Drug Discovery/ Drug Development Grants

American Society of Pharmacognosy small research grants from $2000 to $5000 are available for active members in the first eight years after earning their Ph.D. and in the first five years of their first independent career position. These are one-time awards and do not provide indirect costs. They are awarded preferentially to applicants who have not yet received major external funding. Applicants should submit a research proposal of no more than four double-spaced, typed pages. A budget should accompany the proposal and the investigator should also provide a statement of his/her current funding. A curriculum vitae of the investigator must be included with the proposal and budget. In addition, a brief letter from a departmental chair or institutional representative should be included, indicating that the applicant has institutional support for the application. The deadline for submission of application for these grants is December 15th, 2008 (usually February 15th of each year). Applications should be submitted via email. Applications submitted electronically will receive a confirmation of receipt by email.

Applications should be submitted via email to Philip Proteau, Chair, ASP Awards and Funds Committee (phil.proteau@oregonstate.edu). Applications submitted electronically will receive a confirmation of receipt by email.

American Society of Pharmacognosy Undergraduate Research Award

The ASP Undergraduate Research Awards consist of a stipend of $2,000 to the student and $500 to the advisor to help defray the costs of the research. There are no limitations on the type of research to be conducted other than that it should be in the area of natural products. Applications should be submitted via email. Applications for the Undergraduate Research Award must be received by December 15, 2008 (usually February 15 in other years) and consist of the following

· An outline of the research to be conducted, written by the student applicant. This should include a statement of the problem and the goal(s) of the research, and a brief discussion of the methodology. This outline, with pertinent references, should not be longer than four double-spaced, typed pages.

· A transcript of all college work attempted.

· A curriculum vitae, including contact information and email address (upon receipt of a completed application, a confirming receipt will be sent by email).

· A letter of agreement by the faculty advisor (a member of the American Society of Pharmacognosy) for the project, indicating a willingness to supervise the project, and provide the facilities and equipment for the conduct of the project. The letter should also include a statement about the student's academic performance and suitability to perform the work proposed.

Although not an absolute condition of the awards, students selected are highly encouraged to submit results of their research for presentation at an annual meeting of the ASP. Funds, as available, will be offered to these Award winners to help support their travel and other costs associated with attendance at the annual meeting.

Applications for the student and member grants and awards can be sent to:
Philip Proteau (phil.proteau@oregonstate.edu), Chair

American Society of Pharmacognosy Student Research Award

ASP Student Research Awards are designed to recognize outstanding research in the general area of natural products. The competition is open to all graduate and undergraduate students working with a member of the ASP. Students should submit cover letter that includes contact information including email address and a research paper describing his/her own work in the area of natural products. The research paper should conform in general to the format of the Journal of Natural Products. Up to two awards will be made in any year. The award will consist of a $500 cash gift and up to $1000 assistance with expenses to present the paper at the annual meeting of the ASP (restricted to meetings held in continental North America and Hawaii). If applicants for the Student Research Award who are working in colleges or schools of pharmacy provide the required certification letter from the student's Dean or Registrar, they will be considered automatically for the Kilmer Prize. The deadline for submission of the research paper is December 15th, 2008 (usually February 15th of each year). Applications should be submitted via email. Applications submitted electronically will receive a confirmation of receipt by email.

Applications for the student and member grants and awards can be sent to:
Philip Proteau (phil.proteau@oregonstate.edu), Chair

sanofi-aventis U.S. Award
ASM's premier award in antimicrobial chemotherapy research; it stimulates research and honors outstanding accomplishment in antimicrobial chemotherapy. Nominees must be actively engaged in research involving development of new agents, investigation of antimicrobial action or resistance to antimicrobial agents, and/or the pharmacology, toxicology or clinical use of those agents. Nominees must not have served on the ICAAC Program Committee within the past two years.

Award: A cash prize of $20,000, a commemorative medal, and travel to ICAAC where the laureate delivers the sanofi-aventis U.S. Award Lecture. ASM awards are granted at the discretion of award selection committees and may not be awarded every year.

Deadline: April 1.

Nominations: Nominations will be considered without updating for three years; self-nominations will not be accepted. Nominations must consist of the following:

*Curriculum vitae, including a list of publications.

*Letter of nomination. Describe the nominee's outstanding accomplishment in antimicrobial chemotherapy, including a list of the ten most relevant publications to the award.

*Letters of support. Two letters of support should come from two people, other than the nominator, who are familiar with the nominee's accomplishments.

No more than one of the three letters may be from the nominee's institution or the same institution.
Email all nomination components to awards@asmusa.org.

