Funding Announcements
These are some additional research funding opportunities and current deadlines.
Boston Health Equity & Community-aligned Learning Health System (Boston HEALHS)│ April 19
Funding: LHS scientists will receive support for 50% of their effort, up to the NIH cap.
Eligibility: Faculty at an early or mid-career level who have appropriate research experience are eligible for this opportunity and are encouraged to apply.
Researchers can apply for the first cohort of LHS scientists now using this online application form. For additional information including the list of potential LHS research topics from which applicants will choose read the full LHS 2024 Scholar Application information.
The first cohort of Boston HEALHS scientists will begin their terms on July 1, 2024.
Deadlines: Applications are due Friday, April 19, 2024.
Contact: Questions about Boston HEALHS and the LHS scientist program can be directed to Lori Henault at Lori.Henault@bmc.org.
Karin Grunebaum Faculty Research Fellowship │ May 1
The Karin Grunebaum Faculty Research Fellowship, an annual faculty award, will provide $50,000 in funds to a selected faculty member for a period of one year. In addition, upon request, the Foundation will separately provide up to $1,500 for the selected faculty member to travel to seminars and meetings related to their research.
Eligibility: Eligible candidates are BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine faculty who are in the first 4 years of a faculty appointment and conduct laboratory or translational cancer research. Eligible faculty must work in school of medicine space and awards must be managed through BU.
To apply, please submit the following materials as a single PDF file via the BU-BMC Cancer Center website no later than Wednesday May 1, 2024 at 8 p.m., EST:
- Chair’s nomination letter (one-page maximum)
- Candidate’s description of his/her current research, including a description of how this award will help in building an independent research program
- Candidate’s full CV
The funding period is June 1, 2024 through May 31, 2025. The recipient will be expected to meet in person with the Trustees of the Karin Grunebaum Cancer Research Foundation (in Boston) on June 14, 2024 and again in June 2025 to give a brief presentation on their research. All research publications benefiting from these funds must credit the Karin Grunebaum Cancer Research Foundation.
Please contact Erin McCarthy, Cancer Center Administrator at Erin.McCarthy@bmc.org with any questions about this fellowship opportunity.
BMC Cancer Research Innovator Awards │ May 1
The BMC Cancer Research Innovator Awards support faculty who are performing innovative research in cancer and areas related to cancer. Proposals may include basic, translational, clinical, or population-based research topics. Priority will be given to innovative projects with the potential to significantly increase understanding of underlying cancer mechanisms, lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies, address cancer related health disparities, or otherwise positively impact cancer care.
Eligibility: All faculty working in BMC space, although priority will be given to faculty in the early stages of their careers. Prior awardees are eligible for continued funding, based on demonstration of research success.
Funding: One-year grant of $50,000, beginning on July 1, 2024. Funds must be utilized within the first year of support, unless otherwise approved by the awards committee.
To apply, please submit the following materials by May 1, 2024:
- Chair or Section Chief nomination letter;
- A one-page description of the proposed research. Candidates applying for continued funding should also include a one-page summary of work performed in the prior year of support;
- A proposed budget: funds may be used for salary support, supplies, and other appropriate research related expenses;
- Candidate CV.
Please send application materials to Erin McCarthy at Erin.McCarthy@bmc.org
Meet the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention │ May 8
On May 8th at noon, BU Foundation Relations and the BU Research Office are co-hosting Meet the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, featuring AFSP Senior Vice President of Research Jill Harkavy-Friedman, PhD. Attendees will learn about the foundation’s current research focus and grant-making processes and get tips for crafting strong proposals.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) supports research to increase understanding of suicide or test treatments and other interventions that save lives. Recently, the foundation has focused on diversity, evaluation of technology, and survivors of suicide loss.
AFSP awards grants through nine programs for researchers at all career stages. Grants range from $50,000 to $1.5 million. Letters of Intent are typically due in early August.
To attend this one-hour Zoom presentation, register here.
HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholars Program │ May 15
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) will fund a second cohort of Freeman Hrabowski Scholars: basic scientists, including physician-scientists, who prioritize scientific excellence in their own research while creating an inclusive lab climate that serves as a model within their own institutions and beyond. Supported research areas in the biological and biomedical sciences span a wide range of scientific disciplines.
