The following funding news and opportunities were collected recently by Cancer Center Pre-Award Services and published in Cancer Center Update, a weekly e-newsletter for members and staff.

Visit the Research Funding Resources page for links to resources you can use to search for funding as well as University resources essential to application processes.

October 30, 2007

The American Cancer Society Mary Hendrickson-Johnson Melanoma Professorship
Letter of Intent: December 15, 2007
Application Deadline: April 1, 2008
The American Cancer Society Mary Hendrickson-Johnson Melanoma Professorship is intended for an outstanding mid-career investigator who has made a seminal contribution that has changed the direction of cancer research and who continues to provide leadership in this research area. Applications from distinguished investigators in the area of melanoma research, including research in the areas of etiology, genetics, pathogenesis, diagnosis or treatment of melanoma, are requested. For details, visit the Web site.

Endocrine Society Bridge Grant Program
Application Deadlines: December 1, 2007 and May 1, 2008
Award Periods: February 1, 2008 and July 1, 2008
Amount: Up to $50,000/yr
The Endocrine Society has created the Bridge Grant Program for its members. Designed to provide interim funding while long term funding is sought, the program is open to basic and clinical scientists whose funding for a renewal of a previously-funded grant has been denied. Applicants must be members of The Endocrine Society for three years immediately prior to application and must be full-time faculty members with a minimum of three years of successful independent research funding and significant publications in endocrinology. Eligibility is extended to applicants currently funded through a transitional mentored award (NIH K award or its equivalent) provided all other criteria are met. Applicants with a non-funded grant application ranking in the top 40th percentile (or equivalent ranking if percentile is not reported), on which the applicant is PI, are eligible. Applicants must have a resubmission to a national agency or major foundation pending or anticipated.

For more information visit The Endocrine Society Web site or email Loretta L. Doan, Ph.D., Manager, Science Policy at ldoan@endo-society.org.

AACR Funding Opportunities for Cancer Research
Application Deadline: December 3, 2007
Grant Term Begins: July, 1 2008
The AACR offers an outstanding array of support mechanisms for cancer researchers at various stages in their careers, from fellowships to career development awards to major grants for independent investigators. The following awards are available:

AACR Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award

Career Development Awards
Five Career Development Awards are open to junior faculty who complete postdoctoral studies or clinical fellowships between July 2, 2005 and July 1, 2008 and who are at an academic or medical institution anywhere in the world, unless otherwise noted. The Career Development Awards are two-year Awards with a grant of $50,000 per year.

• AACR-Aflac Incorporated Career Development Award for Pediatric Cancer Research.
• AACR-Barletta Foundation Career Development Award for Translational Cancer Research
• AACR-Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Career Development Award for Pancreatic Cancer Research
• AACR-Genentech BioOncology Career Development Award for Cancer Research on HER Family Pathway

Fellows Grants
Three Fellows Grants are open to Clinical or Research Fellows in the third, fourth, or fifth year of their fellowships at the start of the grant term. Candidates must have started their fellowship no earlier than July 2, 2005 and no later than July 1, 2008. Candidates must have acquired a doctoral degree in a related field.

• AACR-Barletta Foundation Fellows Grant for Translational Pancreatic Cancer Research
• AACR-Colorectal Cancer Coalition Fellows Grant, in Memory of Lisa Dubow
• AACR-National Brain Tumor Foundation Fellows Grant, in Memory of Bonnie Brooks

Research Fellowships
AACR Research Fellowships foster basic, translational, clinical, and epidemiological research by scientists at the beginning of their careers in the cancer field. They are open to Postdoctoral Fellows and Clinical Research Fellows at an academic facility, teaching hospital, or research institution who will be in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd year of their postdoctoral training at the start of the fellowship term.  Fellowships provide one-, two-, or three-year grants of $30,000 - $40,000 per year to support the salary and benefits of the Fellow.

• AACR Anna D. Barker Fellowship in Basic Cancer Research
• AACR-Astellas USA Foundation Fellowship in Basic Cancer Research: Two grants are available.
• AACR-Astellas USA Foundation Fellowship in Clinical/Translational Cancer ResearchAACR-Amgen, Inc. Fellowship in Clinical/Translational Cancer Research: Two grants are available.
• AACR-Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology Fellowship in Clinical Cancer Research
• AACR-AstraZeneca-Prevent Cancer Foundation Fellowship for Translational Lung Cancer Research
• AACR-Genentech BioOncology Fellowship for Cancer Research in Angiogenesis
• AACR-PanCAN Fellowship for Pancreatic Cancer Research

Candidates may submit only one application per year to AACR Awards, Grants and Fellowships. Please visit the Web site for the complete guidelines and instructions or visit proposalCENTRAL to access the online applications. Inquiries may be directed to Julia Laurence (Career Development Awards and Fellows Grants) or Hanna Hopfinger (Research Fellowships) at awards@aacr.org.

