potential to move the field forward. These grants are intended to encourage investigators to open new areas of research, fill gaps in the spinal cord injury field, and test cutting-edge ideas and approaches.

Eligibility

• PIs must be independent investigators, actively employed at the grantee institution at the time of FGA submission and can be at any stage of their research career.
• Applicants must hold an independent faculty position (i.e., Instructor, Assistant Professor or equivalent research position) at the time of the FGA submission.
• Applicants must have a doctoral degree or an equivalent terminal professional degree (e.g., PhD, MD, DVM). Non-fellowship applicants must demonstrate appropriate experience to serve as an independent Principal Investigator (PI). The Neilsen Foundation encourages submissions from eligible PIs who represent a wide range of disciplines; however, it is required that relevant SCI expertise is represented on the proposed research project team
• The grantee must be a nonprofit academic/research institution or rehabilitation facility located in the United States or Canada with the capability to conduct grant-funded research.
• The Applicant is not required to be a citizen of the United States or Canada; however, the Applicant must be employed by an eligible grantee institution.
• Neilsen Foundation grants are not awarded to individuals, private foundations, or non-functionally integrated Type III supporting organizations.

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Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) - Early Career and Emerging in Field
Research Fellow Award Program

Deadline (Anticipated): June 24, 2023, 11:59 p.m. EST

Amount Upper: Investigators may request up to $75,000 total costs, including up to 10% indirect costs, per year for a two-year period (total award is $150,000)

Abstract
The goal of this initiative is to engage and support early career investigators interested in basic and clinical research focused on multiple myeloma and its precursor conditions, with the goal of advancing our understanding of myeloma disease biology, disease risk, and treatment response and relapse.

The MMRF is currently seeking applications for the Research Fellowship Program, and in particular, proposals addressing the following areas of research:

• Host immunity in multiple myeloma:
  • Role of NK and myeloid cells in the disease biology of multiple myeloma, in disease development and progression, and in the clinical response to therapy
  • Therapy-directed modulation of the bone marrow immune microenvironment in myeloma
  • Role of infectious diseases in the natural history of multiple myeloma
• Disease monitoring – immune biomarkers of progression and treatment response:
  • Novel approaches and tools for monitoring immune competence and responsiveness to immune and immunomodulatory therapies
  • Identification of immune biomarkers to monitor the development of resistance to existing therapies in bone marrow and in the periphery.
• Disparity Research:
  • Molecular, epigenetic and immunological drivers and events associated with differences in the biology of multiple myeloma and its precursor conditions in racial and ethnic populations
  • Identification of biomarkers of risk, response to treatment, and progression
• Innovative Data Solutions:
  • Development and application of novel bioinformatics solutions for integrating complex, high-dimensional global and single-cell multi-omic (immune, molecular and genomic/cytogenetic) data with clinical data to answer questions of disease risk, treatment relapse and response, host immunity and disease monitoring.

Eligibility
Applications for the MMRF 2022 Research Fellowship Program are requested from investigators at academic, not-for-profit institutions in the United States and abroad. Researchers with a PhD, MD or equivalent degree at the postdoctorate, clinical fellow or junior faculty level are encouraged to apply.

The following conditions must be met by all applicants:

• Postdoctorate and medical fellows applying for the award must work under the supervision of a research mentor in the multiple myeloma field.
• The MMRF Fellowship program is targeted to early career scientists. Applicants must have obtained their highest degree within 10 years of the application date.
• Applicants may not hold a position higher than assistant professor.
• Applicants who are beginning studies in the multiple myeloma field must have a research sponsor at their institution who is active in the multiple myeloma field, and who can provide guidance to the applicant in the proposed area of research.

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Brain Research Foundation (BRF) - Mid-Career to Established in Field
Scientific Innovations Award (SIA)

Limited Submission - By invitation only via ORI

Deadline (anticipated):
June 23, 2023, 4 p.m. CT: Letter of Intent
October 4, 2023, 4 p.m. CT: Application

Amount: Each total award is limited to $150,000 (direct costs) for a two-year grant period. Exact dates will be provided by the BRF upon application approval. The first grant payment of $75,000 will be made upon completion of the SIA Acceptance Form (January 2022). The final payment of $75,000 will be made contingent upon receipt of a Preliminary Progress and Financial Report. Funds must be utilized within the grant period.

