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CRI Impact Grant

Cancer Research Institute

In partnership with the Chordoma Foundation (CF), CRI invites LOIs focused on accelerating the development of effective immunotherapies for chordoma, a rare type of cancer that occurs in the bones of the skull base and spine. This joint research program seeks to harness the power of the immune system to improve outcomes for chordoma patients. Please be advised that CF has chordoma models and banked tumor samples (including a new TMA consisting of 95 chordoma specimens) that are available to the research community. Successful applications in this area will be co-funded by CRI and CF.

Focus and Scope

New and effective cancer treatments require more than laboratory breakthroughs — they require translational pathways that bring bench discoveries into patient trials and return clinical insights to the lab. This CRI Impact Grant will support this vital bidirectional flow by funding chordoma research that:

Applies Basic Science: Leverages basic immunological knowledge to solve clinical problems
Advances Therapeutics: Translates preclinical findings into therapeutic strategies
Informs Discovery: Uses clinical observations to inform fundamental immunology
Improves Translation: Builds models that improve immunotherapy testing and delivery

A CRI Impact Grant will be awarded to investigators whose work has direct clinical relevance and a clear line of sight to benefit for chordoma patients — whether through improved response prediction, novel therapeutic design, biomarker discovery, or elucidation of resistance mechanisms.

Financial Support

CRI Impact grants provide $300,000 over 2 years to qualified investigators pursuing high-impact research that directly informs or emerges from clinical practice. By fostering tight integration between the lab and the clinic, Impact aims to accelerate the development of next-generation immunotherapies and optimize their application for patients with cancer.

Institutions will be provided indirect costs of up to 10% of the total amount awarded. Indirects are provided in addition to awarded funds.

Deadlines

The process for applying for a CRI Impact Grant consists of two parts:

Letter of Intent
Invited Application

The deadline for the receipt of the Letter of Intent is December 1. Candidates will be notified by the end of January whether they have been invited to submit a full grant proposal. The full application is due March 15. If these deadlines fall on the weekend, applications will be accepted the following Monday. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on these dates. The earliest an award can activate is July 1. Awards activate on the first of the month.

Instructions for Applying

Letters of intent must be submitted electronically. Once you access the application, you will be asked to create a user account unique to you, which will catalogue all applications you submit to CRI. If you have submitted a grant application to CRI in the past, please login with your existing user account.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

1. Direct relevance to cancer immunology and immunotherapy (highest predictor)

This is the most important predictor.

CRI is not a general cancer-research funder. Competitive projects should directly advance understanding or application of:

Tumor immunology
Fundamental immunology relevant to cancer
Immune-cell function in tumors
Cancer immunotherapy
Immune resistance and response
Tumor microenvironment
Immunological biomarkers
Immune-based therapeutic strategies

For the Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship, CRI specifically emphasizes hypothesis-driven, mechanistic research in fundamental immunology and tumor immunology, including how the work will advance understanding of the immune system's role in cancer.

2. Scientific significance, innovation, and feasibility (very high predictor)

CRI explicitly identifies three core proposal-review dimensions:

Significance
Innovation
Feasibility

The strongest applications address an important immunological problem, introduce a genuinely new concept or approach, and remain technically achievable. Ambitious science is attractive, but the experimental strategy must still be convincing.

3. Strong candidate qualifications and demonstrated track record (very high predictor)

CRI formally considers:

Candidate qualifications
Demonstrated research track record
Evidence of scientific productivity
Technical expertise
Potential for future impact

For trainee and career-development programs, reviewers assess accomplishments relative to career stage rather than simply rewarding the longest publication list.

4. Potential to become a future leader in cancer immunology

Investigator development is central to CRI's funding model. Its programs span early-career researchers through established investigators and are designed to cultivate scientific leaders who can advance cancer immunotherapy.

Strong indicators include:

Clear long-term research vision
Commitment to immunology or tumor immunology
Emerging scientific independence
Leadership potential
Ability to establish a distinctive research direction

5. Outstanding sponsor, mentorship, and training environment (especially important for fellowships)

For postdoctoral funding, CRI explicitly reviews both:

The strength of the sponsor
The quality of the training environment

Competitive applications typically demonstrate access to expert mentorship, strong immunology infrastructure, appropriate technologies, and an environment capable of advancing the fellow toward independence.

6. Acquisition of genuinely new skills and expertise

A strong fellowship application explains how the proposed work will expand the applicant's capabilities through:

New experimental techniques
New conceptual expertise
Computational or data-science training
Advanced immunological methods
Cross-disciplinary mentorship

CRI expects the training experience to prepare the applicant for future scientific leadership and independence.

7. Bold, high-risk/high-reward potential (program-specific but very important)

Several CRI programs explicitly support bold ideas. The Lloyd J. Old STAR Program, for example, supports mid-career scientists pursuing high-risk, high-reward research at the leading edge of cancer immunotherapy, while the Technology Impact Award targets early-stage concepts with transformative potential.

The strongest proposals may challenge existing assumptions, open a new research direction, or create a technology that changes what is scientifically possible.

8. Strong translational pathway and clinical impact (for translational and clinical awards)

For programs such as the Clinic and Laboratory Integration Program and Clinical Innovator awards, success depends heavily on a credible bridge between immunological discovery and patient care. CRI's current portfolio explicitly supports research at the intersection of laboratory discovery and clinical application, as well as pioneering academic immunotherapy trials.

Competitive projects often demonstrate:

Strong biological rationale
Relevant biomarkers
Patient-selection strategy
Translational endpoints
Clinical-development potential
A realistic pathway toward testing or implementation

9. Interdisciplinary expertise and collaboration

Modern immunotherapy research often requires integration of:

Immunology
Oncology
Computational biology
Data science
Genomics
Bioengineering
Clinical research

CRI's current programs explicitly include opportunities at the intersection of immunology and data science, reinforcing the value of complementary expertise when it is essential to the scientific question.

Specialties

Cancer

Oncology

Eligibility Requirements

Candidates for a CRI Impact Grant must hold a faculty appointment as a tenure-track assistant professor (or higher rank) at the time of award activation. If not, documentation from their institution must accompany the Letter of Intent indicating they will hold the position of assistant professor (or higher rank) by the time of award activation. CRI has no citizenship restrictions, and research supported by the award may be conducted at medical schools and research centers in the United States or abroad. Please note that CRI Impact Grants do not support research at for-profit institutions.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Cancer Research Institute

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 29 Broadway, Floor 4  New York, NY 10006-3111

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