CRI announces new changes to cancer research funding programs

Cancer Research Institute, Inc. (CRI), a U.S. nonprofit organization established in 1953 to advance the science of tumor immunology and foster the discovery of new cancer immunotherapies, announced today new changes and additions to its research funding programs. The changes reflect a strategic shift in CRI's mission to bring safe and effective immune system-based therapies to cancer patients sooner.

"After decades of CRI's efforts to foster the field of cancer immunology, train skilled researchers, and build a base of scientific knowledge about the immune system and its response to cancer, the hope of tumor immunology as a source of powerful new treatments for cancer patients is now a reality," says CRI chief executive officer and director of scientific affairs Jill O'Donnell-Tormey, Ph.D. "The field is thriving with potential that wasn't there twenty or even ten years ago, and we want to make sure that potential is harnessed to its fullest to provide the most immediate near-term benefit for more cancer patients while continuing to generate knowledge to support future therapeutic breakthroughs."

Program changes include new translational research grants for laboratory investigators seeking to answer clinically relevant questions aimed at improving the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies, direct support for talented and motivated graduate students to pursue Ph.D. research in tumor immunology, and increased fellowship support to attract and train the most creative and talented postdoctoral investigators conducting research on immunological questions with potential to impact cancer.

The following CRI research programs now have new eligibility and application guidelines, effective July 1, 2011:

Student Training and Research in Tumor Immunology (STaRT) Grants

• STaRT grants seek to attract bright young minds to rewarding careers as cancer immunologists by providing stipends up to $60,000 over two years to graduate students pursuing doctoral degrees in tumor immunology.
• Students from any accredited academic graduate institute are eligible to apply.
• Application deadline is March 1, annually.
• Revised application instructions available September 1, 2011.
• Replaces our Predoctoral Emphasis Pathways in Tumor Immunology program.

Irvington Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

• Stipends have been increased to $164,500 over three years, up from $145,500.
• Proposed projects must be immunology with direct relevance to solving the cancer problem.
• Application deadlines are October 1 and April 1, annually.
• Revised application instructions will be published online August 1, 2011.

Clinic and Laboratory Integration Program (CLIP) Grants

• Provide up to $100,000 per year for two years to laboratory investigators engaged in translational research and whose work connects laboratory and clinical discovery.
• Projects must seek to answer clinically relevant questions aimed at improving the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies.
• Tenure-track assistant professor level or higher eligible to apply.
• Letter of intent submission deadline is November 1, annually.
• Revised application instructions available September 1, 2011.

In addition to these new or revised programs, CRI plans to sustain and grow its support for the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative (CVC), a partnership with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research established in 2001 to test and refine therapeutic cancer vaccines, and will continue to provide funding through its Designated Grants program. The Investigator Award program has been discontinued.

Cancer Research Institute expects to award $75 million in research grants over the next five years.