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Catalyst Research Award

American Lung Association

The American Lung Association Nationwide Research Program is building on over 120 years of success as we continue to invest in the brightest pioneering minds with potential to drive innovation, discover the unknown, and improve the lives of those living with lung disease.

About the Funding Opportunity

The American Lung Association Catalyst Award is a mentored award meant to support outstanding investigators on the path to independence for research into the mechanisms of lung disease and general lung biology. Preference is given to projects that are novel, innovative in design/approach, utilize modern technologies, and incorporate a multidisciplinary collaborative training plan.

The Catalyst Grant is for $50,000 per year, for up to two years. Grants are subject to annual review; the second year of support is based upon demonstration of satisfactory progress.

No more than 75% of the requested budget may be used for an awardee’s salary and/or fringe benefits and no more than 30% of the total award budget may be used to fund the purchase of permanent equipment. Grant funds may be used for the salary and fringe benefit costs of personnel other than the Applicant.

Successful applicants are early career faculty, on‐track to pursue a career in lung health research with a mentor who has a demonstrated history of lung disease research and mentorship.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

High-Value Success Predictors (from historical trends)

1. Strong, direct lung relevance

Funded studies typically have clear pulmonary focus and strong rationale.
Vague “respiratory relevance” = lower score.

**2. Translational potential (bench → bedside → population)

Reviewers love:

Mechanistic insights that link directly to clinical action

Biomarkers of progression/severity

Molecular targets for therapy

New diagnostics for early detection

“How does this help patients?” must be obvious.

3. Demonstrated feasibility

Winning proposals typically include:

Preliminary data (even small n)

Validated assays

Proof-of-concept experiments

Access to patient cohorts or biobanks

4. Innovation

Funded ALA proposals often leverage:

Multi-omic profiling

AI/machine learning for lung imaging

Organoids / air-liquid interface models

Nanoparticle delivery

Immunotherapy approaches

Incremental improvement gets weak reviews.

5. Clinically relevant endpoints

Strong predictors:

Lung function

Exacerbation frequency

Dyspnea scales

Quality-of-life indices

Biomarkers linked to severity

6. Vulnerable populations

Aligns with ALA mission. Helpful topics:

Pediatric asthma

Disparities/environmental justice

Smoking/vaping exposure in youth

Rural lung health

7. Solid mentoring environment (for fellowships/early career)

Award recipients usually show:

Strong mentor publications in lung science

Structured training plans

Protected research time

Mentor résumés are heavily weighted.

8. Access to relevant resources

Awardees commonly demonstrate:

Pulmonary clinics

Lung tissue repositories

Core facilities (proteomics, flow, imaging)

Clinical trial infrastructure

9. Clear statistical and sample-size justification

ALA reviewers penalize:

Underpowered proposals

No biostatistics consultation

Ambiguous endpoints

10. Dissemination plan

Important patterns among winners:

Commitment to community engagement

Patient advocacy integration

Plan to publish in high-impact pulmonary journals

⚠️ Common Weaknesses Noted by Reviewers

Overly ambitious aims (≥3)

Vague impact statements

Weak mechanistic hypotheses

No diversity recruitment strategy

Extraneous aims outside lung biology

🧬 Topics with Strong Recent Momentum

Recent portfolios favor:

Long COVID pulmonary sequelae

E-cigarette lung injury (EVALI)

Biomarker discovery in fibrosis

Immune dysregulation in severe asthma

Environmental particulates & pollution

Immuno-oncology in lung cancer

🏫 Awardee Institutional Patterns

More successful applications come from:

Established pulmonary divisions

NCI/NHLBI-funded centers

Physician-scientist environments

Departments with active clinical trials

Not mandatory—but correlated.

🧠 Applicant Profile Predictors

Successful applicants often:

Have 3–8 first-author publications

Show upward trajectory

Present at ATS/ERS meetings

Have at least one lung-specific paper

🏆 Meta-Pattern

Funded research typically combines:

Clinical relevance

Innovation

Preliminary feasibility

Actionable outcomes

If any of these are missing, scores drop.

📌 Reviewer “Yes Flags”

✔ strong mentor letters
✔ diversity/community engagement
✔ one or two tight aims
✔ biomarkers tied to outcomes
✔ data reproducibility plan

🚫 Reviewer “Red Flags”

✘ lack of pilot data
✘ overly speculative therapies
✘ unclear patient population
✘ missing power analysis
✘ too much basic science with no translation

✅ Summary of What Predicts Success

Successful ALA applications are:

Lung-focused

Translational and innovative

Patient-impact oriented

Feasible with preliminary data

Backed by strong mentorship

Supported by institutional infrastructure

Specialties

Cancer

Pulmonology

Eligibility Requirements

Employment Certification Requirement As part of the application, all applicants must certify that they are authorized to work in the United States. In addition, the institutional Signing Official, defined as the individual authorized to submit grant applications and make institutional commitments, must certify that the applicant’s employment is expected to continue for the full duration of the grant period.

Mentor Requirement

Applicantsshould be on‐track to pursue a career in lung disease research with amentor who has a demonstrated history of research experience and mentorship.

Education and Experience

At the time of application, the applicant must hold a relevant doctoral degree (PhD, DSc, MD, DO, etc.) and be affiliated with a recognized academic or other not‐for‐profit institution.

This award is intended to support investigators prior to receipt of career‐development awards, like NIH K08, K23, K99 or similar. Postdoctoral Fellows (PhD) and Medical Fellows who are seeking to complete at least two years of mentored research training are also eligible. MD or DO applicants must have completed two years of research training after receiving their terminal degree prior to the start of the award.

Medical residents, those presently enrolled in a degree program (e.g., graduate students), and established investigators are not eligible to apply.

Factors that are considered indicative of an established investigator include, but are not limited to, academic rank of professor or associate professor, awards of established investigators (NIH R01, Veterans Administration Merit Review awards), or a national reputation as an investigator in their field.

Institution

The research institution must be a non‐profit, owned and operated exclusively for scientific and education purposes, and located in the United States. Institutions eligible to participate include Nonprofit colleges or universities and domestic non‐profit scientific and research institutions.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: American Lung Association

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 55 W. Wacker Drive, Suite 1150, Chicago, IL

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