Biomedical, Clinical & Life Sciences

Limit: 3* // Tickets Available: 2

* Limit one ticket per category: 
 - Research Grant: Limit: 1 // Available: 0 
K. Huntoon (Neurosurgery)
- Scholar (CDA): Limit: 1 // Available: 1
- International Scholar Limit: 1 // Available: 1

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation works hard to be sure that every dollar makes the biggest impact possible in childhood cancer research. The Foundation is proud to have received the National Cancer Institute Peer Review Funder designation for selection of grants. The Foundation has held several Research Priorities Summits with many of the country’s leading pediatric oncology researchers participating to advise the staff and board of directors on funding priorities.
The St. Baldrick’s team and scientific advisors meet regularly to be sure St. Baldrick’s
funds make the greatest impact on pediatric cancer research.

Current funding priorities are divided into four categories:

• New discovery research
• Translational research and early phase clinical trials
• Phase III clinical trials & infrastructure support of participating institutions
  (primarily the fall grant cycle)
• Education of new pediatric oncology researchers
   

In addition to research to understand the biology of childhood cancers and discover
leads to more effective treatments, topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Adolescents & young adults
• Survivorship, outcomes, and quality of life
• Supportive care
• Epidemiology and pediatric cancer predispositions
•  Precision medicine
• Alternative & complementary therapies

Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 0 

J. Andrews (College of Medicine - Tucson) 

Only one application per institution (normally identified by having a unique UEI number) is allowed. Applicants can apply for Component A or Component B; however, applicants cannot apply for both Component A and Component B.

Purpose: 
The objective of this NOFO is to conduct surveillance of diabetes in youth (< 18 years) and young adults (18–44 years) across health system and/or health plan membership-based centers to provide estimates of diabetes incidence and prevalence in the United States. These estimates are sought by diabetes type, demographic traits, health insurance status, and geographic area to identify disparities in diabetes burden. The prevalence of diabetes complication risk factors, acute and chronic diabetes complications, and use of diabetes medications among youth and young adults with diabetes will also be ascertained.

This project has two (2) components to achieve the purpose of the program. Component A focuses on surveillance of diabetes among youth (< 18 years) and young adults (18–44 years). Component B serves as a Coordinating Center to provide an infrastructure for standardized approaches, analytical methods, and measures to be used for surveillance across sites. It will also develop validation protocols, serve as a data repository, and provide statistical expertise.

Institutionally Coordinated // Limit: 1 // Available: 0

M. Herbst-Kralovetz (Cancer Center)

The submission for this funding program is coordinated by the University of Arizona Cancer Center.Please contact UACC Pre Award for more information.

The Mary Kay Ash Foundation®, a funding source for cancer research, is currently accepting applications for innovative grants for translational research of cancers affecting women, including but not limited to breast, cervical, endometrial, ovarian, uterine or cancers predominantly affecting women. 

Award Amount

The grant period is two years beginning September 1, 2025 – September 1, 2027*. Contracts are distributed to the final awardees in early June. 

Eligibility 

• The Principal Investigator must be a full-time assistant professor or higher at the time of application submission and commit a minimum 5% effort. Pending future appointments will not be honored.
• U.S. citizenship is not required.
• One Co-PI is permitted and must meet the same eligibility requirements as the PI. International Co-PIs are permitted with the caveat that all funds will be designated to the U.S.-based university. Post-doc contributors must be listed as co-investigators, not PIs.

Budget

• The total budget over two years may not exceed $100,000 (combined indirect/direct costs).
• The budget should follow the NIH format for a two-year grant ($50,000/year) and include justification.
• The NIH salary cap of $199.300 must be followed
• Indirect costs must not exceed 15% of direct costs .

Allowable Activities and Expenses

• Animal studies are allowed. However, researchers will need to indicate how their studies would impact patient care in the future should their research be successful.

• Equipment and travel costs must be justified

   

Application Requirements

A complete application must include the following:

• Research Description (6 pages max)
• Literature References Cited (2 pages max)
• Letters of Collaboration/Letters of Support (3 pages max)
• Current Financial Support (2 pages max)
• NIH-format Budget & Justification
• NIH-format Bio sketch or equivalent (5 pages max)
• If a co-PI or additional collaborators are included in your research team, please provide a brief resume for each.
• Preliminary data is not required, however it is helpful to include if available

Limit: 1 // Available: 0 

S. Soto (Public Health, Policy & Translational Research)

Maricopa County is committed to tackling the challenges of substance use in our community. The opioid settlement funds provide only a small part of what’s needed to address substance misuse in Maricopa County. The challenges are complex and the intent of MCDPH is to ensure that every dollar is used wisely to create the most impact. This means:

• Focus on projects that deliver immediate, measurable results and lay the groundwork for long-term change. The intent is to engage programs that meet urgent needs and address root causes of substance misuse so that the community benefits now and in the future. 

