+ More Filters

Reset Filters

Title

Funding Organization

Funding Type

Eligible Country

Deadline

Other (Select all that apply)

Show Expired Programs

Show Verified Programs

Verified

Early Career Investigator Catalyst Grant in Interstitial Lung Disease

Canadian Lung Association

The Early Career Investigator Catalyst Grant in Interstitial Lung Disease competition promotes innovative research related to the diagnosis, treatment, and/or mechanism of disease for people living with Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD).

Proposals should be creative and with the potential to benefit people living with this lung disease.

The scope of the research proposal is restricted to lung disease, lung biology, and respiratory health.

Catalyst grants are scalable research projects that can include pilot studies, feasibility studies, or translational studies. Research projects must be new and not the continuation of an existing project.

One grant in the amount of $50,000 will be given.

The funding is for one year and is non-renewable.

Deadlines

The applicant must submit their application by completing and uploading the application form in PDF format along with all supporting documentation via https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2026_ILD_Catalyst by June 24, 2026 at 16:00 Eastern Standard Time. The Canadian Lung Association will confirm receipt of the full application by email on the next business day.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

1. Strong relevance to lung health

The most competitive applications directly address:

asthma,
COPD,
interstitial lung disease,
lung cancer,
pulmonary fibrosis,
respiratory infections,
sleep-disordered breathing,
air pollution and lung injury,
respiratory health systems.

The CLA specifically prioritizes projects with respiratory health as the major focus.

2. Clear translational and patient-care impact

Successful proposals usually demonstrate potential to:

improve respiratory outcomes,
enhance diagnosis or treatment,
improve quality of life,
reduce respiratory morbidity,
strengthen prevention strategies,
influence clinical care or public health.

Clinical applicability is one of the strongest predictors of competitiveness.

3. Strong methodological rigor

Competitive applications generally demonstrate:

robust clinical or laboratory study design,
validated respiratory outcome measures,
realistic recruitment targets,
strong statistical planning,
reproducibility,
feasible timelines.

Weak methodology is a major reviewer concern across respiratory funding programs.

4. Strong preliminary or pilot data

Applications with:

pilot respiratory datasets,
feasibility studies,
preliminary biomarker/imaging findings,
prior pulmonary publications,
proof-of-concept evidence

typically receive stronger reviewer confidence.

5. Alignment with CLA funding priorities

Applications perform better when closely aligned with CLA-supported themes such as:

lung disease mechanisms,
respiratory health innovation,
interstitial lung disease,
clinical respiratory care,
applied respiratory research,
healthcare improvement,
respiratory prevention strategies.

6. Strong mentorship and career-development environment

For early-career and trainee awards, reviewers heavily assess:

mentor expertise,
pulmonary research infrastructure,
institutional support,
protected research time,
career-development planning.

CLA programs specifically support emerging investigators and research capacity building.

7. Interdisciplinary collaboration

High-scoring applications often involve:

pulmonologists,
respiratory therapists,
epidemiologists,
radiologists,
immunologists,
public-health researchers,
pharmacists,
rehabilitation specialists.

Collaborative respiratory-health networks strengthen applications substantially.

8. Public-health and equity relevance

Projects addressing:

smoking and vaping impacts,
wildfire smoke exposure,
environmental lung health,
healthcare inequities,
Indigenous respiratory health,
access to pulmonary care

have become increasingly competitive in Canadian respiratory funding priorities.

9. Feasibility and implementation potential

Reviewers strongly favor projects with:

realistic operational plans,
achievable milestones,
access to respiratory patient populations,
clear implementation pathways,
practical healthcare integration.

Overly ambitious projects often score poorly.

10. Potential for future national funding

Competitive projects are often those likely to:

generate CIHR or national respiratory-network funding,
support multicenter respiratory studies,
produce publishable findings,
build sustainable lung-health research programs.

Common Reasons for Rejection

Frequent reviewer concerns include:

weak respiratory relevance,
insufficient preliminary data,
unrealistic scope,
poor statistical planning,
limited translational significance,
unclear implementation pathway,
weak feasibility,
insufficient innovation.

Specialties

Others

Pulmonology

Eligibility Requirements

• The principal investigator must hold a faculty appointment as an Assistant Professor at a Canadian university at the time the application is submitted.

• The principal investigator must be an Early Career Investigators (ECIs). To account for the impact of COVID-19 on career timelines, for this competition, an ECI is defined as a researcher who has held an independent research appointment as an Assistant Professor for a period of 0 to 72 months at the competition deadline date (first academic appointment must be after June 24th, 2020).

• Applications will be considered for research proposals related to the diagnosis, treatment, and/or mechanism of respiratory disease for people living with Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD). Applications deemed outside these areas will be eliminated from the competition.

• Research projects must be new and not the continuation of an existing project.

• Appropriate facilities must be available for the research. An institution and institution’s finance officer through which the funds will be administered must be identified.

• Applicants may only submit one application as a principal investigator per competition.

• Collaborations, particularly multi-disciplinary collaborations, are highly encouraged but must be justified.

• The principal investigator and collaborator(s) are not eligible if they hold or have held funding, directly or indirectly, from the tobacco, cannabis, and/or vaping industry.

Eligible Countries:

Canada

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Canadian Lung Association

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 885 Meadowlands Dr., Suite 502 Ottawa ON K2C 3N2

Legal & Affiliation Disclaimer

Affiliation Disclaimer: Trialect operates independently and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by any sponsors or organizations posting on the GrantsBoard platform. As an independent aggregator of publicly available funding opportunities, Trialect provides equal access to information for all users without endorsing any specific funding source, content, organization, or sponsor. Trialect assumes no responsibility for the content posted by sponsors or third parties.

Subscription Disclaimer: Upon logging into Trialect, you may choose to SUBSCRIBE to GrantsBoard for timely notifications of funding opportunities and to access exclusive benefits, such as priority alerts, reminders, personalized recommendations, and additional application support. However, users are advised to contact sponsors directly for any questions and are not required to subscribe to engage with funding opportunities.

Content Ownership and Copyright Disclaimer: Trialect respects the intellectual property rights of all organizations and individuals. All content posted on GrantsBoard is provided solely for informational purposes and remains the property of the original owners. Trialect does not claim ownership of, nor does it have any proprietary interest in, content provided by third-party sponsors. Users are encouraged to verify content and ownership directly with the posting sponsor.

Fair Use Disclaimer: The information and content available on GrantsBoard are compiled from publicly accessible sources in alignment with fair use principles under U.S. copyright law. Trialect serves as an aggregator of this content, offering it to users in good faith and with the understanding that it is available for public dissemination. Any organization or individual who believes their intellectual property rights have been violated is encouraged to contact us for prompt resolution.

Third-Party Posting Responsibility Disclaimer: Trialect is a neutral platform that allows third-party sponsors to post funding opportunities for informational purposes only. Sponsors are solely responsible for ensuring that their postings comply with copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Trialect assumes no liability for any copyright or intellectual property infringements in third-party content and will take appropriate action to address any substantiated claims.

Accuracy and Verification Disclaimer: Trialect makes no warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information provided by sponsors. Users are advised to verify the details of any funding opportunity directly with the sponsor before taking action. Trialect cannot be held liable for any discrepancies, omissions, or inaccuracies in third-party postings.

Notice and Takedown Policy: Trialect is committed to upholding copyright law and protecting the rights of intellectual property owners. If you believe that content on GrantsBoard infringes your copyright or intellectual property rights, please contact us with detailed information about the claim. Upon receipt of a valid notice, Trialect will promptly investigate and, where appropriate, remove or disable access to the infringing content.

View Funding Opportunity