Operating Grant: TRANSCAN-3 (2024)

Eligibility

For an application to be eligible, all the requirements stated below must be met:

1. The Nominated Principal Applicant leading the Canadian component must be an independent researcher, affiliated with a Canadian postsecondary institution and/or its affiliated institutions (including hospitals, research institutes and other non-profit organizations with a mandate for health research and/or knowledge translation).
2. The NPA must have their substantive role in Canada for the duration of the requested grant term.
3. The Institution Paid must be authorized to administer CIHR funds by the application deadline (see List of CIHR Eligible Institutions).
4. Each research consortium must involve a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of six (6) partners (comprising the project coordinator) eligible for funding, coming from at least three (3) different countries whose funders participate in the call.
   • In order to strengthen the European translational cancer research area, a wide inclusion of research teams from all the countries/regions participating in the call is encouraged, therefore the maximum number of partners can be increased up to seven (7) if they include one partner from the following participating countries: Hungary (decision pending), Latvia, Slovakia and Türkiye.
5. The Consortium must not involve more than two (2) research groups from the same country.
6. It is mandatory to integrate at least one early-career researcher (ECR) as principal applicant in a consortium and this has to be clearly indicated in the proposal. For the TRANSCAN-3 definition of ECR and Individual regional/national funding regulations, please consult ANNEX 1 of the "Guidelines for Applicants".
7. Only transnational projects will be funded.
8. Each consortium must involve at least one basic or pre-clinical research team and one clinical team. It is also recommended to include an expert team in methodology, biostatistics or bioinformatics, depending on the type of work planned. The consortium may also involve other teams with specialized skills and know-how (biobanks, model systems, technological platforms, etc.) or expertise (epidemiology and molecular epidemiology, early phase clinical trials, public health, ELSI, etc.).
9. Only one Canadian research group will be funded per consortium.

All Canadian applications must additionally meet TRANSCAN-3 eligibility criteria. Consult TRANSCAN-3 JTC 2024 Call for details.

Summary

Aim of TRANSCAN-3 JTC 2024 Call

The call of TRANSCAN-3 (JTC 2024) focuses on: "Translational research for new combination therapies against cancer: new opportunities for translational research".

Proposals will have to cover only one of the three specific aims listed below. Approaches should be directed to obtain a portfolio of renewed methods for new efficacious combination therapy strategies. Projects should be built from a solid and established hypothesis and should be relevant regarding the potential improvements in clinical practice.

Aim 1. Development of new tumour derived models to test new drug combination therapies.

Isolation and characterization of tumour cells/tumour-infiltrating immune/stromal cells for in vitro studies (3D culture systems; patient-derived organoids; PDX-derived primary cultures). These models should be a suitable tool to test new drug combinations or genetic perturbations to demonstrate the feasibility and applicability in terms of reproducibility and testing time (the faster the better) to this aim.

Aim 2. Design and development of high-throughput drug combination screening platforms to test new combination therapies.

This aim should include and comprise in the platform design to test combination therapies: primary cell cultures derived from patients, should be able to give rapid assessment of novel drugs, drug combinations or with radiotherapy combination at the individual patient level, combine genomic information, computational tools to predict drug responses for individual cancer patients. Protocols for dose response matrix drug combination assays, as well as computational tools to facilitate the plate design and synergy modelling, development of tailored software tools for high-throughput drug combination scoring.

Aim 3. Use of immunotherapy and radiotherapy combinations strategies to overcome drug resistance.

Radiotherapy can provoke a systemic immune response (due to abscopal effect) which gives a strong rationale for the combination of radio and immunotherapy. This aim should explore synergistic effect of radiation (including hypofractionated RT, multi-site radiation, low-dose radiation, new radiation technologies such as FLASH RT, proton RT), with checkpoint inhibitors, characterize the effect on the immune cells including the molecular mechanism and possible immune response biomarkers.

The following type of research projects is excluded from the call:

• Phase II clinical trials.

Overhead

n/a

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Pre-application program deadline

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.

Submission Process:

• Pre-proposal due directly to the Joint Call Secretariat via the PT-Outline electronic submission system by 4:00AM Calgary time on July 5, 2024. No RMS needed for this step.

Full Proposal to the JCS

• Invited full proposals must be written in English and submitted to the JCS by the coordinator through the PT-Outline electronic submission system.
• Note that full proposals will only be accepted from applicants explicitly invited by the JCS to submit. For more information, consult the TRANSCAN-3 JTC 2024 Call for details on how to apply.

Abbreviated CIHR Application

Full application, plus approvals in RMS, will be required by RSO by noon on November 27, 2024. Please be sure to select "Submitted for approvals" (Under Save & Progress) in RMS in enough time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the internal RSO deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines.

Do not submit through ResearchNet until RSO's signature has been granted!! 

Once institutional signature has been obtained, a copy of the CIHR signature page will be available via the RMS record, under Documents. Upload the CIHR signature page and routing slip in the Print/Upload Signature Pages task in ResearchNet by 4:00AM Calgary time on December 3, 2024.

RESOURCES 

Support for projects involving Indigenous Research: 

Support with the development of your grant application is available 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, community partnerships, and responsible research assessment (DORA) is available through the Knowledge Engagement Team. Applicants can reach out by email to the KE team at knowledge.engagement@ucalgary.ca. 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@ucalgary.ca OR research.data@ucalgary.libanswers.com. 

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 Jaya.Dixit@ucalgary.ca for more information. 

Support for Research Security: 

The Research Security Division is available to assist researchers adhere to research security guidelines and policies, including the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships (NSGRP) and the new policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC). Visit the Research Security website to learn more or contact researchsecurity@ucalgary.ca.  

Reminder: The sooner the researcher engages with RSO units, the more help we can be! 

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application