The New Idea Award
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Announces
THE NEW IDEA AWARD
A concept award for innovative approaches that can change the standard of care for patients
INTRODUCTION
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is proud to announce THE NEW IDEA AWARD, a new grant program to develop safer and more effective treatment paradigms for patients with hematological malignancies. Specifically, this program represents a concept grant to support academic researchers with innovative therapy ideas that are substantially different from current standard treatments and may advance to clinical testing in the short-term.
OBJECTIVES
The goal of this RFA is to evaluate novel concepts that could lead to significant improvements in the clinical outcomes, including quality of life, of patients with hematological malignancies. Grants will support initial exploration of untested but potentially transformative research ideas and treatment approaches. In order to receive such an award, applicants must succinctly describe the innovative idea/approach and a method for testing it within the one year grant period.
Upon completion of the one year period, applicants will be evaluated on the extent to which their concept has been substantiated by initial testing, and promising projects may be selected for extended funding. The overall goal of THE NEW IDEA AWARD program is to deliver novel treatments and ultimately cures for more patients with hematological malignancies.
Grants will be awarded in an amount of up to $100,000 for a one-year grant period. Depending on the response and quality of the proposals, there may be up to 8 awards.
ELIGIBILITY
Investigators in academic laboratories are eligible to apply. Investigators must demonstrate that their research environment is equipped and suitable for the proposed study. Collaboration between multiple investigators to strengthen the proposed work will be considered favorably, but is not a requirement. Applicants need not be United States (U.S.) citizens nor be associated with a U.S.-based institution. Applicants should hold a Ph.D., M.D., D.V.M. or equivalent degree.
APPLICATION and AWARD INFORMATION
LLS plans to fund up to eight awards during the initial year of this program. It is anticipated that each funded project will be unique and represent a high-risk, potentially high-reward opportunity.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION
Innovation:
Concept awards are designed to allow initial exploration of new ideas with the potential to open new avenues of investigation. Concept awards are NOT intended to support the logical progression of already established research programs. Preliminary data is not required, but can be included to support the scientific rationale.
Research Strategy and Feasibility:
- Does the scientific rationale logically support the proposed study and is it feasible?
- Are the aims, experimental design, methods, and analyses well-developed and integrated?
- Does the PI acknowledge problems and pitfalls?
- Is it reasonable to expect meaningful results in a one year time period?
Favorable reviews will require that the proposed project address unmet need(s) and describe how the novel approach/idea could ultimately lead to a significant paradigm change.
APPLICATION FORMAT and SUBMISSION
The research project description should be no more than 3 pages in length. Applications will be accepted electronically via proposalCENTRAL via the following link:
https://proposalcentral.altum.com/
Scroll down to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and select "The New Idea" award. If you have any questions please contact us by e-mail at researchprograms@lls.org as soon as possible as we cannot extend the deadline for submission beyond January 3, 2013, 5 pm, ET.
KEY DATES
Call for Proposals: November 2012
Deadline: January 3, 2013, 5:00 p.m., ET
Scientific Peer Review Committee: April/May 2013
Notification of Awards: June 30, 2013
Anticipated Funding Start Date: October 2013
DESCRIPTION of PEER REVIEW PROCESS
Each application will undergo a thorough review that consists of two parts. There will be an internal review by the LLS Research staff for compliance with guidelines, eligibility, and responsiveness to the RFA. Application may be administratively triaged at this time.
There will be a second review hosted by LLS that is a more extensive external peer review by a diverse group of experts covering both the science and medical aspects of the review.
