LOI Due April 25, 2025
The Dan L Duncan Cancer Center is invited to participate in the 2025 V Foundation Call for Pediatric Cancer Research Grants. If interested, please submit a one-page letter of intent for the project and your current NIH biosketch to Jessica Poli (HemOncPreAwardTeam@texaschildrens.org) by Friday, April 25, 2025, at 5 p.m. CST. Please indicate in your letter of intent if you are applying for the V Scholar, Translational, or All-Star program type for support. The internal review panel will use the letter of intent to make a final decision on the nominee(s) to apply for this pediatric call.
BCM may submit up to two nominations: one Translational OR V Scholar (see V Scholar RFA) nominee PLUS one All-Star (see All-Star RFA) nominee, if eligible.
NOTE: This pediatric call is distinct from the V Foundation "all cancers" call for V Scholars and Translational awards (non-pediatric specific) which have a separate invited call for applications.
AV Scholar Eligibility Guide and an All-Star Eligibility Guide are available to support your nominee(s) selection. Navigate to the bottom of the web page to view the documents.
** In order to be eligible for the All-Star Cancer Research Grant, the applicant must have previously been awarded a V Foundation research grant as the lead Pl and must meet at least ONE of the following criteria by the nomination deadline:
- Have a completed V Foundation research grant - OR
- Be in the final year of an active V Foundation grant (received final payment and on track to finish by grant end date).
Please see the RFAs (linked above) for eligibility requirements and additional information. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Jessica Poli.
Important dates:
- Internal LOI Due Date: by 5 p.m. Central Time on April 25, 2025
- Internal LOI Selection: by May 2, 2025
- Formal Nomination Due Date: by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on May 7, 2025 – submitted by Jessica Poli
- Application Due Date: by 4 p.m. Eastern Time on June 5, 2025 (due in BRAIN 5/21)
Pediatric-Translational Cancer Research Grant
The total amount of this grant is $800,000, paid in four annual installments of $200,000. Indirect costs are allowed up to 10% of the total grant amount.
Translational research is a key component of the research continuum that advances basic laboratory discoveries towards clinical use, ultimately improving human health. This Translational grant is restricted to pediatric cancer research in the preclinical or translational space with a focus on bench-to-bedside strategies. Research on ANY pediatric cancer type can be funded. Applicants may propose cancer research that moves a novel strategy from the laboratory into a human clinical trial or uses specimens from a clinical trial to test hypotheses or to develop biomarkers or mechanisms. The research must apply in a direct way to human beings within 3 years from the end of the grant. If biomarker research is undertaken, a validation set or independent clinical trial is essential. A plan for biomarker validation, if applicable, must be included in any proposal. The endpoint of the project should be the planning or initiation of a new clinical trial or conducting an investigator-initiated trial with laboratory correlates that test hypotheses. Research areas not included in this scope are epidemiology, behavioral science, and health services research.
Pediatric-V Scholar Cancer Research Grant
The total amount of the grant is $600,000, paid in three annual installments of $200,000. No indirect costs allowed.
This V Scholar grant is restricted to pediatric cancer research that is exploratory or translational in focus. Research on ANY pediatric cancer type will be funded. This award supports tenure-track faculty early in their cancer research career by funding projects that are either laboratory-based fundamental research or translational research. Emphasis for this grant mechanism is on supporting exceptional early career investigators at the Assistant Professor stage to be better positioned to leverage large R01 or similar sustaining grants. Research areas not included in this scope are epidemiology, behavioral science, and health services research.
(NEW) Pediatric All-Star Cancer Research Grant
The total amount of the grant is $1,000,000, paid in five annual installments of $200,000. Indirect costs are allowed up to 10% of the total grant amount.
This All-Star grant is a reinvestment in the most exceptional prior V Foundation grantees and their most innovative ideas. This grant provides funding for high-risk, high-reward, transformative projects that will have a significant impact on our understanding and/or treatment of cancer. Please note it is not required that the previously funded grant was focused on pediatric research nor do the previously funded grant and the newly proposed project need to be linked. This All-Star grant is restricted to pediatric cancer research and research on ANY pediatric cancer type can be funded. The scope of research includes basic/exploratory research, translational, preclinical, and clinical research. Regardless of project type (i.e.: basic vs translational), nominees must propose innovative, nonincremental research that has the potential to radically move the needle in our understanding of cancer or clinical practice. Research areas not included in this scope are epidemiology, behavioral science, and health services research.
