2024 LLS Discovery Grant Program (DGP)

Eligibility

• The program welcomes applications from US citizens and non-US citizens, as well as applicants who are performing research outside the United States.
• Applicants must hold a PhD, MD, DVM, or equivalent degree.
• Applicants must be independent investigators affiliated with a non-profit institution at the time funding commences and for the duration of the award. Applications from non-academic facilities are not eligible.
• Investigators must demonstrate that their research environment is equipped and suitable for all aspects of the work. Applications may involve multiple institutions and collaborators; however, the applicant (principal investigator) will be responsible for signing off on all terms of the funding agreement.
• An applicant (PI) may only submit one DGP application per cycle. However, if you currently hold a Discovery Grant Program (DGP) or Blood Cancer Discoveries Grant Program (BCDG) award, you may not apply to DGP in this cycle unless your current award is scheduled to end before October 1, 2024.

Overlapping aims in grant proposals submitted to LLS

• The PI and/or Co-PI may apply to more than one grant program during an application cycle if the aims do not substantially overlap with the aims of any other application across all programs. You may not be on a different project within the same grant program unless you are a Collaborator.
• Collaborators or Key Personnel may be part of other DGP projects or any other grant program applications provided the aims differ.

Summary

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is pleased to announce the 2023-2024 application cycle of the Discovery Grant Program (DGP). DGP is a research award program designed to encourage basic research, technological innovation, and informatics pipeline development. Also known as the Blood Cancer Discoveries Grant Program, DGP hopes to gain better understanding of blood cancer disease mechanisms, to help develop improved methods for detecting and monitoring cancer progression, and to help identify novel therapeutic targets.

LLS is seeking applications from established independent academic investigators for support of foundational, discovery-stage research that can lead to advances in the treatment and cure of blood cancers. LLS recognizes the need for a dedicated mechanism to encourage established investigators to explore the biology of blood cancer and support proof-of-concept studies that could initiate completely novel approaches to treatment.

The Discovery Grant Program (DGP) is aimed at supporting cutting edge, discovery-oriented innovation research, concerned with understanding blood cancer properties and vulnerabilities and aimed toward advancing treatments for blood cancers. Examples of projects of potential interest include:

• cellular activities that underlie the behavior and vulnerabilities of blood cancer cells including phenomena or processes such as clonal evolution, autophagy, unique metabolic vulnerabilities, inflammation/inflammasomes, DNA damage responses, organellar changes, and poorly understood cellular regulatory mechanisms
• resistance mechanisms including immune evasion, resistant clone evolution, and cellular changes underlying development of resistance to chemotherapies
• novel biomarkers or techniques to detect and monitor blood cancer development and progression
• blood cancer cell interactions with the microenvironment and with the immune system, including exploration of novel immune synapses

Award:

• Budget submitted should reflect the actual needs of the project but cannot exceed $250,000 USD per year / $750,000 USD total for the three (3) years of the grant.
• This budget ceiling includes all costs associated with the grant including indirect costs (often referred to as Institutional Overhead), which will be capped at 10% of the total award.

Application Submission

The application process will be completed in two-stages:

1. Letter of Intent. Letters of Intent for the Discovery Grant Program are reviewed and approved by LLS after submission. Once the LOI has been reviewed, the applicant will be notified via e-mail as to whether they have been invited to submit a full application. The LOI stage is a competitive step; all LOIs will be reviewed for eligibility as well as for relevance and responsiveness to the goals of the program.

Changes: Information collected in the LOI will automatically populate fields in the full application. Once submitted, changes may only be made after receiving prior approval from LLS. The applicant must email LLS (researchprograms@lls.org) requesting any change and identifying the elements to be changed. Any changes made without the prior approval of LLS may result in the disqualification of the application.

To ensure the accuracy of the information given in your LOI, applicants should obtain institutional approval from the University of Calgary prior to submitting their LOI to the sponsor. Initiate required University of Calgary internal approvals by completing a Pre-Award/Letter of Intent record in RMS (https://my.rms.ucalgary.ca/)/.

2. Full Application. If invited for full application submission, the applicant will immediately have access to the application submission capability in the LLS Research Portal. Applicants invited to submit full applications should email Chantal Lemire (chantal.lemire@ucalgary.ca) for additional information on the next stage of this competition.

Overhead

10% of total award.

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Pre-application program deadline

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

First time applying for an LLS Research grant? Get started by requesting a new account in the LLS Research Portal by clicking here.

2023 DGP Guidelines & Instructions

Research Programs Policies & Procedures (Revised April 2020)

DGP Funding Agreement Template

LLS Research Portal