Therapeutics Development Initiative 2009
Pre-Proposal Receipt Date: January 20, 2009 – 6:00pm US ET

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) announces the launch of its Therapeutics Development Initiative (TDI) for Spring 2009, a funding mechanism to support and stimulate preclinical Parkinson’s disease research at for-profit institutions. This funding program seeks to support preclinical development of Parkinson’s disease therapies which have the potential for fundamentally altering disease course and/or improving treatment of symptoms above and beyond current standards of care. Proposals must focus on key and critical preclinical studies necessary for developing, optimizing and evaluating therapeutic strategies that if successful can move into human testing.
Responsibility for the planning, direction, and execution of the proposed project will be solely that of the principal investigator who must be an employee of a for-profit entity. Academic investigators may have an advisory role in the project, but the operational and strategic ownership of the project must reside within the company.

Investigators may seek up to two years of funding for preclinical development and testing of novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment or prevention of Parkinson’s disease.

Please note that pre-proposals are mandatory and will be used to evaluate your proposal’s fit with the stated aims and review criteria of the RFP. All pre-proposals received in response to this program will be subjected to a triage process and only those pre-proposals deemed to be of suitable scientific merit will be invited to submit a full application.

MJFF employs an expedited, abbreviated granting mechanism to accelerate discoveries and ultimately translate findings to PD patients more quickly.

Conference Call
MJFF will hold a 45 minute long conference call on December 16, 2008 at 12:00 PM U.S. Eastern Time to clarify and explain the Therapeutics Development Initiative 2009 program and to answer applicants' questions. To participate in this call, you must RSVP via email to conferencecalls@michaeljfox.org. Participants will receive a reply with call-in details.

While there are no restrictions as to the specific approaches to be studied under this RFP,
successful applications are most likely to focus on at least one of the following categories:
o Neuroprotective strategies focused on slowing or preventing the process of neuronal
death.
o Neuroregenerative strategies to restore or replace neuronal function.
o Novel drug delivery mechanisms and/or surgical procedures.
o Innovative therapeutic approaches to treat the motor and non-motor symptoms of PD,
including cognitive dysfunction, autonomic dysfunction, sleep disorders, or depression
among others.
o Therapeutic approaches to alleviate complications of PD treatment including dyskinesias,
etc.

If you would like to contact the Foundation, please call toll-free at 1-800-708-7644, or contact us by regular mail at the following address:

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
Church Street Station
P.O. Box 780
New York, NY 10008-0780

AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research
Nominations for the 2009 Award will open in September 2008.
Nomination deadline: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 

The Award & Lecture

The AACR and its Chemistry in Cancer Research Working Group established this Award in 2007 to recognize the importance of chemistry to advancements in cancer research. The Award will be given for outstanding, novel, and significant chemistry research, which has led to important contributions to the fields of basic cancer research; translational cancer research; cancer diagnosis; the prevention of cancer; or the treatment of patients with cancer. Such research may include, but is not limited to, drug discovery and design; structural biology; proteomics, metabolomics and biological mass spectrometry; chemical aspects of carcinogenesis; imaging agents and radiotherapeutics; and chemical biology.

The winner of the 3rd Annual AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research will give a 50-minute lecture during the AACR Annual Meeting 2009 in Denver, CO, USA (April 18-22, 2009), and will receive a commemorative plaque and $10,000 honorarium.

Eligibility Criteria
Candidacy is open to all researchers who are affiliated with any institution involved in cancer research, cancer medicine, or cancer-related biomedical science anywhere in the world. Such institutions include those in academia, industry, or government.
The Award will be presented to an individual investigator. Two or more individuals may be selected to share the Award when their investigations are closed related in subject matter and have resulted in work worthy of an award.
Institutions or organizations are not eligible for the Award.
Selection of the Award winner will be made on the outstanding quality, novelty, and significance of the candidates' chemistry research and its important contributions to cancer research. No regard will be given to race, gender, nationality, geographic location, or religious or political views.
Prior recipients of the AACR-Bruce F. Cain Memorial Award are not eligible to be nominated for research previously recognized by the Cain Award.

Nomination Process
Nominations may be made via letter from any scientist, whether an AACR member or nonmember, who is now or has been affiliated with any institution involved in cancer research, cancer medicine, or cancer-related biomedical science. Candidates may not nominate themselves.

Nomination letters must be sent electronically to the AACR by Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 4:00 p.m., United States Eastern Time. Preferred file formats are *.doc, *.pdf. Your nomination is not considered fully submitted until you receive a confirmation e-mail from the AACR; confirmations will be sent within 2 business days.

