Immunology Grants

National Psoriasis Foundation Discovery Research Grant

The National Psoriasis Foundation is seeking grant applications that encourage the advancement of innovative research in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Discovery Research Grants are intended to allow researchers to undertake preliminary and proof of concept studies with the goal of developing competitive grant proposals that lead to long-term funding from the National Institutes of Health or other federal agencies.

Research pathways:
The National Psoriasis Foundation supports basic and clinical research that leads to the prevention, diagnosis and cure of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Priority consideration will be given to applications that address one or more of the Foundation’s research pathways: (1) genetics, (2) cell biology, (3) immunology, and (4) epidemiological/health services research.

Anticipated number of awards:
It is anticipated that as many as nine new Discovery Research Grants will be awarded in 2011. Awards are contingent on the availability of funds and the receipt of sufficiently meritorious applications.

Budget and Project period:
Applicants may request up to $50,000 (direct costs only) per year. The total project period for the application submitted in response to this RFP is one year.

Research plan length:
The research proposal cannot exceed five (5) pages including figures and tables, excluding references.

Eligibility:
It is expected that the principal investigator will be personally and actively responsible for the conduct of the research and is considered eligible by his or her institution to apply for a research grant. The principal investigator need not be a United States citizen.

Important deadlines:
The application must be received by Monday October 4th, 2010. The applications will be evaluated by an expert panel of peer reviewers and awards will be made no later than March 1, 2011.

Application:
Completed applications should be converted to a single PDF file and submitted by email to: research@psoriasis.org.

Questions:
For more information on the Discovery Research Grant program please contact the Director of Research, Bruce F. Bebo, Jr., PhD. Phone: 503-546-8404; E-mail: research@psoriasis.org.

National Psoriasis Foundation Translational Research Grant

The National Psoriasis Foundation is seeking grant applications that focus on the rapid translation of scientific discoveries arising from laboratory, clinical or population-based studies into clinical applications that have a clear benefit for patients with psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis.

Research pathways:
Priority consideration will be given to applications that address one or more of the Foundation's research pathways: (1) genetics, (2) cell biology, (3) immunology, and (4) epidemiological/health services research.

Anticipated number of awards:
It is anticipated that as many as four new Translational Research Grants will be awarded in 2011. Awards are contingent on the availability of funds and the receipt of sufficiently meritorious applications.

Budget and Project period:
Applicants may request up to $100,000 (direct costs only) per year. The total project period for the application submitted in response to this RFP is two (2) years.

Research plan length:
The research proposal must not exceed eight (8) pages, including figures and tables, excluding references.

Eligibility:
It is expected that the principal investigator will be personally and actively responsible for the conduct of the research and is considered eligible by his or her institution to apply for a research grant. The principal investigator need not be a United States citizen.

Important deadlines:
The applications must be received by Monday October 4, 2010. The applications will be evaluated by an expert panel of peer reviewers and awards will be made no later than March 1, 2011.

Application:
Completed applications should be converted to a single PDF file and submitted by e-mail to: research@psoriasis.org.

Questions:
For more information on the Translational Research grant program please contact the Director of Research, Bruce F. Bebo, Jr., PhD. Phone: 503-546-8404; E-mail: research@psoriasis.org.

Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology-AFER/Merck Innovative Ophthalmology Research Award

Thanks to a generous grant from Merck & Co., Inc., AFER is pleased to offer this series of biennial awards. The IORA encourages young researchers to undertake investigative work in critical areas of ophthalmology that may one day lead to meaningful improvements to patients' lives. It is open to researchers aged 45 years or younger who hold an MD, a PhD or an equivalent doctoral level degree. The awards are worth $70,000 per cycle.

Nominations for the 2011 ARVO-AFER/Merck Innovation Ophthalmology Research Awards have been extended to November 15, 2010.

2011 Awards and topics

The ARVO-AFER/Merck Innovation Ophthalmology Research Awards are based upon a single paper that has been published or is scheduled for publication in a peer-reviewed journal between January 1, 2009 and August 31, 2010, and is relevant to one of the two 2011 topics:

Topic 1: Stem Cell Applications to Eye Disease

* One First Place Award of $25,000
* One Second Place Award of $10,000

Topic 2: Immunology and Insight into Eye Disease

* One First Place Award of $25,000
* One Second Place Award of $10,000

In addition to the monetary awards, the recipients will be recognized at the Keynote Session of the 2011 ARVO Annual Meeting, May 1–5, 2011 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A luncheon will also be held in their honor with prominent members of ARVO, AFER and Merck.

Eligibility
Eligible nominees must meet the following requirements:

* 45 years of age or under at the time the paper is published
* Hold an MD or PhD degree at the time paper is published
* Must be first author on the paper
* Paper must be original and published (or be scheduled for publication) in a peer-reviewed journal between January 1, 2009 and August 31, 2010.

