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Accelerating Hope: Clinical Trials for Hard-to-Treat Cancers Award

Children's Cancer Research Fund

In 1979, 13-year-old Katie Hageboeck was nearing the end of her 16-month battle with leukemia. Before she died, Katie asked that her savings for a new 10-speed bike be given to Children’s Cancer Research Fund, a little-known fund at the University of Minnesota. Since 1981, Katie’s parents, Diana and Norm, have made it their mission to support groundbreaking research.

Today, Children's Cancer Research Fund (CCRF) is a national nonprofit focused on funding transformational research to bring better treatments and cures to children with cancer. Thanks to donors and partners around the country, we have contributed more than $235 million to research, education and awareness, and quality-of-life programs for childhood cancer families. We believe children deserve safer, less toxic treatments, and we’re committed to funding groundbreaking research and services that enhance healing and care.

Accelerating Hope: Clinical Trials for Hard-to-Treat Cancers Award This grant mechanism is limited to support for clinical trials focused on hard-to-treat cancers. For this funding opportunity, hard-to-treat cancer is defined as 5-year survival less than 70% in an individual childhood cancer (e.g. osteosarcoma, AML, DIPG), in a childhood cancer with unfavorable behavior (e.g. relapse or metastasis), or in a molecular defined subtype (e.g. MLL rearranged leukemia, PAX3-FOXO1 rearranged RMS). Cancers with survival <70% in demographic groups defined by age, sex, or race/ethnicity may also qualify if a biologic hypothesis is being pursued. Applicants must demonstrate that the cancer(s) they propose to study is consistent with this definition of "hard-to-treat" and with the scientific literature.

Award Information

Number of Awards Funding of awards will be dependent on the availability of funds.

Award Period Maximum project period is 36 months.

Award Budget Total costs of up to $1,000,000 may be requested. The budget total includes indirect costs of up to 10% of direct costs.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

1. Direct pediatric-cancer relevance ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The proposal should clearly address a childhood cancer problem, rather than a general cancer question with only an indirect pediatric application.

Strong areas include:

Leukemia
Brain and CNS tumors
Neuroblastoma
Wilms tumor
Sarcomas
Lymphoma
Retinoblastoma
Childhood solid tumors
Cancer genomics
Pediatric cancer immunology
Cancer survivorship
Treatment-related complications

The closer the connection to an important pediatric cancer problem, the stronger the mission fit.

2. Potential to improve childhood cancer outcomes ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The application should make a convincing case for how the work could eventually produce:

Better survival
Earlier diagnosis
More effective treatments
Fewer treatment complications
Reduced toxicity
Better quality of life
Prevention of recurrence
Improved survivorship

A particularly strong proposal connects the scientific discovery to a specific future patient benefit.

3. Important unmet need ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Competitive research should tackle a problem where existing approaches remain inadequate.

Examples:

Treatment-resistant pediatric cancers
Relapsed disease
Poorly understood tumor biology
Lack of effective targeted therapies
Severe chemotherapy/radiation toxicity
Difficult-to-diagnose tumors
Long-term effects of childhood cancer treatment

The proposal should clearly state what is currently unknown or ineffective and why solving it matters.

4. Innovation ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Innovative research is especially attractive for childhood cancer funding.

Potentially competitive approaches include:

Precision oncology
Genomics
Epigenetics
Immunotherapy
CAR-T or cellular therapy
Novel drug targets
AI-assisted diagnosis
Liquid biopsy
Molecular biomarkers
New therapeutic delivery systems
Tumor microenvironment research

The proposal should clearly identify what is genuinely new, rather than simply applying an established method to another pediatric cancer population.

5. Strong preliminary data ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Preliminary evidence can substantially strengthen the application.

Useful evidence includes:

Pilot experiments
Preliminary patient data
Molecular findings
Animal-model results
Proof-of-concept therapeutic data
Biomarker validation
Previous publications

The data should directly support the proposed hypothesis and demonstrate that the research is feasible.

6. Scientific rigor and feasibility ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The project should have:

Clear hypothesis
Specific aims
Appropriate controls
Adequate sample sizes
Appropriate statistical analysis
Valid experimental models
Defined endpoints
Alternative strategies
Realistic timeline

For pediatric research, investigators should also demonstrate that the proposed patient population or biological material is realistically accessible.

7. Translational potential ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A strong pediatric cancer proposal should ideally show a pathway from discovery to clinical application:

Basic discovery → mechanism → therapeutic/diagnostic target → validation → pediatric clinical application

Research that can eventually influence treatment decisions or patient care is particularly compelling.

8. Investigator expertise and research environment ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Reviewers are likely to consider whether the applicant and institution have the expertise and infrastructure needed to complete the project.

Important strengths include:

Pediatric oncology expertise
Cancer biology expertise
Relevant publications
Previous research success
Access to pediatric tumor samples
Appropriate laboratory facilities
Biostatistical support
Clinical collaborators

9. Potential for future funding ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

A successful CCRF project can ideally generate preliminary evidence for subsequent funding from larger organizations such as:

NIH/NCI
Department of Defense
Other cancer foundations
Disease-specific foundations
Pharmaceutical/biotechnology partnerships

A strong proposal should therefore explain how the award will establish the investigator's next stage of research.

10. Clear mission alignment ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The proposal should make it immediately obvious that supporting the research advances childhood cancer research and patient outcomes.

Specialties

Cancer

Pediatrics

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicants must be eligible to serve as a Principal Investigator at their sponsoring institution.

• Applicant institutions must be based in the United States.

• Applicants are not required to be United States citizens.

• Awarded PIs are required to commit at least 10 percent of their research efforts each year to activities supported by this award.

• Submission of a Letter of Intent (LOI) is required.

• Co-Investigators and/or collaborators are permitted, but the award must be made to a single institution which will act as the grant administrator.

• Applicants’ organizations may submit more than one application, provided each application is scientifically distinct. However, CCRF will only accept one LOI from a PI each calendar year.

• Applicants should review all necessary materials and use the appropriate templates and forms. Failure to comply with the instructions provided may result in programmatic or administrative rejection of your Letter of Intent (LOI) or full application.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Children's Cancer Research Fund

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 1650 W 82nd St., Suite 400 Minneapolis, MN 55431

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