Abstract
Brain Research Foundation’s Scientific Innovations Award Program provides funding for innovative science in both basic and clinical neuroscience. This funding mechanism is designed to support creative, exploratory, cutting-edge research in well-established research laboratories, under the direction of established investigators.

The objective of the SIA is to support projects that may be too innovative and speculative for traditional funding sources but still have a high likelihood of producing important findings. It is expected that investigations supported by these grants will yield high-impact findings and result in major grant applications and significant publications in high-impact journals.

Funding Preferences:

• Funding is to be directed at projects that may be too innovative and speculative for traditional funding sources but still have a high likelihood of producing important findings. This should be a unique project for senior investigators who are encouraged to stretch their imagination into areas that can substantially change an area of research.
• Funding of research projects that will likely lead to successful grant applications with NIH and other public and private funding entities.

Eligibility

• The nominated candidate must be a full-time associate professor or full professor at a U.S. academic institution that was invited directly by BRF via email, working in the area of studies of brain function in health and disease.
• Investigators at institutions that are affiliated with a medical school or university are eligible to apply only through the institution where they hold a full-time faculty position.
• Scientists that have previously received a BRF Scientific Innovations Award may not receive the award for a second time until five years has elapsed since the beginning date of the prior award. Grant requirements from all previous awards must be met. Only one PI may apply per application.

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amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research
Target Grants

Mid-career and experienced researchers

Amount:

• Type 1: Up to $100,000 direct costs, plus up to 20% indirect costs. One-year duration starting October 1, 2023
• Type 2: Up to $400,000 direct costs, plus up to 20% indirect costs. Up to two years duration starting October 1, 2023

Deadline: June 29, 2023, 1PM EDT

Description
amfAR aims to support research projects focused on curing HIV.

Proposals should be interventional

• The intervention must take place in any in vivo model including people with HIV, non-human primates, or humanized mice, or ex vivo in cells taken from PWH. An intervention tested only in cell lines, or ex vivo in animal cells, does not meet the criteria for this RFP.
• Submissions that propose only describing the reservoir (i.e., no intervention) will not be forwarded for review.
• Specific aims that are descriptive, within a submission that includes an intervention, may be cut by amfAR if the descriptive work does not pertain to changes to the reservoir in response to the intervention.
• amfAR’s preference is for interventions that eliminate infected cells or provirus, rather than those that provide for ART-free control of persisting virus.

If you are an HIV researcher holding a doctoral degree and affiliated with a nonprofit research institute, tell us:

• what you'd like to do
• why
• how much it will cost, and
• how long it will take

Eligibility

• Mid-career and experienced researchers
• If you are an HIV researcher holding a doctoral degree and affiliated with a nonprofit research institute

Contact
grants@amfar.org

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award

Focus: Cancer

Career Stage: All career stages

Deadline: July 6, 2023, 4 p.m. Eastern Time

Amount: $800,000; Lower: $400,000

• Stage 1 award will be for two years, $200,000 per year ($400,000 total) with the opportunity for up to two additional years of funding (up to four years total for $800,000).
• Stage 2 support for years three and four will be granted to those awardees who demonstrate progress on their proposed research during years one and two of the award.

Description
The Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award is designed to provide support for the next generation of exceptionally creative thinkers with “high-risk/high-reward” ideas that have the potential to significantly impact our understanding of and/or approaches to the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of cancer.

The Innovation Award is specifically designed to provide funding to extraordinary early career researchers who have an innovative new idea but lack sufficient preliminary data to obtain traditional funding. It is not designed to fund incremental advances. The research supported by the award must be novel, exceptionally creative and, if successful, have the strong potential for high impact in the cancer field.

Applications will be evaluated based on the following:

• The applicant’s capacity to conduct bold, exceptionally creative research.
• The novelty and creativity of the proposed research. Incremental research will not be funded.
• The potential of the proposed research to lead to advances that will significantly impact the prevention, diagnosis, treatment or basic understanding of cancer.
• The applicant’s lack of resources to pursue the proposed research.

