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Innovation Grant

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation

ALSF is committed to creating opportunities for new and innovative research into treatments and cures for childhood cancers. The Innovation Grant is designed to provide critical and significant seed funding for established researchers with a novel approach to pediatric oncology scientific investigation. Proposals should have clinical translation in view. This may represent a change in research direction and/or an innovative new idea that moves away from an investigator’s prior research but for which a strong case is made for the potential impact on childhood cancers.

Application Timeline and Review

• A letter of intent (LOI) must be submitted, and all eligibility criteria met to be considered for the full proposal stage; otherwise, LOIs will be administratively rejected.

• Upon invitation, a full proposal must be submitted that meets all guideline criteria as well as all eligibility criteria; otherwise, applications will be administratively rejected.

• LOIs and full proposals will be reviewed by an independent panel of experts according to the NIH recognized peer-review process.

Budget

The requested budget should be in proportion to the scope of the proposed project and should be for direct costs of $250,000 USD or below over two years. A maximum of $125,000 in total direct costs may be requested per year.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

1. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Direct and compelling relevance to childhood cancer

This is the most fundamental predictor.

The proposed research should address an important problem in pediatric oncology, rather than simply being general cancer research that could apply equally to adults.

ALSF's funded portfolio includes pediatric brain tumors, neuroblastoma, pediatric AML, T-ALL, rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma and other childhood malignancies.

A strong application should clearly establish:

Which childhood cancer is being studied?
What major problem exists?
Why is the problem particularly important in children?
What biological or clinical gap remains?
How will the proposed work contribute to better outcomes?

High-value framing:

Pediatric cancer problem → specific biological/clinical gap → innovative solution → potential improvement in treatment or survival.

2. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Originality and innovation

ALSF explicitly seeks innovative research and has dedicated Innovation Grants for experienced investigators with novel approaches to finding causes and cures for childhood cancers. The Innovation Grant provides $250,000 over two years.

The Foundation's accelerator programs also state that ALSF is willing to take risks on innovative proposals that are highly important but have not received NIH funding.

Strong proposals should therefore demonstrate:

A novel hypothesis.
A new biological mechanism.
A new therapeutic strategy.
A novel technology or model.
A previously unexplored vulnerability.
A substantially different approach to an established problem.

Weak: "We will further characterize a known pathway."

Stronger: "We identified an unexpected dependency that may provide a new therapeutic vulnerability in an aggressive pediatric cancer."

3. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Potential to produce a meaningful pediatric cancer breakthrough

ALSF is not simply looking for scientifically interesting observations. Its research program is intended to fund projects making substantive and critical contributions to childhood cancer research.

The proposal should therefore explain:

If successful, what changes?

Potential outcomes include:

New therapeutic targets.
More effective treatments.
Less toxic treatments.
New diagnostic approaches.
Biomarkers.
Understanding treatment resistance.
Understanding tumor initiation/progression.
New clinical-trial strategies.
Better biological models.

For accelerator programs, the connection to therapeutic development is particularly important. The R Accelerated Award, for example, specifically requires a focus on accelerating discovery of more effective, less toxic therapies for childhood cancers.

4. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Strong scientific rationale and testable hypothesis

ALSF programs emphasize hypothesis-driven research.

The R Accelerated Award specifically requires a testable hypothesis supported by strong scientific rationale.

A strong application should therefore establish:

What is already known?
What remains unknown?
What preliminary evidence supports the proposed idea?
What is the central hypothesis?
What experiments will test it?
What result would support or refute the hypothesis?

A proposal that consists primarily of exploratory experiments without a coherent scientific question is less compelling for hypothesis-driven mechanisms.

5. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Translational potential and clinical relevance

This becomes especially important for ALSF's Reach and Bio-Therapeutic Impact programs.

The Reach Grant is explicitly designed to move hypothesis-driven research toward the clinic. Applicants must identify an unmet clinical need relevant to pediatric cancer patients and explain how the work will enable translation toward clinical testing and implementation.

The Bio-Therapeutic Impact program supports development of promising biologic approaches—including immunotherapy, gene therapy and small molecules—toward clinical trials. The program can provide up to $1.8 million over three years.