Selected scholars will receive up to $8.6 million over 10 years, including full salary and benefits, with an annual research budget of $400,000 over the first five years and $600,000 over the second five years.
Eligible applicants must have begun their first independent position on or after March 1, 2020, or have accepted an offer of a tenure-track or equivalent position that will begin no later than March 1, 2025.
Deadline: Applications are due May 15th.
Webinars to learn more about the 2025 competition. Recorded webinars will be posted on the website afterward.
Considering applying? Please contact Katharine Canfield, Senior Director, Foundation Relations, kcanfiel@bu.edu.
ADDF-Harrington Scholars Award │ June 3
The Harrington Discovery Institute and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) are accepting letters of intent (LOI) for these programs:
Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award supports all disease areas and is designed to advance promising drug discovery research focused on the clinic. Up to 12 Scholar-Innovators will be selected to receive:
- $100,000 guaranteed grant award;
- Drug and business development support from Harrington’s Therapeutics Development Center advisors;
- Opportunity to compete for acceleration funds up to $300,000;
- Opportunity to quality for investment funds typically up to $2M.
Eligibility Requirements:
- MD or MD/PhD (or equivalent);
- Faculty position at an accredited academic medical center, university or research institution in the US or Canada, and conduct the majority of their research at that institution;
- Projects must have a single Principal Investigator (PI) responsible for project oversight and financial management. The PI may engage collaborators, core labs or commercial CROs to execute any portion of the project.
Past recipients of Harrington awards may submit new and distinct proposals but may not seek additional support for previously funded projects.
LOI Due: June 5, 2024
ADDF-Harrington Scholar Award is designed to accelerate the translation of innovative research that could treat, prevent, slow or reverse Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. Researchers working on drug development programs that are relevant to, but not presently focused on, the Alzheimer’s field are strongly encouraged to apply. This request for proposal places high priority on targets related to emerging therapeutic areas for dementia, particularly:
- Proteostasis (including autophagy, lysosomal biogenesis, proteasomal degradation, post-translational modification associated with proteostasis, protein folding/misfolding, ER stress, extracellular clearance);
- Senescence (including cells that have halted division, shifted towards a secretory phenotype, altered morphology and epigenetics, and decreased apoptosis).
The award includes:
- Two-year grant with funding up to $600,000;
- Drug development expertise and project management support;
- A personalized team of drug developers and project manager for each award recipient;
- Assistance identifying and securing additional financial support based on project needs;
- Expert business, commercialization and clinical development advice;
- Regulatory assistance;
- Intellectual property (IP) review and advice;
- Assistance identifying and securing additional financial support based on project needs
Eligibility Requirements: PhD or MD or equivalent required.
LOI Due: June 3, 2024
INTERNAL CONTACT: Please contact Katharine Canfield, director of foundation relations at kcanfiel@bu.edu, if you are interested in applying. If you are a BMC investigator and wish to apply for this opportunity, please contact Jess Howard, associate director of foundation relations and government grants at Jessica.Howard@bmc.org.
NSF/NIH Smart Health and Biomedical Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence │ October 3, 2024
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have released a second solicitation for Smart Health and Biomedical Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence through the Smart and Connected Health (SCH) program. The SCH program supports innovative, high-risk, high-reward research to promote disruptive transformations in biomedical and public health research, drawing from coordinated, convergent, and interdisciplinary approaches from “multiple domains of computer and information science, engineering, mathematical sciences and the biomedical, social, behavioral, and economic sciences.” The solicitation includes participation from the NSF Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Engineering (ENG), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) as well as 23 NIH Institutes and Centers.
Proposals may address a wide range of research areas including computational science, algorithmic, cyber-physical systems (CPS) integration, imaging, robotics, and systemic level health disparities and health equity issues in biomedical and public health data science research. Additionally, proposals can address challenges related to the large amounts of multi-level and multi-scale data generated by biomedical and behavioral research. The solicitation states that “traditional disease-centric medical, clinical, pharmacological, biological or physiological studies and evaluations are outside the scope of this solicitation.”
Funding Information: Individual projects will be funded for up to four years for a total of $1.2M ($300,000 per year).
Due Dates: Subsequent due dates for this solicitation are Oct. 3, 2024, and Oct. 3, 2025.
If you have any questions about these funding opportunities contact us.