Eligibility

• Institutional nominations are not required and there is no limit to the number of applications that can be received from a particular institution.
• Applicants (including non-U.S. citizens) must be conducting independent research at a U.S. research institution.
• The applicant must have received an MD, DO, PhD, or MD/PhD degree(s) from an accredited institution.
• Basic and translational/clinical projects will be considered. Applications will be accepted from all scientific disciplines provided that the proposed research meets the selection criteria.
• Applicants with a background in multiple disciplines are especially encouraged to apply.
• Joint submission from two collaborators working in different disciplines will be considered. (The collaborators will share the award.) Each collaborator must meet the eligibility criteria.
• Applicants must belong to one of the following categories:
• Tenure-track Assistant Professors within the first five (5) years of obtaining their initial Assistant Professor position (Cut-off date: July 1, 2018).
• Clinical Instructors and Senior Clinical Fellows (in the final year of their sub-specialty training) holding an MD, MD/PhD, DO who are pursuing a period of independent research before taking a tenure-track faculty position. Such individuals must have an exceptional record of research accomplishment, dedicated laboratory space and the support of their institution.
• Distinguished Fellows with an exceptional record of research accomplishment identified by their institution to pursue an independent research program and who have dedicated laboratory space. These candidates are markedly distinct from traditional postdoctoral fellows. Examples: Whitehead Fellows, UCSF Fellows, Cold Spring Harbor Fellows. [Research Assistant Professors, Research Associate Professors, Research Scientists and Postdoctoral Fellows are not eligible.]
• Applicants are expected to commit a minimum of 80% of their time to conducting research.
• Applicants may apply no more than two times.
• Applicants must demonstrate that they have access to the resources and infrastructure necessary to conduct the proposed research.
• The department must guarantee the Investigator is conducting the proposed research independently.

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Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) - Mid-Career to Established in Field
Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease (PATH)

Deadline:
July 14, 2023, 2 p.m. ET (Anticipated) – Preliminary Proposal
Nov 15, 2023, 2 p.m. ET (Anticipated) – Full Proposal

Amount: The PATH award provides $500,000 over a period of five years.

Abstract
The Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease program provides opportunities for assistant professors to bring multidisciplinary approaches to the study of human infectious diseases. The goal of the program is to provide opportunities for accomplished investigators still early in their careers to study what happens at the points where the systems of humans and potentially infectious agents connect. The program supports research that sheds light on the fundamentals that affect the outcomes of these encounters: how colonization, infection, commensalism and other relationships play out at levels ranging from molecular interactions to systemic ones.

Eligibility
The ideal candidate is an accomplished investigator at the mid- to late assistant professor level with an established record of independent research in a tenure-track position or its well-supported equivalent in non-tenure offering departments.

• Applications must be approved and signed by an official responsible for sponsored programs (generally from the grants office, office of research, or office of sponsored programs) at a degree-granting institution. Candidates will generally have a PhD and/or a clinical doctorate (MD, DVM, etc.)
• Candidates must have an established record of independent research.
• Citizens and non-citizen permanent and temporary residents of the U.S. and Canada who are legally qualified to work in the U.S. or Canada are eligible. Candidates who are temporary U.S. residents must hold a valid U.S. visa (J-1, H1B, F-1 or O-1 visas). Temporary Canadian residents must hold a valid Canadian visa (Study Permit, C-43, C44, C-10 or C-20 work permits/visas).
• Candidates who will be promoted to associate professor by November 15, 2021, are not eligible to apply.
• Candidates who have completed a Burroughs Wellcome Fund career development award (CAMS or CASI) are encouraged to apply but must contact BWF before writing the pre-proposal. Having had BWF travel, career guidance for trainees, preterm birth, regulatory science, or PDEP grants does not impact PATH support
• The PATH award can only be made to accredited, degree-granting institutions in the U.S. or Canada. An Internal Revenue Service determination letter of the institution’s non-profit status may be requested by BWF staff if one is not on file in our office.

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The G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation

Limited Submission: The University may submit 4 applications per cycle; one application per cycle per investigator is allowed by the Foundation

Deadlines (Recurring three times a year):

• Spring 2023: March 31, 2023, Letter of Intent
  If invited, Proposal due June 16, 2023
• Summer/Fall 2023: July 28, 2023, Letter of Intent
  If invited, Proposal due September 29, 2023
• Winter 2023/2024: December 1, 2023, Letter of Intent
  If invited, Proposal due March 1, 2024

Amount:
The grant duration is 3 years. Grants range from $125,000 to $250,000 per year over 3 years.