• Use strong data collection and evaluation practices to measure how well the programs work. This helps MCDPH to make informed decisions, improve our strategies, and ensure that funded programs truly make a difference. 

• Align our funding with other community resources. MCDPH will focus on areas where our money can fill gaps and support ongoing efforts, making our response as effective as possible. 

Organizations may choose to apply for one or more focus areas and may propose multiple activities under each focus area. However, each organization can only submit one application, and the total budget for all proposed activities may not exceed $500,000. 

Limit: 1 // Available: 0

S. Edmund (Nursing)

You may not submit more than one application. If you submit more than one application, we will only accept the last on-time submission. Collaboration within the institution is encouraged to ensure only one application is submitted.

This program aims to increase the supply of behavioral health professionals and improve the distribution of a well-trained behavioral health workforce. The program has a specific focus on increasing access to behavioral health services for children, adolescents, and young adults.

Limit: 1 / Tickets Available: 0

D. Bhattacharya 

NIH recognizes that modern physical infrastructure is necessary for the conduct of cutting-edge research or support specialized breeding operation. Dedicated space is required to house specialized equipment and to carry out experimental protocols. Equipment that enables automation and husbandry of the breeding facility, enhances modern operation, allows telemetry for field/corral monitoring, facilitates social behavioral interactions may be eligible under this NOFO. The scope of individual applications will vary and depend on the currently available infrastructure at the applicant institution, as well as the present and anticipated HIV/AIDS research needs. Requests must be justified by the needs for expanding the breeding capacity for support of HIV/AIDS research. The project, when completed, is expected to provide significant long-term cost-effective support for HIV/AIDS research, bringing the capacities and capabilities to a new level. Consequently, the applicant institution should demonstrate future-looking commitments towards the facility and HIV/AIDS research therein, by attaching a letter of support from a high-ranking institutional official.

Limit: 1 // Available: 0

R. Shroff (Medicine)

Only one application per institution (normally identified by having a unique UEI or NIH IPF number) is allowed.

The NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) was established for the conduct of large-scale, national, oncology treatment and advanced imaging clinical trials in an era of precision medicine.

Recent advances in deciphering the cancer genome, along with the emergence of successful targeted agents, immunotherapies, and cellular therapies, have fundamentally changed our approach to cancer treatment and have introduced new challenges to performing clinical trials. Due to the low incidence of certain molecular abnormalities, the development of targeted therapies often requires an infrastructure for the conduct of clinical trials that can screen large numbers of patients with the same or different cancer type to identify those patients whose tumors contain the distinct molecular targets of the therapies being tested. Immunotherapeutic approaches also present a similar challenge in that not all tumor types respond to this approach, and selecting the cancer types most likely to respond is critical for success.

The NCTN's integrated and collaborative network infrastructure has allowed the Program to meet the challenges of evaluating emerging therapies within its broad investigator base drawn from NCI-designated Cancer Centers, the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP), Minority/Underserved NCORPs, and other academic and community hospitals and private practitioners across the U.S. and internationally. The primary focus of the NCTN is the conduct of multi-center, late-phase, clinical treatment trials (i.e., randomized phase 2 and phase 3 trials) and investigation of new advanced imaging techniques; however, appropriate preliminary studies needed for development of potential definitive trials, especially umbrella/basket trials and rare tumor trials oriented to discovery, are also conducted when an extensive, national patient catchment area is required. With its state-of-the-art clinical trials infrastructure, the NCTN can implement and completes trials rapidly. The NCTN has streamlined trial registration, data management, and tumor banking processes. It has a Cancer Trials Support Unit (CTSU) to provide online access to all necessary study materials and a Central Institutional Review Board (CIRB) to make ethics review easier and less redundant across the country. The NCTN also has appeal for industry partners such as biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies that collaborate on NCTN trials, including precision medicine trials harnessing next generation DNA and RNA sequencing methods to inform treatment choices. NCTN's resources are ideal for screening large numbers of patients to identify patients whose tumors exhibit the molecular features that may be responsive to new, targeted treatments and/or immunotherapy approaches. In addition, biospecimens collected from patients on NCTN trials are available to help determine the underlying biological reasons for response and resistance to therapy.

