Weston Family Foundation Microbiome Initiative Proof-of-Principle 2024 Program

Eligibility

The Principal Applicant must be a researcher working in Canada at least 50% of the time and at or above the level of Assistant Professor or equivalent, at a CRA-qualified donee in Canada. Postdoctoral Fellows may apply as Principal Applicants, however, in such cases the project must include an Administrative Supervisor acting as a co-applicant, who has authorization to administer research accounts and is granted the relevant signing authorization.

Summary

The Weston Family Foundation, through its Proof-of-Principle program, funds Canadian scientists performing high-risk, high-reward translational research that leverages the microbiome towards improving human health.

Biomarkers are a critical component of modern healthcare, with diverse applications in disease prevention, detection and monitoring, as well as therapeutic development. They are poised to play an increasingly important role in personalized medicine, providing means to estimate an individual’s disease risk and prognosis, and predict and monitor an individual’s response to a given therapy.

Emerging research suggests that the microbiome is a potentially understudied source for biomarkers that holds significant potential for predicting and understanding individual responses to therapeutic or preventative strategies. Consequently, there may be opportunities to manipulate or target the microbiome to enhance an individual’s response to these strategies. 

The Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of a new funding opportunity to address these key areas in microbiome research. The Proof-of-Principle 2024 program aims to support high-impact projects that seek to identify, validate, or apply microbiome-based biomarkers of disease and therapeutic response.

Eligible projects will:

• Evaluate compositional or functional microbiome biomarkers.
• Build on established responder/non-responder phenotypes towards the optimization of therapeutic or preventative strategies.

Full program guidelines available here. 

Important dates:

• Program information session:  May 1, 2024 register here or May 7, 2024 register here
• Letter of Intent deadline: June 4, 2024 apply here
• Award announcement: October 2024

Overhead

Not applicable

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 Instructions

LOI Stage:

1. Complete LOI application on the Weston Foundation Online application portal. A sample LOI application template is available here.
2. Upload a copy of your final and complete LOI application to the RMS Application record, and submit for academic approvals.  Please ensure that you allow enough time for academic approvals prior to the Research Services (RSO) final internal deadline of NOON, May 30, 2024.
3. RMS will notify you that institutional approval has been provided and will provide any institutional signatures if required. You may now submit on or before June 4, 2024 at 12:00PM Mountain time.

For Full Application:

1. Complete full application as instructed by WFF on the Weston Foundation Online application portal. 
2. Upload a copy of your final and complete application to the RMS Application record, and submit for academic approvals.  Please ensure that you allow enough time for academic approvals prior to the Research Services (RSO) final internal deadline of NOON, August 19, 2024.
3. RMS will notify you that institutional approval has been provided and will provide any institutional signatures if required. You may now submit on or before August 22, 2024 at 12:00PM Mountain time.