The nomination letter must be addressed to the Selection Committee; be written in English; and not exceed 1,000 words. The content should include the following:

the name of the AACR Award for which the candidate is being nominated;

a brief statement of no more than 50-words summarizing the candidate's cancer research accomplishment(s) for which he or she is being nominated;

a concise description of the candidate's outstanding cancer research accomplishments in the fields of epidemiology, biomarkers, and prevention, with the publications supporting these accomplishments directly referenced within the letter; and
a concise description of the impact of these accomplishments on the field.
Nominators are asked to maintain the confidentiality of the nomination process and to refrain from informing the candidate about the nomination.

There is no restriction on the number of candidates that may be nominated by any individual scientist. There is no restriction on the number of nominators that may write nomination letters or that may sign a single nomination letter on behalf of a candidate.

Selection
Candidates will be considered by a Selection Committee of international cancer leaders appointed by the President of the AACR. The Committee will consider all nominations as they have been submitted; the Committee may not combine submitted nominations, add a new candidate to a submitted nomination, or otherwise make alterations to the submitted nominations. After careful deliberations by the Committee, its recommendations will be forwarded to the Executive Committee of the AACR for final consideration and decision. Selection of the Award winner will be made on the basis of the candidate's outstanding, novel, and significant chemistry research related to cancer. No regard will be given to age, race, gender, nationality, geographic location, or religious or political views.

The winner of the 3rd Annual AACR-CICR Award will be announced in January 2009.

Supporter
Generously supported by GlaxoSmithKline.

Questions?
Monique P. Eversley, Program Associate
+1 (267) 646-0576; monique.eversley@aacr.org

American Association for Cancer Research
17th Floor, 615 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106-4404

Within Our Reach Rheumatoid Arthritis Grants

Application Deadline
The application deadline is December 1, 2008. Applicants are responsible for submitting all required documents prior to this deadline. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact the REF office by e-mail or by phone at (404) 633-3777.

For more information about this award, please contact the REF office by e-mail or by phone at (404) 633-3777.

American College of Rheumatology
Research and Education Foundation
1800 Century Place
Suite 250
Atlanta, GA 30345

Medical Research Grants and Postdoctoral Fellowships Offered for Studies Aimed at Treatment of Fragile X

INTRODUCTION

The FRAXA Research Foundation offers a grants and fellowships program designed to encourage research aimed at finding a specific treatment for fragile X syndrome.

Fellowships of up to $40,000 per year will be offered to support postdoctoral fellows who want to pursue research in fragile X (salary plus fringe benefits and/or travel to meetings).
FRAXA also invites investigator-initiated research applications for innovative pilot studies aimed at developing and characterizing new therapeutic approaches for the treatment and ultimate cure of fragile X syndrome. There is no funding limit to this category of grant, but typical funding levels are $30K - 60K.
FRAXA is particularly interested in preclinical studies of potential pharmaceutical and genetic treatments and studies aimed at understanding the function of the FMR1 gene. New applications are accepted each year on February 1. If February 1 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the deadline will be the following Monday.

Fellowships and grants are generally awarded for a period of one year. Based on reasonable progress during that year, awards may be renewable for a second year. Renewal applications are due on February 1, at least three months before the second year of funding is needed. If February 1 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the deadline will be the following Monday.

PURPOSE OF GRANTS/FELLOWSHIPS

The purpose of this grant program is to promote research aimed at finding a specific treatment for fragile X syndrome. FRAXA's goal is to bring practical treatment into current medical practice as quickly as possible; therefore, preference will be given to research projects that have a clear practical application and the results of which will be shared with other qualified researchers in a timely fashion.

ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS/FELLOWSHIPS

Institutions receiving grants must be recognized as nonprofit. In the US, this means that institutions are exempt from federal income taxes. Preference is given to institutions within the United States.

Individuals nominated by applicant institutions for the postdoctoral fellowship should have training and experience at least equal to the Ph.D. or M.D. Level. Preference is given to United States citizens.

ACCEPTABLE COSTS

Acceptible costs covered by FRAXA postdoctoral fellowships and investigator-initiated awards are limited to:

Postdoctoral salary
Fringe benefits
A budget for consumable supplies
FRAXA reserves the right to cover any item if explicitly authorized by FRAXA's Board of Directors. However, FRAXA is unable to pay for indirect costs under any circumstances.

Fellowships and grants are awarded for the period of one year and may be renewed for a second year, based on satisfactory progress. A financial report and progress report are required at the end of each year.

