2024 ALSF Innovation Grant

Eligibility

Applicant Eligibility: must be met at the time of application

• Applicant institutions must be based in the United States or Canada. Applicants need not be United States citizens. Funds must be granted to nonprofit institutions or organizations.
• Applicants must have an MD, PhD, or MD/PhD (or equivalent) and be appointed as faculty (or equivalent) at an academic institution.
• Applicants must have a track record of publication and funding productivity that demonstrates the project can be accomplished by the investigators.
• Applicant must propose a new research direction, not a continuation of ongoing funded research.

Scope of Proposal

• Proposals must fall within the scope of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’s mission, focused on childhood cancers. Proposals with a sole/primary focus on patients >19 years of age will not be considered.
• Proposal must be hypothesis driven and mechanistic.
• Innovation must be clearly presented.
• Potential for major scientific and/or clinical impact in pediatric oncology is critical.
• While preliminary data are not required, the applicant must demonstrate feasibility of the research plan.

Budget

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

• 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 with the Final Report.
• Other budget items may include fringe, travel, supplies and small pieces of equipment. 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.

Summary

About Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of 4-year-old Alexandra “Alex” Scott, who was fighting cancer and wanted to raise money to find cures for all children with cancer. Her spirit and determination inspired others to support her cause, and when she passed away at the age of 8, she had raised $1 million. Since then, the Foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement. Today, ALSF is one of the leading funders of pediatric cancer research in the U.S. and Canada, funding more than 1,000 research projects and providing programs to families affected by childhood cancer. ALSF is also the only childhood cancer research organization that has been given the NCI peer-reviewed funder designation for rigorous selection of research grants. The mission of ALSF is to change the lives of children with cancer through funding impactful research, raising awareness, supporting families, and empowering everyone to help cure childhood cancer.

Innovation Grant Program Description

ALSF is committed to creating opportunities for new and innovative research into treatments and cures for childhood cancers. The Innovation Grant is designed to provide critical and significant seed funding for researchers with a novel approach to pediatric oncology scientific investigation. Proposals should have clinical translation in view. This may represent a change in research direction and/or an innovative new idea that moves away from an investigator’s prior research but for which a strong case is made for the potential impact on childhood cancers.

Application Submission

The application process will be completed in two-stages:

1. Letter of Intent (LOI). A letter of intent (LOI) must be submitted via the Alex's Lemonade Stand Grants Management and Family Services portal (https://alexslemonade.my.site.com). All eligibility criteria met to be considered for the full proposal stage; otherwise, LOIs will be administratively rejected.
   Applicants are NOT required to submit their Letter of Intent to RSO for institutional approval, and thus do not need to create an RMS record for their LOI. The ALSF deadline for receiving LOIs is October 16, 2023, 6:00pm Mountain Time.
2. Full Proposal (by invitation). Applicants invited to submit full applications must obtain institutional approval from the University of Calgary prior to submitting their full proposal to ALSF. Initiate required University of Calgary internal approvals by completing a Pre-Award/Application record in RMS (https://my.rms.ucalgary.ca/)/.

Overhead

Not Applicable.

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

Application deadlines

ALSF Letter of Intent (LOI) 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 Innovation Grant Application 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!