The NCTN also promotes the evaluation of multi-modality treatments, including surgery and radiotherapy in combination with novel agents, and has a commitment to the conduct of trials in special populations (e.g., children, adolescents, young adults, and underserved populations) as well as in rare tumor types. This focus allows the NCTN Program to complement, rather than duplicate, research conducted by the private sector. Annual accrual to NCTN trials has remained in the 17,500 to 22,000 patient range in mostly large phase 2 and phase 3 trials, but with a larger number of patients screened on study to determine whether they might benefit from the therapy under evaluation.

Each of the key components of the NCTN Program is described briefly below.

• Network Group Operations Centers: The Operations Centers provide scientific leadership for developing and implementing multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional trials in a range of diseases and special populations with specific scientific strategy and goals. The Operations Centers' scientific goals may include strategic innovation in advanced technology for specific research areas (e.g., advanced imaging methods/agents, radiotherapy) and the testing of innovative concepts and tools in prospective, multi-institutional clinical trials. Operations Centers are responsible for trial operations including timely protocol development and management, compliance with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) regulatory and patient protection requirements, audits, training, quality assurance, and site support. The Operations Centers are expected to be closely integrated with their corresponding Statistics and Data Management Center in all aspects of trial operations through jointly developed policies and procedures for clinical trial development and conduct. The Operations Centers are also responsible for Network Group administration, including financial management, monitoring of member institution/site performance, coordination of biospecimen collection from patients on clinical trials, and adherence to all applicable NIH/NCI policies and regulations. Network Group Operations Centers may also provide trial operations for NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP), Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (NCI/DCTD, approved, multi-center phase 2 and phase 3 trials originating outside the Network Groups in special situations.
• Network Group Statistics and Data Management Centers: These Centers are responsible for providing the statistical expertise required to ensure effective scientific design and conduct of clinical trials as well as leadership in innovation in statistical methodology. These Centers are also responsible for data management, data analysis, and statistical analysis for NCTN trials led by their affiliated Network Group Operations Center as well as for translational and other ancillary studies associated with the trials.
• Network Group Integrated Translational Science Centers - These awards provide support for leadership and expertise to facilitate incorporating translational science into Network Group clinical trials.
• Network Lead Academic Participating Sites: These academic institutions/sites provide scientific leadership in development and conduct of clinical trials in association with one or more adult U.S. Network Groups as well as substantial accrual to clinical trials conducted across the entire NCTN.
• Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Center: This institution/organization provides scientific and technical expertise for incorporation of appropriate, integrated quality assurance/control and image data management for applicable clinical trials conducted by the NCTN that require specialized quality assurance/control or imaging data management and/or assessment for radiotherapy and imaging interventions. In addition, the Center may also provide similar services for other approved NCI-supported clinical trials network programs (e.g., NCI/DCTD/CTEP early phase clinical trial network program and the NCI Division of Cancer Prevention (NCI/DCP) NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP).
• Canadian Collaborating Clinical Trials Network: This Canadian organization is a non-profit clinical trials organization capable of being a full partner with the U.S. Network in the conduct of large-scale, multi-site clinical trials that have relevance for U.S. cancer patient populations. Incorporation of a Canadian Clinical Trials Network as a collaborating partner brings an additional advantage as U.S. Network Groups are anticipated to have Canadian member sites. A Canadian network can help reduce duplicative regulatory staff at U.S. NCTN Group Operations Centers.

Interactions with Other NCI-supported Programs. In addition to the six key components of the NCTN that are described above that are directly funded by the NCTN Program, other NCI grant and contract-supported Programs and their awardees as well as NCI Advisory Committees have important supporting roles in carrying out the research objectives of the NCTN Program. Thus, the NCTN awardees are expected to interact as appropriate with such entities/programs as the NCI Clinical Trials Tumor Banks, the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) and Minority/Underserved NCORPs, the NCI Cancer Trials Support Unit, the pediatric and adult NCI Central Institutional Review Boards, and NCI Advisory and Scientific Committees, including the NCI Scientific Steering Committees.

Main Research Objectives and Requirements of this NOFO

The Network Lead Academic Participating Site application must address the following 2 required functional components related to clinical treatment trials and advanced imaging trials for adult cancer patients only:

Clinical Trial Program - This functional component encompasses the LAPS scientific leadership in helping to develop and conduct clinical trials in association with one or more Network Groups, including the LAPS support of NCTN initiatives and mentorship of junior investigators.

