The CF Foundation offers competitive awards for research related to cystic fibrosis. Studies may be carried out at the subcellular, cellular, animal, or patient levels. Two of these funding mechanisms include Pilot and Feasibility Awards and Research Grants. Investigators who seek support from the Foundation under these funding mechanisms must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI).
Pilot and Feasibility Awards and Research Grants are issued primarily for basic science research. Those proposals that include methodologies requiring sampling of materials from human subjects will only be considered under this mechanism if the sampling method constitutes minimal patient risk (e.g., venipuncture) and patient samples or data are anonymous. For applications where more invasive procedures are proposed or where patient samples or data will not be anonymous, please submit a Letter of Intent for a Clinical Research Award.
Also, the CF Foundation offers physician-scientist training awards, including theLeRoy Matthews Physician/Scientist Award and the Harry Shwachman Clinical Investigator Award. (LOIs are not required for Matthews or Shwachman Awards.)
In addition, the CF Foundation will consider NIH applications that have received a competitive score but missed the payline under the CFF/NIH-unfunded award mechanism. These applications are accepted on an on-going basis.
Application Submissions
LOIs and applications must be submitted electronically at Proposal Central by 5:00pm (EDT) on the deadlines noted below.
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Letter of Intent for Basic Research
A brief description of the proposed research must be submitted in advance for Pilot and Feasibility Award and for Research Grant applications. Please review the Guidelines for complete submission information, as well as a list of research areas currently of interest to the CF Foundation.
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Pilot and Feasibility Awards
Letter of Intent Deadline: April 1st.
Application Deadline: Second Wednesday of September to Proposal Central by 5:00 pm (EDT).
These grants are for developing and testing new hypotheses and/or new methods, and to support promising new investigators as they establish themselves in research areas relevant to CF. Proposed work must be hypothesis driven and must reflect innovative approaches to critical questions in CF research.
The award is not meant to support continuation of programs begun under other granting mechanisms. Funding priority will be placed on those projects proposing to better understand the mechanisms behind disease pathophysiology and to develop strategies to prevent or treat it. Up to $40,000 per year (plus 8% indirects) for two years may be requested. Please review the Policies and Guidelines for complete submission information.
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Research Grants
Letter of Intent Deadline: April 1st.
Application Deadline: Second Wednesday of September to Proposal Central by 5:00 pm (EDT).
This grant mechanism is intended to encourage the development of new information that contributes to the understanding of the basic etiology and pathogenesis of CF. Funding priority will be placed on those projects proposing to better understand the mechanisms behind disease pathophysiology and to develop strategies to prevent or treat it. All proposals must be hypothesis driven, and sufficient preliminary data must be provided to justify CFF support. Information derived from such studies will hopefully lead to submission to other funding agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Support is available for $90,000 per year (plus 8% indirects) for a period of two years, at which time a grant may be competitively renewed for an additional year of funding. Please review the Policies and Guidelines for complete submission information.
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LeRoy Matthews Physician/Scientist Award
Appication Deadline: Second Wednesday of September
Application must be submitted electronically at Proposal Central by 5:00 pm (EDT).
This award will provide up to six years of support for outstanding, newly trained pediatricians and internists (M.D.’s and M.D./Ph.D.’s) to complete subspecialty training, develop into independent investigators, and initiate a research program.
Support ranges from $48,000 (stipend) plus $10,000 (research and development) for year one, to $76,000 (stipend) plus $15,000 (research and development) for year six. (Indirect costs are not allowed.) U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status is required. Please review the Policies and Guidelines for complete submission information.
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Harry Shwachman Clinical Investigator Award
Appication Deadline: Second Wednesday of September
Application must be submitted electronically at Proposal Central by 5:00 pm (EDT).
This three-year award provides the opportunity for clinically-trained physicians to develop into independent biomedical research investigators who are actively involved in CF-related areas. It is also intended to facilitate the transition from postdoctoral training to a career in academic medicine.
Support is available for up to $76,000 per year plus $15,000 for supplies. (Indirect costs are not allowed.) U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status is required. Please review the Policies and Guidelines for complete submission information.
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CFF/NIH-unfunded Grant Award
Application Deadline: January 1st through November 30th of every year
Applications must be submitted electronically at Proposal Central .
The CF Foundation has developed the overall research grant program to complement the awarding mechanism of the NIH. Support from CFF, through various mechanisms, is intended to provide for the development of sufficient preliminary data to make CF-related grant applications highly competitive in the NIH review process. However, as a result of funding constraints on the NIH, coupled with the growing interest in CF research, occasions arise in which highly meritorious grant applications are submitted to the NIH but are not funded.
In an effort to assure that all meritorious CF-related research is supported, CFF has developed the CFF/NIH-unfunded Award mechanism to provide funding. The objective of this award is to support excellent CF-related research projects that have been submitted to and approved by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), but cannot be supported by available NIH funds.
Applications must fall within the upper 40th percentile. CFF support ranges from $75,000 to $125,000 per year for up to two years. (Indirect costs are not allowed.) Please review the Policies and Guidelines for complete submission information. Electronic submissions are accepted at grants@cff.org.
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For More Information
Investigators interested in any of the above-mentioned funding programs may contact the Grants and Contracts Office for further information and/or to discuss the potential relevance of their research to the mission of the CF Foundation and to the objectives of these programs. Please direct inquiries to:
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Grants and Contracts Office
6931 Arlington Road
Bethesda, MD 20814
(800) FIGHT CF
(301) 951-4422
grants@cff.org
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Updated 8/15/12
