Accelerating Drug Discovery for Frontotemporal Degeneration

Eligibility

Funding is open to researchers and clinicians in the U.S. and worldwide working in:

• Academic medical centers and universities or nonprofits. Industry partnerships are encouraged.
• Biotechnology companies that demonstrate a clear need for nonprofit funding. Existing companies and new spinouts are both eligible.

The strongest applications will test a compound that has met many or all of the following criteria:

• Chemical structures of hits and leads have been assessed for structural liabilities
• Novel composition of matter patents have been filed or plans to generate novel composition of matter intellectual property (IP) have been developed

Summary

There are currently no FDA approved disease-modifying treatments available for frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and symptomatic treatments only provide limited benefit for patients. Recent scientific advances have provided an increased understanding of pathogenic mechanisms underlying FTD and are driving the development of potential disease-modifying therapies. The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) and The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) seek to accelerate this progress by supporting innovative small molecule and biologic (antibodies, oligonucleotides, peptides, gene therapy etc.) drug development programs for FTD through this request for proposals (RFP).

The RFP supports:

• Lead optimization of novel disease-modifying compounds, including medicinal chemistry refinement and in vitro ADME.
• In vivo testing of novel lead compounds, biologics, vaccines, or repurposed drug candidates in relevant animal models for pharmacokinetics, dose-range finding, target engagement, in vivo efficacy, and/or preliminary rodent tolerability studies.

This RFP does NOT support target identification, target validation, assay development, high-throughput and high-content screening. IND-enabling work is supported through ADDF’s Drug Development RFP.

Overhead

Not Applicable. ADDF funding is not provided for indirect costs/overhead. Refer to the ADDF Funding Policies.

Application deadlines

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.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, 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.

LOI Stage

Applicants should submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) through the ADDF Funding Portal. An approved LOI is required prior to submission of a full proposal. ADDF’s science team will evaluate LOIs to determine whether the proposed project is consistent with the ADDF's mission and funding priorities. Generally, applicants can expect to be notified within 2-3 weeks of their LOI submission. The deadline for applicants to submit their Letter of Intent to the ADDF is 3:00pm MT on May 13, 2024.

Full Application 

If invited, submit a full proposal through the ADDF Funding Portal. Applicants must obtain institutional approval from the University of Calgary prior to submitting their full proposal to the ADDF.  

To initiate internal approvals, complete the Pre-Award/Application record in RMS (https://research.ucalgary.ca/conduct-research/additional-resources/resea...), attach your completed Application, and submit for approvals from your department head and/or faculty Associate Dean (Research). *Important: when submitting in RMS, please ensure that you allow time for academic approvals prior to the Research Services review deadline of 12:00pm MT on July 17, 2024

Once these approvals are obtained, RMS will automatically forward the Application record to Research Services for institutional review and approval.

Research Services will review, provide feedback (by email) if necessary, and will provide the institutional approval. RSO will provide the capping institutional signature (if required) and will advise when ready (all other required signatures should be in place when submitting to RSO).

Full Applications, including any supplementary documentation, should be submitted to the agency by 3:00pm MT July 22, 2024.

RESOURCES

Support for projects involving Indigenous Research:

Support with the development of your grant application is available internally through the Indigenous Research Support Team (IRST). Applicants can reach out by email to IRST at IRST@ucalgary.ca in advance of the RSO internal deadline. For more information about IRST, please visit the IRST webpage.

Support for Knowledge Engagement:

Support for knowledge mobilization/engagement/translation is available internally through the Knowledge Engagement Team. Applicants can reach out by email to the KE team at knowledge.engagement@ucalgary.ca in advance of the RSO internal deadline. For more information, please visit the KE team webpage.

Support for Research Data Management:

For information on research data management plans, processes, or best practices for your research program, please contact research.data@libanswers.ucalgary.com and/or visit https://libguides.ucalgary.ca/researchdatamanagement.

Support for EDI in Research:

RSO can provide resources and support to research teams on the integration of equitable and inclusive practices in research design and research practice. Contact Erin.OToole@ucalgary.ca for more information.

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award LOI

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application