For these mechanisms, reviewers will want to see:

Discovery → validation → therapeutic development → clinical testing

rather than discovery alone.

6. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent fit with the specific ALSF grant mechanism

This is one of the most important practical predictors.

ALSF has multiple programs with substantially different expectations:

Grant mechanism	Primary emphasis
Young Investigator	Early-career promising research
'A' Award	Early independent pediatric oncology investigator
Innovation Grant	Novel research by experienced investigators
R Accelerated Award	Accelerating effective/less-toxic therapies
Reach Grant	Translating hypothesis-driven research toward clinic
Bio-Therapeutic Impact	Moving biologic therapies toward clinical trials
RUNX1 programs	RUNX1-FPD/pre-leukemia and leukemia prevention
Crazy 8	Pediatric brain tumor research
POST	Student development in pediatric oncology

ALSF explicitly separates early-career and accelerator programs because their objectives are different.

Therefore:

Correct project + wrong mechanism = poor fit.

7. ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Strong investigator/career-development potential

ALSF deliberately invests in the next generation of pediatric cancer researchers.

The Young Investigator program is intended to provide startup funding to researchers during fellowship or early research careers, with the goal of cultivating researchers who will pursue long-term pediatric oncology careers. It provides up to $60,000 per year for three years.

The 'A' Award similarly targets early independent scientists establishing careers in pediatric oncology. Applicants must be within 10 years of their terminal degree and five years of their first Assistant Professor appointment. The award provides up to $200,000 per year for four years.

For these programs, reviewers should see:

Clear career trajectory.
Appropriate mentoring.
Institutional support.
Increasing independence.
Long-term commitment to pediatric oncology.
A project capable of launching the investigator's research program.

8. ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Potential to accelerate future research and external funding

ALSF funding frequently functions as catalytic funding.

The Foundation's early-career programs are designed to help investigators establish longer-term research programs.

The R Accelerated mechanism goes further by specifically targeting established investigators who already have a pediatric-cancer-focused NIH R01 or equivalent and want to accelerate development of more effective, less toxic therapies.

A competitive application should therefore make clear:

ALSF funding → critical data → publication/validation → larger research program → clinical or external funding

9. ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Feasibility, resources and institutional support

ALSF's larger awards can support ambitious projects, but the proposed research must still be executable.

Particularly important:

Appropriate laboratory infrastructure.
Access to pediatric tumor samples/models.
Qualified collaborators.
Clinical access where required.
Appropriate statistical expertise.
Adequate patient recruitment capability for clinical research.
Realistic milestones.
Appropriate budget.

Institutional support is explicitly highlighted for the 'A' Award and R Accelerated Award.

For an early-career investigator, a strong institutional environment can help demonstrate that the applicant can transition from mentored research to independence.

10. ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Clear measurable outcomes

ALSF wants research that produces meaningful progress.

A strong application should define concrete outcomes such as:

Identification/validation of a therapeutic target.
Demonstration of drug sensitivity.
Biomarker validation.
Mechanistic discovery.
Preclinical efficacy.
Toxicity reduction.
Development of a therapeutic platform.
Completion of a translational milestone.
Readiness for clinical testing.

The closer the award is to clinical translation, the more important these milestones become.

Specialties

Cancer

Oncology

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicant institutions must be based in the United States or Canada. Applicants need not be United States citizens. Funds must be granted to nonprofit institutions or organizations.

• Applicant PIs and Co-PIs must have an MD, PhD, or MD/PhD (or equivalent) and be appointed as faculty (or equivalent) at an academic institution.

• Applicant PIs and Co-PIs must have a track record of publication with at least one publication as a Senior Corresponding Author and funding productivity that demonstrates the project can be accomplished by the investigators.

• Applicant PIs and Co-PIs must have a track record of research grant productivity with at least one NIH R01 equivalent awarded. Please read the ALSF R01 equivalency policy for more details.

• Applicant must propose a new research direction, not a continuation of ongoing funded research.

• Please refer to the NIH definitions of PI, Co-PI/Multiple PI, and Co-I.

Eligible Countries:

Canada

United States

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 333 E. Lancaster Ave, #414, Wynnewood, PA 19096

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