Cancer Research Institute Technology Impact Award

Aim
To address the gap between technology development and clinical application of cancer immunotherapies. These grants aim to encourage collaboration between technology developers and clinical cancer immunologists and to generate the proof-of-principle of a novel platform technology in bioinformatics, ex vivo or in silico modeling systems, immunological or tumor profiling instrumentation, methods, reagents and assays, or other relevant technologies that can enable clinician scientists to generate deeper insights into the mechanisms of action of effective or ineffective cancer immunotherapies.

Award winners will be selected based on the novelty, creativity, technical sophistication, and transformative potential of the technology to impact cancer immunotherapy research around the world. The ultimate aim of this program is to advance technologies that can speed up the entire field’s efforts in addressing one of the most defining challenges of our time—developing immunotherapies that are effective for all cancer patients.

Overview
The most competitive applicants will address areas where technological innovation stands to benefit the field and cancer patients most, and that will ultimately lead to effective next generation cancer immunotherapies. These technologies may include but are not limited to:

• New bioinformatics methods or technologies that speed collection and analysis of large sets of patient-derived biological data
• Computer simulations for modeling biological systems and responses to immunotherapy
• Tools and methods that improve profiling of tumors to inform therapeutic strategies
• Real-time visualizations of molecular and cellular activity to improve tracking of responses to immunotherapy
• In vitro tissue culture systems that recapitulate the interactions between primary tumor cells and the immune system

• $200,000 USD
• 12 - 24 months

• Faculty appointment as a tenure-track assistant professor (or higher rank) at the time of award activation
• Or, institutional documentation must accompany the Letter of Intent indicating they will hold the position of assistant professor (or higher rank) by the time of award activation
• Joint submissions from collaborators will also be considered. (The collaborators will share the award.) Each collaborator must meet the eligibility criteria
• Selected projects that meet their 12 and 24 month milestones may be eligible for follow-on funding that will enable the established proof-of-concept technology to be developed into a methodology that improves cancer immunotherapy research worldwide

• Technology Impact Award applications are at the bottom of the website
• Please carefully read the application instructions

• Letter of Intent: 15 November 2021
• Invitited proposals: 15 March 2022
• Announcement of award: 30 June 2022
• Project reviews at 12 and 24 months

• Contact the Research Office at [email protected]