October 23, 2007

Continued Development and Maintenance of Software (R01)
(PAR-08-010)
National Cancer Institute
Application Receipt Date(s): January 17, 2008; May 21, 2008; September 22, 2008; January 22, 2009; May 22, 2009; September 22, 2009; January 22, 2010; May 21, 2010; September 22, 2010
Biomedical research laboratories increasingly undertake a software development project to solve a problem of interest specifically related to that laboratory. These software packages sometimes become useful to a much broader community of users that can include translational and clinical researchers. The goal of this program announcement is to support the continued development, maintenance, testing and evaluation of existing software. The proposed work should apply best practices and proven methods for software design, construction, and implementation to extend the applicability of existing biomedical informatics/computational biology software to a broader biomedical research community.

Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) program grant deadline extended to Monday, October 29, 2007 at 5 p.m.
The Deborah E. Powell Center for Women's Health invites eligible candidates interested in interdisciplinary research in women's health to apply for the BIRCWH. The BIRCWH program fosters the career development of junior faculty members who are engaging in basic, clinical, translational, behavioral, or health services research in any area relevant to women's health with an emphasis on sex and gender factors. The BIRCWH, an internal K-12 program, accomplishes this goal by providing protected time for junior faculty so they can obtain advanced research training while developing an independent research program. The BIRCWH mentors are established investigators who have a commitment to fostering interdisciplinary approaches to research in women's health and sex and gender factors. This program develops a cadre of independently funded scientists who can further advance and perpetuate an interdisciplinary team approach to science and gender specific health care.

More information, including application and eligibility, can be found at http://www.wmhealth.umn.edu/wmhlth/bircwh.html. Questions can be directed to Nancy Raymond, MD, or Diane O'Connor, RN, MPA at 612-626-1125 or wmhealth@umn.edu.

October 16, 2007

Network for Translational Research (NTR): Optical Imaging in Multimodal Platforms (U54)
(RFA-CA-08-002)
National Cancer Institute
Application Receipt Date: January 24, 2008
Funding: Up to 5 years of funding at $1.5 million in total costs/year.
This Funding Opportunity Announcement issued by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is an open competition initiative, designed to continue the efforts of the NCI to develop and translate cancer-relevant optical imaging technologies as a part of an overall imaging program for early cancer detection, diagnosis, therapeutic response, drug development, and image-guided therapy.

Research on Research Integrity
RFA-RR-07-003 (R21)
RFA-RR-07-004 (R03)
National Cancer Institute
Application Receipt Date: November 20, 2007
Funding: R21: Direct costs are limited to $275,000 over a two-year period, with no more than $200,000 in direct costs allowed in any single year. R03: $50,000/yr in direct costs for up to 2 years
The purpose of this small grant program is to foster research on research integrity in areas of study that have little published data. The sponsoring agencies are particularly interested in research that will provide clear evidence (rates of occurrence and impacts) of problem areas in community standards, self-regulation, practice norms, and non-adherence to accepted codes of conduct. The application should address the societal, organizational, group, or individual factors that affect integrity in research, both positively and negatively.

Kimmel Scholar Award
Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research, Sidney
Application Receipt Date: December 5, 2007
Funding: $100,000/yr for 2 years
The Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research funds the Kimmel Scholars Program, which each year, through a distinguished board of cancer researchers, provides research grants to the nation's most promising young cancer researchers. The goal of the grant program is to improve the basic understanding of cancer biology and to develop new methods for the prevention and treatment of cancer.

Kimmel Translational Science Award
Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research, Sidney
Application Receipt Date: December 5, 2007
Funding: $100,000/yr for 2 years
The Foundation provides five additional awards specifically for physicians engaged in translational science. Eligibility includes those with M.D. or equivalent degrees, who have achieved the rank of Assistant Professor on or after July, 2003. Candidates must not hold R01 funding for the laboratory component of their cancer research. Applicants must demonstrate a significant personal involvement in the laboratory component of the translational project described. The translational research may involve primarily animal studies but must include reasonable application to subsequent human investigation.

Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH)
Deadline: October 25, 2007, 5 p.m.
The Deborah E. Powell Center for Women's Health invites eligible candidates interested in interdisciplinary research in women's health to apply for the BIRCWH. The BIRCWH program fosters the career development of junior faculty members who are engaging in basic, clinical, translational, behavioral, or health services research in any area relevant to women's health with an emphasis on sex and gender factors. The BIRCWH, an internal K-12 program, accomplishes this goal by providing protected time for junior faculty so they can obtain advanced research training while developing an independent research program. The BIRCWH mentors are established investigators who have a commitment to fostering interdisciplinary approaches to research in women's health and sex and gender factors. This program develops a cadre of independently funded scientists who can further advance and perpetuate an interdisciplinary team approach to science and gender specific health care.

More information, including application and eligibility, can be found at http://www.wmhealth.umn.edu/wmhlth/bircwh.html. Questions can be directed to Nancy Raymond, MD, or Diane O'Connor, RN, MPA at 612-626-1125 or wmhealth@umn.edu.

October 2 and 9, 2007

American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant
Deadline: October 15, 2007
Funding: Up to $30,000
This grant is for assistant professors who have no independent national funding and are engaged in cancer-related research. Cancer-related research includes genetic mechanisms of cancer, molecular mechanisms of cancer progression and metastasis, development of novel cancer therapeutic models and translational research, cancer immunology and immunotherapy. Applications may be obtained by calling LeAnn Micek, 612-626-1926, micek003@unn.edu.