Although a paper may have several authors, only the first author may be nominated. The first author must be the primary investigator. If the paper has several authors, letters must be obtained from all of the other authors acknowledging the first author as the primary investigator and, therefore, the nominee for the Award.

* Individuals may nominate themselves or others may nominate them once the paper has been published.
* The Review Panel must have no-cost access to the published articles.

Nominations must specify the name of the head of the hospital department or laboratory where the research was conducted (which may not necessarily be where the candidate is currently located).

Review process

A Review Panel of internationally recognized experts convened by ARVO will review all papers based on the following criteria:

* Originality
* Scientific rigor
* Experimental design
* Soundness of conclusions

The Review Panel will submit its recommendations to the AFER Board of Governors and the ARVO Board of Trustees for final selection. The deliberations of the Review Panel and the Boards are considered confidential, and their decisions are final.

Timetable
April–November 15 2010 Nominations accepted
November 15–January 2011 Nominations reviewed and evaluated
February 15, 2011 Completion of Review Panel deliberations and submission of recommendations to the ARVO and AFER Boards
March 1, 2011 Notify awardees and announce winners
May 1, 2011 Awards presented at the ARVO Annual Meeting

All nominations must be received no later than 11:59pm EDT, November 15, 2010.

For additional information, please contact, Barbara Hollis ( +1.240.221.2940).

Association for Research in Vision And Ophthalmology (ARVO)
1801 Rockville Pike, Suite 400
Rockville, MD 20852-5622

Phone: +1.240.221.2950
Fax: +1.240.221.0370

Pasteur Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships

Fellowship Program Deadline

For the current Call for Applicants, dossiers must be received by September 17, 2010.

Fellowship candidates who respond to the September call for applicants will be notified in November 2010 and must begin the fellowship by June 1, 2011. (Applicants who responded to the February 2010 call for applicants will be notified in April 2010; recipients must begin the fellowship by December 1, 2010.)

Thanks to the generosity of our U.S. donors, and in particular with the pace-setting support of the Florence Gould Foundation, the Pasteur Foundation administers this fellowship program to bring U.S. postdoctoral researchers to work in any one of the 130+ Institut Pasteur laboratories in Paris. Guided by the institute's administration, which seeks to develop international scientific exchanges to ensure the vitality of Institut Pasteur labs, this program is open to American citizens who are not already in France and who have received their PhD degree within the last five years.

The three-year fellowship package is $70,000 annually: $55,000 fellowship plus $15,000 bench fees to support the research.

The first step is to identify a host laboratory at the institute to sponsor your application. For a list of Institut Pasteur laboratories, please visit http://www.pasteur.fr/ip/easysite/go/03b-000010-011/

Pasteur Foundation
420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 1654
New York, New York 10170

Phone: 212.599.2050
Email: PasteurUS@aol.com

American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology 2011 Allied Health Scholarship Travel Awards

2011 will mark the fourth year of an opportunity for more allied health professionals to attend the AAAAI Annual Meeting and become more involved in the AAAAI. The Allied Health Professional Assembly will once again be awarding up to (10) $750 Allied Health Scholarship Travel Awards (which also will include complimentary registration to the meeting) to deserving allied health professionals working in the A/I specialty in order to enhance their ability to meet with their colleagues and learn from their experiences.

Application will be made via an online submission process of a written description of an interesting Allergic, Asthmatic, Respiratory or Immunologic case or program of NO MORE than 650 words (non research based). These descriptions will demonstrate how you, as an allied health professional, have been able to increase the quality of care that you and the A/I practice provide to patients. These descriptions could be of an educational program (in house or community based), a practice enhancement, or a clinical treatment situation. Each of the awardees will be recognized at 2011 AAAAI Annual Meeting during the AAAAI Allied Health Forum (Saturday, March 19, 2011) as well as you will be required to write a synopsis article of your submission, including outcomes, to be highlighted in future AAAAI Allied Health Web Resources.

To apply for this award, please complete the online application below. Deadline for submission of the application and case/program is October 29, 2010. Note: We will only accept those applications submitted through the online system below. Awardees will be notified in Mid November 2010, if they have been selected to receive one of these awards.

We encourage all A/I allied health professionals to apply for this excellent professional development opportunity. Its just another way of everyone working in A/I to continue to provide optimal patient care.

You may contact John Augustyniak at (414) 272-6071 with any questions about this award.

NOTE: If you have received this award within the last three years (2008, 2009, 2010), you unfortunately are not eligible to reapply.

American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders 2011 APFED Junior Faculty HOPE Research Grant

Objective: To support the development of an academic research career in the specialties of
pediatric and internal medicine, gastroenterology, allergy/ immunology and pathology. The funding is to support eosinophil related research projects.

Sponsor: American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders - a non-profit advocacy organization
for those living with eosinophilic esophagitis, eosinophilic gastroenteritis, eosinophilic colitis, hypereosinophilic syndrome, and other eosinophilic disorders.

