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Mucosal Melanoma Career Development Awards

Melanoma Research Foundation

The Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF) is committed to advancing research across the spectrum of melanoma – from prevention through diagnosis, staging, treatment and survivorship. The MRF proactively partners with the NCI, Congress, the Department of Defense and other foundations to develop and collaborate on a broad agenda for melanoma research that takes full advantage of all opportunities, while also sharing challenges. Since 1998, the MRF has provided over $28 million in funding for 398 innovative, high impact, basic, translational, and clinical research projects.

AWARD TYPES:

Career Development Awards (CDA): CDAs provide funding of up to $50,000 per year for two years to junior investigators. Researchers who are beginning a research career focused on melanoma are eligible.

Mucosal Melanoma Career Development Awards (CDA): The Mucosal Melanoma CDA will provide funding of up to $50,000 per year for two years to a junior investigator focusing on mucosal melanoma. The grant guidelines and application processes follow those of the regular CDA awards, but the proposed project must focus on mucosal melanoma.

Budget Period Detail

Awards will be made over a two-year period. Please fill out the budget information for both years. Please note that for all grants: Only direct costs are allowed. Personnel Costs

• Cost of living adjustments for personnel or non-personnel costs are not allowed.

• When calculating salaries, please use actual costs – not the salary allowed by the NIH salary cap. The salary and fringe benefits included in the budget is calculated based on total of salary and fringe benefits multiplied by the % effort. Salary distribution of supporting personnel is up to the discretion of the PI.

• No more than 25% of the grant should go towards the salaries plus fringe benefits of the PI or coPI. Non-Personnel Costs

• All budgeted expenses such as consumable supplies, animal costs, service fees and consultant fees must be itemized.

• Requests for major equipment will be closely scrutinized, should be carefully justified, and should not exceed 15% of the total (two year) budget.

• Indirect institutional costs are not allowed.

• Allowable travel expenses for meetings and research purposes – including to international meetings – are capped at $2,000 per project year.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

These predictors are inferred from MRF's published grant-review guidance, program eligibility and funded research portfolio. They are not an official numerical scoring rubric.

Melanoma Research Foundation

1

★★★★★

Direct relevance to melanoma — Critical

Address melanoma prevention, risk, biology, early detection, diagnosis, treatment or survivorship. Research may focus on cutaneous, uveal, mucosal, acral or pediatric melanoma, depending on the award.

2

★★★★★

Scientific merit and clinical significance — Critical

Define an important unanswered question and explain how resolving it could improve melanoma prevention, diagnosis, treatment or patient outcomes.

3

★★★★★

Innovation and potential for high impact — Critical

Present a distinctive hypothesis or approach. Relevant examples include overcoming immunotherapy resistance, identifying new therapeutic vulnerabilities, improving early detection or addressing an unmet need in a rare melanoma subtype.

4

★★★★★

Methodological rigor and feasibility — Critical

Provide a clear hypothesis, suitable experimental or clinical design, appropriate endpoints, defensible analysis and realistic milestones. Include preliminary evidence where relevant and address potential limitations.

5

★★★★☆

Fit with the specific award and special topic — Very high

Match the project to the intended mechanism: a pilot award should establish preliminary evidence; a career development award should advance an early-career investigator; and a team award should demonstrate meaningful multidisciplinary collaboration. MRF-identified special topics may receive additional consideration, but scientific merit remains central.

melanoma.org

6

★★★★☆

Applicant track record and career-stage potential — Very high

Demonstrate research productivity, relevant skills and ownership appropriate to the applicant's career stage. Early-career applicants should explain how the award will establish a foundation for future independent research and larger grants.

7

★★★★☆

Strong mentorship and institutional support — Very high

For student, resident/fellow and career development awards, demonstrate access to an appropriate melanoma research mentor, facilities, patient populations or laboratory resources. Explain the mentor's role without making the project solely an extension of the mentor's work.

8

★★★★☆

Translational potential and patient benefit — High

Explain how findings could lead to improved therapies, diagnostic tools, prevention strategies, clinical trials or survivorship care. Basic research should still articulate the significance of the expected mechanistic advance.

9

★★★☆☆

Multidisciplinary collaboration and future funding — High

Where relevant, combine complementary expertise across oncology, dermatology, pathology, immunology, genetics, ophthalmology, computational biology or clinical research. Describe the next study or funding opportunity enabled by the results.

10

★★★★☆

Eligibility, budget and compliance — Essential gate

Meet the degree, career-stage, institutional and mentor requirements for the selected mechanism. For the standard Career Development and Established Investigator programs, the published requirements specify research at a nonprofit research, medical or educational institution in the United States. Indirect costs are not allowed for those awards.

Specialties

Cancer

Oncology

Dermatology

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicants who are postdoctoral fellows must be within 10 years of receiving their terminal degree (PhD, MD) at the time the grant is awarded and must not have previously received any major grant support (for example, from NIH, NCI, or DoD, ACS, or other foundations).

• Applicants who are not postdoctoral fellows may have a title of Research Associate/Scientist, Staff Scientist, Instructor, Assistant Professor, or equivalent at the time of the grant submission. Individuals in this category are not subject to the 10-year limit from their terminal degree. See below for allowable prior grant support for applicants in this category:

o Allowed:

 NIH grant types: K08, K99, K22, R21, R03

 DOD Melanoma Academy Scholar Award

 Foundation/Nonprofit grants intended to support early career investigators (except for prior MRF CDA grants) o Applicants are not allowed to have received the following grant types as a PI (note: applicants are allowed to have participated as a collaborator in the below grants, but shouldn’t have led the grant as a PI):

 NIH: R01 and other large independent grants including but not limited to U01, U54, P01, and SPORE

 Major DOD awards

 Prior MRF CDA or EIA grants

 Other grants intended to support large independent research projects

• For this RFP, the MRF will not consider more than one applicant per lab. Multiple applicants from the same institution are eligible if they are not part of the same lab.

• Applicants are required to have at least one mentor. Mentors do not have to be at the applicant’s own institution.

• Applicants must hold a PhD or MD degree or equivalent at the time of the grant submission.

• For this RFP, applicants may be the PI or co-PI on only one submitted application.

• Applicants are eligible to respond to other MRF RFPs, as long as the research proposals are significantly different.

• American citizenship is not required. However, for all grants, the proposed research must be conducted in a non-profit research organization, a medical institution or an educational institution located in the United States.

• Applicants must show evidence of strong departmental or institutional support and commitment.

• Applicants and co-PIs may not have an active MRF grant that’s still in its base award period (please note: Applicants and co-PIs with an MRF award under a no-cost extension period are eligble to apply).

• The use of relevant genetic models and/or human derived tumor samples is highly encouraged but not required.

• Proposed research must comply with all applicable National Institutes of Health (NIH) animal and human welfare guidelines.

• Applicants are encouraged to discuss any eligibility questions with the MRF prior to applying.

*Note: For Mucosal Melanoma CDAs, all eligibility guidelines above apply, with the additional requirement that the proposed research project must focus on mucosal melanoma.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Melanoma Research Foundation

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 1420 K Street NW, 7th Floor, Washington, DC 20005

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