2024 ALSF Research Accelerating RUNX1 Exploration (RARE) Grant

Eligibility

Applicant Eligibility: must be met at the time of application

• Applicant institutions may be based in the U.S. or outside of the U.S. Applicants need not be United States citizens. Funds must be granted to non-profit institutions or organizations.
• Applicants must have an MD, PhD, or MD/PhD (DO, MBBS or equivalent).
• Applicants may have research grants from other funding sources during the award period, but there must be clear documentation of mechanisms to avoid scientific and budgetary overlap.
• Applicants must have research experience working in, and a deep understanding of, normal or malignant hematopoiesis and/or immunology.

Summary

About Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation

A non-profit changing the lives of children with cancer by funding impactful research, raising awareness, supporting families, and empowering everyone to help cure childhood cancer.

About the RUNX1 Research Program (RRP)

A research and advocacy venture with a mission to improve the quality of life and prevent cancer in patients with RUNX1-FPD, a heritable blood cancer syndrome. RRP works to promote awareness and fund world-class collaborative research with an empowered patient community.

RARE Grant Program – Research Accelerating RUNX1 Exploration

The Research Accelerating RUNX1 Exploration (RARE) Grant is a two-year award designed to fund research that will lead to the development of therapies for patients with RUNX1-FPD that will either intercept the transition from a precancer state (clonal hematopoiesis) to MDS/AML or prevention of cancer (before clonal hematopoiesis). Purpose of the grant is to fund research that will accelerate the discovery of druggable oncogenic pathways and deliver cancer interception and cancer prevention therapeutics for RUNX1-FPD children and family members.
The RUNX1 Research Program hosts an annual scientific meeting that brings together grant recipients and other scientists. Grant recipients are expected to present their progress as part of the annual review.

Budget

The requested budget should be in proportion to the scope of the proposed project and should be at or under $250,000 USD in direct costs over 2 years. A maximum of $125,000 in total costs may be requested per year. Restrictions:

• RRP/ALSF adheres to the NIH salary cap for principal investigator(s).
• Indirect costs are not allowed.
• The grant may not be renewed; one no-cost extension request is allowed.
• Other budget items may include fringe, travel, supplies and small pieces of equipment. RRP/ALSF funds cannot be used for tuition remission. View ALSF’s complete budget policy.
• If utilizing a subcontract or subaward, you must include this expense in the budget. No indirect costs will be paid. The PI’s institution is responsible for disbursing funds for subawards and/or subcontracts.

Scope of Proposal

Aims of research proposals must be relevant to the goal of preventing hematologic malignancies in RUNX1-FPD. Proposals that seek to translate from bench to bedside will receive priority. The following areas of research are of priority and are not ranked according to their order:

• Drug Repurposing and Clinical Translation: Support for preclinical experiments and correlative clinical studies designed to test regulatory-approved agents for the rescue of RUNX1-FPD hematopoietic function and interception of high-risk clonal hematopoiesis.
• RUNX1 Biology: Characterize the normal function of RUNX1 and the function of germline RUNX1 mutant proteins. High interest in defining the role of RUNX1 in DNA damage repair in HSCs and the potential role germline RUNX1 mutations may play in acquisition of somatic mutations; identify regulators of RUNX1 expression and function to discover novel methods of correcting RUNX1 function within the hematopoietic system.
• Discovery: Investigate feasibility of targeting RNA splicing for disease therapy in patients with splice-site mutations or nonsense suppression therapies for patients with nonsense mutations; develop therapeutic strategies to raise normal RUNX1 activity or RUNX1 protein levels to improve hematopoietic function and reduce HM risk; identify druggable mechanisms, with a focus on drug repurposing, that drive clonal hematopoiesis, clonal expansion and ultimately malignant transformation in RUNX1-FPD patients.

Overhead

Not Applicable.

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via RMS in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

Additional Resources

2024 RUNX1 RARE Grant Program Guidelines

New User registration: If you haven’t applied using the new ALSF portal -- you need to create an account, contact record, and portal username/password. An email confirmation will be sent to verify your email address, completing your registration. Then, login to access the grant application. NOTE: the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser is incompatible with the online system; please use Chrome or Firefox for the best results!