Vanderbilt (VU and VUMC, collaboratively) has been invited to participate in the V Foundation 2018 Pediatric Cancer Research Grant Program. Vanderbilt may choose one nominee for the program. The single nominee may apply in either the V Scholar or the Translational program type for support.
Please review each award type below and submit internal proposals for either program by Feb. 22. Note that this pediatric call is distinct from the V Foundation “all cancers” call for V Scholars and Translational awards (nonpediatric-specific), which will have a separate invited call for applications.
Pediatric Cancer Translational Research Award
The V Foundation seeks to support translational research projects within the scope of pediatric cancer research. The Translational Research Award is a $600,000 grant awarded in three annual installments of $200,000. Indirect costs up to a maximum of 10 percent within the total award are permitted.
Definition of a translational research project: Translational projects should move a novel strategy from the laboratory into a human clinical trial or use specimens from a clinical trial to develop biomarkers or mechanisms. The research should apply in some direct way to human beings within the time frame of less than three years. If biomarker research is undertaken, a validation set or independent clinical trial is essential. A plan for biomarker validation, if applicable, must be included in any proposal. The endpoint of the project should be the planning or initiation of a new pediatric clinical trial.
Applicant eligibility – by April 2, applicants who will lead this research team must have all of the following:
- Be scientists who hold a tenure-track faculty position at their cancer research institution. Nonpromotable, adjunct, affiliated, temporary, part-time or acting faculty positions are not eligible for Principal Investigator nomination to lead the Translational Research Team.
- Applicants must be either U.S. citizens or have a legal permit to work in the United States (either temporarily or permanently).
Pediatric Cancer V Scholar Award
The Pediatric Cancer V Scholar Award supports young tenure-track faculty early in their cancer research careers by funding projects that are either laboratory-based fundamental research or translational research. The total amount of the grant is $200,000 awarded in two annual installments of $100,000 each. Only direct costs of the research are supported by this award.
Applicant eligibility – all nominated applicants must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible to submit an application:
- Applicant must have at least two years postdoctoral (M.D. or Ph.D.) fellowship training. For M.D.s, a minimum of one year is acceptable if only one year is required for the specialty.
By April 2, applicants must have all the following:
- Hold a tenure-track faculty position as an assistant professor at their cancer research institution. Non-promotable, adjunct, affiliated, temporary, part-time or acting faculty positions are not eligible for this grant competition.
- Have been appointed to their first full-time assistant professor position within the last five years and not yet been promoted to associate professor.
- Clinical scientists are eligible if their department can demonstrate that it will fully support the research applicant (e.g., dedicated lab space, start-up funds, dedicated research time).
- Applicants must be either U.S. citizens or a permanent legal resident of the United States.
Applicants cannot already have been awarded an RO1 or RO1-equivalent grant. As of the due date of the application, applicants who have been awarded RO1-equivalent grants (project leader on an NIH multi-investigator grant, ACS) as principal investigators or as a co-leader at the time of application submission are not eligible for consideration as a V Scholar. In addition, applicants cannot be a co-leader on a SPORE project or co-PI of the following NIH grant mechanisms: U01, DP1, DP2, R37, or R23. In addition, principal investigators for research project grants (RPGs), analogous to NIH/NCI R01 awards, would also be ineligible.
Internal selection process:
Anyone interested in being considered as Vanderbilt’s nominee for either of the pediatric awards above must submit the following (in PDF format) to LSO@vanderbilt.edu by 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018. Late applications will not be considered.
- Brief (two-page maximum) research plan including summary budget;
- Brief statement of support from department chair/center director;
- A brief CV or NIH Biosketch
Submissions should reference the award type (Translational Research Award or V Scholar) in the subject line of the email.
Please contact us at LSO@vanderbilt.edu if you have any questions about the program, foundation or internal review process.