AMENDMENT OF POLICIES

The FRAXA Research Foundation reserves the right to modify its policies governing grants at any time. The grantee agrees to abide by any changes or to terminate the grant at the time when such changes become effective. Failure to abide by the policies governing grants shall be considered sufficient grounds for cancellation of a grant or refusal to consider any pending application by the grantee.

PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION

No person shall be excluded from participation in or denied the benefits of any program or activity receiving financial assistance from FRAXA because of race, ethnic origin, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.

HUMAN AND ANIMAL SUBJECTS

Human subjects studied in the course of research conducted under a grant are under no circumstances a responsibility of FRAXA. Human subjects in a program supported by FRAXA shall be volunteers in any survey, study or procedure. Research involving human subjects must have Institutional Review Board approval.

If animals are used in the proposed study, written certification must be provided to FRAXA indicating that proper treatment, care, and humane conditions have been provided. Research involving animal subjects must have Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approval.

OBLIGATIONS OF THE GRANTEE

In accepting a grant, the applying institution undertakes that at its conclusion it will

Submit promptly to FRAXA a complete final report on the work pursued.
On awards of more than one year duration, a yearly report will be expected.
Supply an accounting of funds received from FRAXA and expenditures made in such detail and in such manner as may meet Internal Revenue Service procedures.
Recognize the support of FRAXA in any published article resulting from the work pursued with a credit line reading "Supported in part by a grant from the FRAXA Research Foundation"
Recognize the support of FRAXA in any presentation of the at professional meetings and conferences.

PUBLICATION AND DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS

FRAXA's purpose in providing grants is to speed up progress towards treatment for fragile X. Therefore, in accepting an award, the Principal Investigator undertakes to publish the results of the work pursued in the primary literature, in a timely fashion. Once published, the reagents, methods, materials, and products of the work must be made available to other qualified researchers. FRAXA reserves the right to share in any proceeds from an invention or discovery developed under this grant, including licensing fees and patent rights.

PUBLICITY ON WORK UNDER GRANT

The grantee institution and Principal Investigator will cooperate fully with FRAXA in announcement through the news media of grants awarded and in materials prepared to publicize work under the grant. FRAXA will publish periodic descriptions and updates on funded projects in its quarterly members' newsletter.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Potential applicants are encouraged to submit a brief letter of inquiry describing the proposed project before writing a full application. No specific application format is required, but an NIH R01 proposal is acceptable.

Please provide the following information with your application:

Description of the proposed project (6-12 pages recommended)
Curriculum Vitae for the Principal Investigator
Curriculum Vitae for the Postdoctoral Fellow to be supported under the grant
Names of 3 references who are willing to be contacted to provide recommendations for candidate postdoctoral fellow (not necessary for principal investigators)
Financial accounting of how the funds will be spent, with dollar distribution into major component items
A full accounting of any other current and submitted sources of support for this project and other lab research
Requested start date of the project. The earliest possible start date is 3 months after receipt of the application; applicants will be notified of awards in 2 months.
Send one complete copy of the application by email to fraxa@comcast.net, as an attached file in Acrobat PDF format. Alternately, this electronic copy may be sent to the address below on a CD. Also please send one copy of the application to:

Michael Tranfaglia, MD
Medical Director
FRAXA Research Foundation
45 Pleasant St. Second Floor
Newburyport, MA 01950

Applications must be postmarked by the deadline date.

RENEWALS

FRAXA grants are awarded for a single year and are generally renewable, based on good progress being made the first year. We require a renewal application be submitted by FRAXA's regular deadline (February 1). The renewal application should consist of a detailed progress report for the first year and work plan for the second year, as well as a financial report of how first year funds were spent.

For further information contact Michael Tranfaglia at FRAXA
Phone (978) 462-1866
Fax: (978) 463-9985

If you are a scientist who has detailed knowledge of skeletal muscle molecular biology, pharmaceutical pipeline development, clinical trial design, pharmaceutical product development, glycobiology, biochemistry, stem cell research, or genetics, you may be eligible to obtain a grant to accelerate our effort towards FDA approved therapeutic clinical trials.

ARM (Advancement of Research for Myopathies)
P.O. Box 261926
Encino, CA 91426-1926
Telephone: (800) ARM-2000
Fax: (818) 337-7250

The JDRF/ITN Partnership in Immune Tolerance Program will encourage and support early stage clinical development of tolerogenic protocols in Type 1 diabetes. The initiative aims to facilitate the development of novel tolerance agents in type 1 diabetes through targeted funding available through a fast-turnaround, streamlined application process administered by the ITN, with JDRF participation.

In particular, this initiative aims to foster the development of partnerships between academia and industry in order to bridge early clinical studies of therapies that have strong preclinical evidence for efficacy by supporting pre-clinical toxicology studies, phase 1 safety trials and small human efficacy trials that will provide proof-of-principle in well controlled, safe settings.

