The Office of Foundation Relations is pleased to share this open call for funding from the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research.
UCSC Contact: Sarah Carle | FR | sacarle@ucsc.edu
Funder: Mark Foundation for Cancer Research
Opportunity: Early Detection Award
Deadline: March 10, 2025
Overview
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the Lustgarten Foundation, and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research announce this Request for Proposals for projects focused on accelerating the development of effective new approaches to the early detection of cancer. The projects funded through this initiative will advance our understanding of the origins and risk stratification of recalcitrant cancers and accelerate the development of technological and methodological innovation in early cancer detection and interception. It is recognized that significant barriers to the development and clinical implementation of early detection biomarkers exist, partly due to the need for rigorous testing within randomized clinical trials. Ideas that are broadly applicable to early detection across multiple cancer types are encouraged, including the development of novel clinical trial statistical methodologies that aim to assess the validity of early detection biomarkers.
Eligible Cancer Types
- Pancreatic cancer
- Hepatobiliary cancers (hepatocellular carcinoma, gallbladder and bile duct cancers, cholangiocarcinoma)
- Ovarian cancer
- Glioblastoma
- Upper GI cancers (esophageal, gastric cancer)
- Cancers resulting from hereditary cancer predisposition syndromes
Award Amount & Terms
- $2 million (US) total
- Two-year term
- Two to four investigators per project
- Grantees will be required to present the results of their research at a future event or special session to be held by one or more of the funding partners on the topic of early cancer detection
- Indirect costs up to 10% of direct costs
- Letters of agreement will include IP terms for data sharing (non-commercial) and revenue sharing
Eligibility
- Proposed research projects must be designed to advance the discovery, technical development, and pre-clinical validation of effective approaches and methods for early cancer detection, or the early clinical evaluation of treatment for pre-malignant disease.
- One or more of the cancer types listed above must be the primary focus of the proposal.
- Applicants must have an independent faculty research appointment. There are no restrictions on citizenship or geography for investigators.
- Investigators may apply as a team of two to four investigators (one Principal Investigator and up to three co-investigators). Teams may comprise investigators from a single institution or multiple institutions. There is no requirement to include a US-based institution as part of the team.
- Individuals may be a co-investigator on more than one proposal but may only serve as Principal Investigator on one proposal.
- Projects focused on cancer prevention rather than early cancer detection and diagnosis are not in the scope of this RFP.
- Proposed projects must not be supported by overlapping funding sources. Grantees must disclose any potential overlap with other current or pending research funding.
- Teams are encouraged to consider diversity that will enhance the team’s ability to approach challenging problems from fresh perspectives.
See here for a list of previous award recipients.
Timeline
March 10, 2025: Letter of intent submission deadline June 17, 2025: Full application deadline September 15, 2025: Notification of selected grantees November 1, 2025: Anticipated grant start date
Special Instructions
Please notify the Office of Foundation Relations if you are interested in applying to this opportunity (fr@ucsc.edu). For support developing your proposal, please contact the Research Development Specialist assigned to your unit or send a request to resdev@ucsc.edu.
The Office of Foundation Relations is a unit of University Advancement. The FR team creates and maintains mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with private organizations, matching grant initiatives with educational and research programs and centers. FR supports faculty and staff to identify and approach these and other private foundations for funding, to assist in strategic positioning of the grant application, and to facilitate funder campus visits. For a list of recent funding opportunities, please visit the FR website: FR Calls for Funding.