Focus: Basic scientific research with translational application

Description

• The foundation primarily supports basic science, ideally with potential translational applications.
• Immunology, microbiome, genomics, structural biology, cellular physiology, neuroscience, etc. are some noteworthy examples of current research support. Plant biology research and oceanography-related research will not be considered for support.
• As technology continues to advance, it is apparent that investigations in the area of basic science and translational research may become more and more reliant on collaborative, interdisciplinary projects. It is important to note that any interdisciplinary project proposals may require additional information regarding collaborators’ achievements and relevant expertise.
• Indirect costs for the proposed project cannot exceed 10%.
• You must first register on the Mathers Foundation portal. Once your registration is approved, you will be assigned a username and password. This will be sent via email to the address indicated on your registration.
• After registration, the foundation’s application process has two steps: first, the submission of a letter of intent, and second, the submission of a proposal, only by invitation of the foundation.

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Campbell Foundation
HIV/ AIDS
Amount: Up to $100,000
Deadline: July 31, 2023 - Letter of Intent (mandatory)

Description
Since 1995, The Campbell Foundation has used its initial endowment and donations to fund alternative, nontraditional avenues of research that will have direct clinical impact/relevancy to the HIV care/research community within five to seven years.

The Campbell Foundation is committed to our original donor's intent of funding novel and groundbreaking laboratory-based HIV and AIDS research. Our funding includes various projects that aim to eradicate the HIV virus and cure the still-deadly infection and its numerous comorbidities.

Eligibility

• Budget requests are for first-year funding only.
• We do not fund large equipment purchases or travel expenses. We will not fund more than 10% for indirect costs.
• Most grant funding is between $60,000 to $100,000. The Foundation has co-funded and has provided partial funding for more costly research projects.
• All organizations accepting Campbell Foundation funding provide quarterly status reports, including progress and program fund expenditures.
• Site visits from Foundation staff may be scheduled.

Contact
info@campbellfoundation.net

Elsa U. Pardee Foundation

Focus: New treatments or cures for cancer

Career Stage: All career stages, graduate students

Deadline: August 31, 2023

Amount: $100,000 plus 5% overhead

Description:
The Elsa U. Pardee Foundation funds research to investigators in United States nonprofit institutions proposing research directed toward identifying new treatments or cures for cancer. The Foundation funds projects for a one-year period, which will allow establishment of capabilities of new cancer researchers, or new cancer approaches by established cancer researchers. It is anticipated that this early-stage funding by the Foundation may lead to subsequent and expanded support using government agency funding. Project relevance to cancer detection, treatment or cure should be clearly identified. By design, there are no limits set on the grant amount that can be requested. It must be reasonably and clearly supported by the scope of the project outlined in the application. Overhead is limited to 5%.

Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation
Limited Submission

Deadlines (Recurring two times a year):

• March 31, 2023: Pre-Request Due

If approved, Proposal due September 30, 2023

• September 30, 2023: Pre-Request Due

If approved, Proposal due March 31, 2024

Amount: $300,000 to $1,000,000

Initial Approach
Medical Research Study Pre-request (due March and September cycles) is required for organizations that have never received funding from Kleberg Foundation. Note: This applies to Drexel.

Description
The foundation is seeking highly innovative and groundbreaking medical research proposals from top-tier institutions in both basic biological and applied research that will have the greatest impact on scientific knowledge and human health. Proposals should be distinctive and novel in their approaches, question the prevailing paradigm and lead to advancement of knowledge in the field. A highly qualified scientific advisory committee will review all proposals.

Eligibility
In June 2022, the board added an initial screening step for organizations that have never been funded before, or that have not received a medical research study award in the past 10 years. These institutions should submit the Medical Research Study Pre-request and NOT the full application. The board will then decide if they would like to receive a full application during the following grant cycle. Such a full application would be considered along with all other applications received during that cycle and should meet the guidelines below.

The Medical Research Study Pre-request will be available during the spring and fall grant cycles only along with the full application. Full applications by institutions that have never been funded, or have not received a medical research study award in the past 10 years, will NOT be considered unless the board approved the application during the initial pre-request screening step. Before you begin a Medical Research Study Pre-request, we ask that you contact foundation staff at margretb@alexventures.com..

Contact
Margret Bamford, margretb@alexventures.com

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