Examples of research that will be considered for support under this program:

* therapeutic strategies aimed at promoting immune tolerance in new/early onset type 1 diabetes
* therapeutic strategies aimed at promoting immune tolerance in established type 1 diabetes
* interventions aimed at restoring/reconstituting beta cell function without long term immunosuppression

Types of studies:

* drug development
* pre-clinical toxicology studies
* phase I safety studies in humans

Research outside the scope of this initiative:

* any animal studies not directly related to toxicology or pharmacodynamics in preparation of human clinical studies
* studies in Type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes are not eligible for funding.
* type 1 diabetes prevention studies will not be considered – these should be submitted to the ITN or TrialNet as regular Concept Proposals

1. Mission
The JDRF/ITN Partnership in Immune Tolerance Program will encourage and support early stage clinical
development of tolerogenic protocols in Type 1 diabetes. The initiative aims to facilitate the development
of novel tolerance agents in type 1 diabetes through targeted funding available through a fast-turnaround,
streamlined application process administered by the ITN, with JDRF participation.
In particular, this initiative aims to foster the development of partnerships between academia and industry
in order to bridge early clinical studies of therapies that have strong preclinical evidence for efficacy by
supporting pre-clinical toxicology studies, phase 1 safety trials and small efficacy trials that will provide
proof-of-principle in well controlled, safe settings. It is the intent that successful projects emerging from
this initiative would then qualify for broader clinical support via the ITN’s existing support programs or
other funding sources.
Proposals for support from the JDRF/ITN Partnership in Immune Tolerance Program are considered via
one of two streams:
Stream 1: Investigator-initiated proposals are accepted via the ITN website utilizing ITN’s online
Concept Proposal submission system. There are no formal submission deadlines for the initiative
– proposals are accepted at all times throughout the year.
Stream 2: Clinical Concept Proposals and/or Full Applications in the area of type 1 diabetes
reviewed by the ITN that are deemed by the ITN review panel to be scientifically valid and
important, but without sufficient toxicology data to warrant full ITN clinical funding may be
considered as candidates for funding from the JDRF/ITN Partnership initiative. In such cases, the
ITN may provide a commitment in principle to funding phase II clinical studies should results from
the JDRF/ITN initiative be positive.

2. Scope
Total amount of funding available for this initiative is $3-5 million per year. The size and duration of
individual awards will vary depending upon the proposed research and total remaining funds available.
Individual project funds will be limited to 10% indirect cost recover rate and can be used for drug
development, pre-clinical/toxicology and Phase I safety. All projects funded by this initiative must receive
formal approval by appropriate regulatory and safety groups.
Basic Criteria
In general, proposals accepted for review under this initiative must meet the following general criteria:
- projects must exhibit the potential for direct clinical benefit in the treatment of type 1 diabetes.
- there must be appreciable scientific evidence from basic research and small/large animal studies
that the proposed intervention has the potential to induce tolerance to the autoimmune response
that causes type 1 diabetes.
- proposals aimed at promoting tolerance to islet transplants in type 1 diabetes will be considered
providing that the proposed interventions have conceptual underpinnings demonstrating benefits
specific to the islet transplantation setting where both auto and alloimmune responses must be
controlled.
- support is available to principal investigators or teams of investigators holding positions in
academia, industry, government or nonprofit research institutions.
Research that will be considered:
- therapeutic strategies aimed at promoting immune tolerance in new/early onset type 1 diabetes
- therapeutic strategies aimed at promoting immune tolerance in established type 1 diabetes
- interventions aimed at restoring/reconstituting beta cell function without long term
immunosuppression
- Therapeutics based on:
o monoclonal antibodies
o small molecule drugs
o cell-based therapies
o RNA/DNA-based therapies
o other
- Types of studies:
o drug development
o pre-clinical toxicology studies
o phase I safety studies in humans
Research outside the scope of this initiative:
- any animal studies not directly related to toxicology or pharmacodynamics in preparation of
human clinical studies
- studies in Type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes are not eligible for funding.
- type 1 diabetes prevention studies will not be considered – these should be submitted to the ITN
or TrialNet as regular Concept Proposals.

Applications for support are accepted year-round, with no application deadlines.

If you would like to discuss your Concept Proposal or Full Application:

GENERAL CONCEPT & FULL PROPOSAL ENQUIRIES

Philip Bernstein, Ph.D. - Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Review
Phone: 240.235.6158
Facsimile: 240.235.6198
e-mail: pbernstein@immunetolerance.org