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CRI Technology Impact Award

Cancer Research Institute

The CRI Technology Impact Award is designed to support early-stage, pre-development concepts — innovations that have not yet been built or tested, but that hold the potential to transform the landscape of cancer immunotherapy.

Focus and Scope

The CRI Technology Impact Award aims to bridge the gap between conceptual technological innovation and real-world clinical application. By encouraging collaboration between technology
developers and clinical cancer immunologists, CRI hopes to accelerate the creation of technologies that can generate proof-of-principle data and unlock novel biological insights.

Technology Impact Awards are not intended to fund the continuation or refinement of existing technologies. Instead, they support visionary, high-risk/high-reward ideas that could lay the groundwork for a new generation of tools, platforms, and systems capable of overcoming the most critical barriers in the field. Proposals that fundamentally apply existing technologies (e.g. scSeq, spatial seq, etc.) without substantial instrumentation, device, or algorithm development will typically be considered non-responsive.

The most competitive applicants will propose innovations that address areas where technological advancement can have the greatest impact on cancer immunotherapy and patient outcomes. Such technologies may include, but are not limited to:

Computational systems biology approaches to analyze large-scale datasets, develop more accurate models of underlying cellular and molecular networks, with the goal of better explaining and predicting response/resistance to cancer therapy
Advanced cancer (or molecular) profiling technologies that can be used to identify key barriers to immunotherapy and improve target identification and therapeutic decision-making
Real-time visualization technologies that allow tracking of molecular and cellular immune responses to treatment in mice or humans
Complex multicellular culture systems that model interactions between tumor and the immune system and enable therapeutic testing or mechanistic studies
Novel therapeutic technologies that promise to safely and effectively promote tumor immunity in new ways

Proposals will be evaluated based on novelty, creativity, technical sophistication, and most importantly, their transformative potential to shape the future of cancer immunotherapy. The CRI Technology Impact Award does not support clinical trials, though samples collected as part of independently funded clinical trials can be used if appropriate for technology development. For clinical trial support refer to the CRI Clinical Innovator.

Ultimately, the CRI Technology Impact Award invests in innovation at its earliest and most uncertain stage — with the goal of accelerating the discovery of disruptive technologies that can drive the next wave of effective, personalized, and durable cancer immunotherapies. By funding what doesn’t yet exist, we aim to help create the tools and insights that will lead to breakthroughs for patients worldwide.

Financial Support

Technology Impact Awards provide seed funding of up to $600,000 over 2-4 years to ignite the development of entirely new technologies that harness the immune system to detect, understand, and treat 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 Technology Impact Award consists of two parts:

Letter of Intent
Invited Application

The deadline for the receipt of the Letter of Intent is November 16. Candidates will be notified by mid-February whether they have been invited to submit a full grant proposal. The full application is due March 12. 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.

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

Applicants must hold a tenure-track position at a not for profit research center or institution. Clinical cancer immunologists and technology developers are encouraged to collaborate. Co-PIs are eligible and encouraged to apply.

Eligible Countries:

United States

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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