These grants are for specific two-year research projects which are hypothesis driven and may be either laboratory, clinical, or epidemiological in nature. Please submit a realistic budget for the project. Grants will be $100,000/year or less, for two years.
esearch Grants are one of many funding categories offered by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation; it is possible for a program/institution to receive funding in more than one category. With the exception noted immediately below, each program/institution may submit one (1) LOI/application in all open St. Baldrick’s funding categories.
The top predictor is that the project specifically benefits pediatric/AYA cancer patients, including:
Leukemias (ALL, AML)
Brain & CNS tumors (medulloblastoma, glioma, DIPG/DMG)
Neuroblastoma
Sarcomas (osteosarcoma, Ewing, RMS)
Lymphoma
Rare pediatric malignancies (histiocytic disorders, germ cell tumors)
High-priority themes:
Relapsed/refractory disease
Drug resistance mechanisms
Targeted and immunotherapies
Minimal residual disease detection
Novel biomarkers
Treatment toxicity reduction & survivorship
Neurocognitive, endocrine, psychosocial outcomes
❗ Adult oncology projects with children as a subpopulation do not score well.
Perfect match matters:
| Mechanism | Best For | Critical Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| St. Baldrick’s Fellows | Pediatric oncology trainees | Mentorship + training environment |
| Early Career / Scholar Awards | Junior faculty | Trajectory → independent funding |
| Translational/Consortium | Established investigators & multi-site teams | Patient access + clinical impact |
| Supportive Care Grants | Clinicians & outcomes researchers | QoL, toxicity mitigation, disparities |
Predictor: Fit PI career stage, project maturity, and patient access to the exact call.
Even pilot grants show:
Feasibility proven in models or early trials
Early biomarker signals
Evidence that required assays, recruitment, and collaborations are established
Target expression or mechanistic rationale validated in pediatric tumors
Predictor: Feasibility and strong rationale → major scoring factor.
Winning proposals leverage:
Patient-derived xenografts (PDX) from children
Pediatric tumor cell lines or organoids
Multi-omics data from pediatric tumors
Access to biobanks, Children’s Oncology Group (COG), pediatric trial groups
Defined cohort recruitment strategy for clinical studies
Predictor: Authentic pediatric relevance is essential.
St. Baldrick’s wants to change outcomes, not only understand disease.
Funded proposals show:
Clear route to trials within 3–5 years
IND-enabling milestones if drug-focused
Biomarker validation toward clinical utility
Defined endpoints to prove patient benefit
Predictor: Promising pathway to clinical impact increases enthusiasm.
Reviewers reward:
Publications in pediatric oncology
Prior success in grant delivery
Unique expertise aligned to the project
Clear development into a leader in childhood cancer research
Predictor: PI quality is heavily weighted, especially for Scholar/Faculty awards.
Critical criteria:
Well-funded primary mentor with pediatric oncology leadership
Protected time for research
Robust institutional infrastructure (cores, patients, imaging, GMP if needed)
Co-mentors for complementary skillsets
Predictor: Mentor strength influences reviewer confidence.
Best proposals include:
2–3 hypothesis-driven aims
Rapid, measurable milestones
Clear go/no-go decisions
Realistic for 1–3 year timelines
Plan for future funding (NIH/DOD/COG)
Predictor: Feasibility & clarity are top scoring criteria.
St. Baldrick’s seeks transformative solutions:
First-in-field mechanistic insights
Novel cell/gene therapies
Combination regimens addressing resistance
Real-world solutions to survivorship harms
Cross-disciplinary technologies
Predictor: Innovation + urgent clinical need = reviewer enthusiasm.
Winning proposals are:
Logically structured
Supported by visual preliminary data
Strong in rigor & methodology
Accessible to both clinicians and laboratory reviewers
Compliant with guidelines & page limits
Predictor: Clean writing often separates top-tier applications.
| Predictor | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Pediatric cancer focus | Core mission |
| Mechanism alignment | Correct evaluation |
| Preliminary data | Feasibility validation |
| Pediatric models | Clinical relevance |
| Translational path | Near-term patient benefit |
| PI trajectory | Investment return |
| Mentorship & environment | Execution & independence |
| Feasible aims | Deliverable results |
| Innovation | Big impact potential |
| Strong writing | Higher reviewer scoring |
ATTENTION: limited submissions policy exception: Due to high interest from donors and low numbers of past applications, one additional LOI/application will be accepted only if it focuses on one of the areas listed below. This allowance applies to the overall cycle—not to each program or funding category individually.
▪ Brain tumors – all types, including rare forms, especially atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT), diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG)/diffuse midline glioma (DMG), and glioblastoma (GBM)
▪ Burkitt lymphoma – all types, especially sporadic
▪ Rhabdoid tumors - Extrarenal
• During each grant cycle, an applicant can only apply once as the lead Principal Investigator. This restriction applies also to the above described limited submissions policy exception.
• Co-Investigators/Co-Principal Investigators are allowed on Research Grants. The LOI/application is required to be submitted under one lead Principal Investigator.
• Institutions must be located in the United States.
• Applicants need not be American citizens; however, they must work at an academic, medical, or research institution within the United States.
• A program/institution is defined as an entity essentially operating under one management. o Any questions or questionable situations will be reviewed by a subset of the Scientific Advisory Board of St. Baldrick’s. Questions can be emailed to Grants@StBaldricks.org, please include a copy of the applicant’s biosketch.
• Institutions that are actively involved in (sponsor, promote, or participate in) non-St. Baldrick’s head-shaving fundraising events are not eligible to apply for St. Baldrick’s funding.
o St. Baldrick’s understands that hospitals and their fundraising agents and organizations cannot control what their many volunteers do. Some may undertake head-shaving fundraisers that hospital/agent/organization is not aware of and does not sanction or promote. These activities would not prevent the hospital’s researchers from applying for St. Baldrick’s grants.
o The following applies to hospitals, their fundraising agents and organizations as institutions. Researchers from hospitals would be ineligible to apply for St. Baldrick’s grants if the hospital/agent/ organization promotes (advertises, emails, blogs, media stories, social media posts, shares, reshares, likes, tweets, re-tweets or hosts web pages) a non-St. Baldrick’s head-shaving fundraiser through any type of marketing, advertising, outreach or public-facing collateral or ancillary materials, or on any channel (television, radio, print, social media, website, etc.), using any content that sponsors, highlights, advocates or recommends a head-shaving event other than St. Baldrick’s.
• St. Baldrick’s funds may not be used for human embryonic stem cell research.
• Research projects must have direct applicability and relevance to pediatric cancer. They may be in any discipline of basic, clinical, translational, or epidemiological research.
• Research Grant applicants should hold at least an M.D./D.O. or Ph.D. degree by the date the award becomes effective.
• Applicants must be employed by an academic or non-profit research institution or laboratory.
• All qualified applicants will receive consideration for funding without regard to race, color, ethnicity/national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, religion, belief and spirituality, age disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Sponsor Institute/Organizations: St. Baldrick's Foundation
Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit
Address: 1333 South Mayflower Avenue, Suite 400 Monrovia, CA 91016
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Feb 27, 2026
Feb 27, 2026
$100,000
Affiliation: St. Baldrick's Foundation
Address: 1333 South Mayflower Avenue, Suite 400 Monrovia, CA 91016
Website URL: https://www.stbaldricks.org/for-researchers
Disclaimer:It is mandatory that all applicants carry workplace liability insurance, e.g., https://www.protrip-world-liability.com (Erasmus students use this package and typically costs around 5 € per month - please check) in addition to health insurance when you join any of the onsite Trialect partnered fellowships.