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Disease Model Award

Foundation Fighting Blindness

Overview

The Disease Model Award is designed to advance the field by developing and validating innovative models to support the scientific community in accelerating discovery. Applications must focus on disease models and their validation. Proposals primarily centered on therapeutic development research are out of scope for this program and will not be reviewed. The goal is to develop, validate, or utilize non-rodent disease models (in silico, in vitro, or in vivo) for therapeutic development for IRD and dAMD. The award offers a total funding value ranging from $300,000 to $1,000,000, distributed over a period of 3 to 5 years.

Applicants must hold a Ph.D., M.D., D.M.D., D.V.M., D.O., or equivalent degree and have a faculty position or equivalent at a domestic or foreign non-profit organization, or public or private institution, such as a university, college, medical school, hospital, research institute, or laboratory. Individuals from underrepresented racial, ethnic and gender groups, as well as individuals with disabilities, are always encouraged to apply.

Applying

Applying: All prospective award recipients first submit a Letter of Intent and, by invitation only, an application via the Foundation’s online application portal. Application guidelines should be downloaded and reviewed before beginning your letter or application.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

From a reviewer’s perspective, successful FFB applications consistently show:

✔ 1. Clear and Direct IRD Relevance

Projects must explicitly address inherited retinal degeneration — generic vision science without disease linkage is less competitive.

✔ 2. Translational Line-of-Sight

Even basic projects should articulate:

How findings could enable therapy development

Relevance to specific IRD genotypes or pathways

✔ 3. Strong Disease Knowledge

Competitive proposals demonstrate:

Awareness of patient heterogeneity

Genotype–phenotype relationships

Existing and competing therapeutic approaches

✔ 4. Feasible, Milestone-Driven Design

Clear go/no-go milestones, realistic timelines, and defined deliverables are essential — especially for TRAP and clinical programmes.

✔ 5. Appropriate Models & Endpoints

Use of:

Relevant animal or cellular models

Clinically meaningful functional and structural retinal endpoints

strengthens reviewer confidence.

✔ 6. Investigator & Team Capability

Strong track records in retinal biology, gene therapy, or clinical ophthalmology, plus access to patients or specialised facilities, are key advantages.

🛠 Practical Application Tips

✔ Anchor aims to specific IRDs or gene classes
✔ Include a clear translational pathway, even for discovery work
✔ Define milestones and decision points explicitly
✔ Highlight patient impact and unmet need
✔ Show awareness of regulatory and clinical considerations where relevant

📌 Summary: Foundation Fighting Blindness Funding

Programme	Target	Focus	Typical Support
Investigator Research Grants	Independent PIs	Basic & translational IRD research	~$75k–$150k/yr
TRAP	Translational teams	Therapy development	Higher, milestone-based
Clinical Research Support	Clinical investigators	Natural history & trials	Variable
Postdoctoral Fellowships	Early-career scientists	Training in IRD research	Salary + allowance
Partnerships/Consortia	Academic–industry	Pipeline acceleration	Variable

🔍 When FFB Is a Good Fit

✔ Your work targets inherited retinal disease
✔ You aim for therapeutic or clinical impact
✔ You can articulate a path from mechanism to patient

Specialties

Ophthalmology

Eligibility Requirements

Principal Investigators must hold an M.D., D.M.D., D.V.M., D.O., Ph.D. or recognized foreign equivalent and occupy a faculty position or equivalent position at a college, university, medical school, or other public or private research institution/facility. The application is not limited to the U.S. or U.S. citizens. Applicants who are not U.S. citizens and reside and work outside the U.S. may apply.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Foundation Fighting Blindness

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 6925 Oakland Mills Road, #701, Columbia, MD 21045.

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