Site Accrual Program This functional component provides robust accrual to NCTN trials across the Network, including accrual to rare cancers and accrual from special populations (e.g., minority and underserved communities, adolescents and young adults), as well as timely activation of trials and good clinical trial stewardship.

1 Ticket / 0 available

Forrest Baker (School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness)

Guidelines for Qualifying Applicants:

Each grant is reviewed by our Medical Advisory Board and recipients are selected based on their grading.

Goal and Focus:

The goal of these grants is to overcome barriers to clinical application of new treatment approaches for childhood cancer. A priority is to fund projects that have already shown great promise, but that have a specific funding need to move forward. The three main focus areas for this RFP are:

• Cancer immunotherapy/Targeted therapy
• High-grade brain tumors or other difficult-to-treat pediatric cancers
• Epigenetic modifying therapy or gene editing

Applications of novel technologies in these areas are welcome.

General Guidelines and Eligibility:

• Limit of one application per institution with endorsement of the Division Chief of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology

• Two types of one-year grants will be awarded:

  • Collaborative: Up to 1 multi-institutional collaborative grant of $300,000 will be awarded
    • There must be at least 2 collaborating divisions of pediatric hematology/oncology.
    • Collaborative project can either include a new proposal or a proposal where preliminary data has already been gathered
  • Individual: 2-4 individual grants of $150,000 each will be awarded

  *Applications to fund correlative studies associated with clinical trials in the focus areas will be considered. Funding for the associated clinical trial must have already been secured and applications must include a description of the developmental pathway for the therapeutic approach.

U of A may submit eight (8) concept papers: four (4) in medical sciences and four (4) in science & engineering.

Medical Research: Limit: 4 // Available: 2 // Request Ticket 
N. Zhao (Nutritional Science and Wellness)
S. Goldman (Medicine) 

Science and Engineering - Limit: 4 // Available: 0
A. Zabludoff (Astronomy & Steward Observatory)
S. Kong (Astronomy & Steward Observatory) 
E. Lee (Electrical and Computer Engineering) 
B. Vasic (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Required U or A pre-proposal elements

The UA pre-proposal contains the following required sections:

1. Overview
2. Methodology
3. Justification for Keck Funding
4. Key Personnel
5. Estimated Budget

A template is provided in the documents section of this limited submission. Use this template, complete it, and upload it as a PDF as part of this limited submission opportunity.

Uploaded as a PDF:

1. One-page Concept Paper based on attached template.
2. PI BioSketch or CV
   Agency-specific BioSketch preferred. There is a 5-page limit on CVs

Program Description

Full sponsor guidelines https://www.wmkeck.org/research-overview/

Post selection as one of the pre-proposals, a concept review Zoom will be held with the W.M. Keck Foundation, RDS, and the UA Foundation in January will determine which one medical research and one science and engineering concept paper will be moved to a Phase 1 Submission.

The W.M. Keck Foundation Research Program uses a three-step process for this opportunity. The first step is a Concept paper. The next steps are by the foundation’s invitation. U of A review criteria reflect previous interactions with the W.M. Keck Foundation. Proposals should focus on basic, fundamental science with broad applications. Grants range from $1 million to $5 million and are typically $2 million or less, and more specifically in the $1.2 to $1.3 million range.

The proposed work should show a significant leap forward rather than an extension of existing work.

To be considered by Keck, applicants must have a statement expressing that the project is not a good fit due to risk (rather than technical or theoretical fit) or a decline from a federal program where the summary statement or individual reviews highlight the incredible novelty, but the high-risk nature that makes it difficult to fund at the federal level.

The Science and Engineering Research Program seeks to benefit humanity by supporting high-risk/high-impact projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach to intractable problems, push the edge of their field, or question the prevailing paradigm. Past grants have been awarded to support pioneering science and engineering research and the development of promising new technologies, instrumentation, or methodologies.

The Medical Research Program seeks to advance the frontiers of medicine to benefit humanity by supporting high-risk/high-impact projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach to intractable problems, push the edge of their field, or question the prevailing paradigm. Past grants have supported pioneering biological research, basic research, and the development of promising new technologies. The Keck Foundation does NOT fund work that is clinical, applied, or translational; treatment trials; or research for the sole purpose of drug development.

Both senior and early career investigators are encouraged to apply. Team approaches, including interdisciplinary teams, are encouraged.