Amount: $50,000 one time annual grant.

Funding: The grant may be used for the purchase of supplies and services directly related to the approved research endeavors. Funds may also be directed to the salaries of technical personnel and other direct expenses as necessary for the completion of the research project. Funds may not be used for institutional indirect costs or to acquire administrative or clerical support.

Funds will be distributed in two equal $25,000 payments.

This grant will include a travel grant of up to $1000 which must be used to attend a professional meeting to present research results.

Eligibility: Applicants must be all of the following to be eligible for Grant:
-- MD, DO, Nursing Doctorate, PhD, or MD/PhD
-- Faculty members with faculty appointments in aggregate not to exceed five years (at the time the application is due)
-- Full-time faculty as an instructor or assistant professor at a medical school in the US or abroad.

Deadline: Applications must be submitted in a single pdf file by November 1, 2010. Applicants will be notified regarding status of application by January, 2011.

American Partnership For Eosinophilic Disorders
PO Box 29545
Atlanta, GA 30359

Phone: (713)493-7749
8am-4pm Central Monday-Friday

Conference Student Scholarships: Immunity in the Respiratory Tract: Challenges of the Lung Environment

Scholarship Deadline: October 26, 2010 (Midnight US Mountain Standard Time)

Recently, there has been an explosion in information about the regulation of inflammation, immunity, and immunopathology in the lung. Despite these advances, we still have only a rudimentary understanding of how these responses relate to the lung environment or how and why they translate into beneficial or detrimental effects, health or disease. The goals of this meeting are to (i) bring together allergists, immunologists, microbiologists and vaccinologists to discuss pulmonary inflammation and immunity in the context of lung biology and (ii) to build on this understanding to develop improved vaccines and therapeutic interventions for inflammatory conditions and infectious diseases that affect the lungs. Expert talks in plenary sessions will present the latest research in the field. Workshops and additional talks will add late-breaking cutting-edge results. The meeting will considerably advance our understanding of respiratory immunity.

Keystone Symposia is offering scholarships to students and post-docs this conference season. These scholarships, of up to $1000 each, are to be used to help defray the expenses associated with conference attendance, including air (on a U.S. air carrier), ground transportation and lodging costs. Receipts will be required to receive reimbursement.

Abstracts submitted for poster presentation will be used as the basis for awarding the scholarships. Conference organizers will select the scholarship recipients based on the quality of science of the abstract and the relevance of the abstract to the conference topic. Only one application per abstract is accepted.

Keystone Symposia
221 Summit Place #272
PO Box 1630
Silverthorne, CO 80498
www.keystonesymposia.org

Financial Assistance / Student Scholarships
Phone: +1 (800) 253-0685 or
Ksenia Shambarger - +1 (970) 262-1230 extension 140
Fax: +1 (970) 262-0311

Conference Student Scholarships: Dendritic Cells and the Initiation of Adaptive Immunity

Scholarship Deadline: October 13, 2010 (Midnight US Mountain Standard Time)

Current studies of Dendritic Cells (DCs) have confirmed not only their major role as antigen presenting cells in adaptive immunity but also their important functions in maintaining tolerance and in the initiation of the innate resistance and inflammatory responses. Thus, DCs function as an important bridge between innate resistance and adaptive immunity either through cellular interactions or secretion of pro-inflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokines. The origin and migration pattern of DCs, their cell biological mechanisms of action, their functional diversity, their specializations and activities in specific tissue contexts, as well as their sharing of hematopoietic lineages, functions, and receptors with other phagocytic cell types such as monocytes and macrophages are subjects of intense investigation. Increasingly, the role of dendritic cells in disease pathology and as potential therapeutic targets is being explored both in the laboratory and in the clinic. This is particularly true in human cancer, where both active and passive immunotherapies involving dendritic cells are finally being put to the test in a systematic fashion. In this symposium, each of these aspects of dendritic cell biology and immunological function will be explored in detail, including taking a number of “in depth” looks at functions (such as innate activation mechanisms) that are key to understanding how dendritic cells perform their many remarkable tasks. In addition, this symposium will combine and synergize with a second, jointly organized symposium entitled "Cancer Control by Tumor Suppressors and Immune Effectors", thereby emphasizing emerging concepts concerning the role of the immune response in cancer and cancer therapy.

Keystone Symposia is offering scholarships to students and post-docs this conference season. These scholarships, of up to $1000 each, are to be used to help defray the expenses associated with conference attendance, including air (on a U.S. air carrier), ground transportation and lodging costs. Receipts will be required to receive reimbursement.

Abstracts submitted for poster presentation will be used as the basis for awarding the scholarships. Conference organizers will select the scholarship recipients based on the quality of science of the abstract and the relevance of the abstract to the conference topic. Only one application per abstract is accepted.

Keystone Symposia
221 Summit Place #272
PO Box 1630
Silverthorne, CO 80498
www.keystonesymposia.org

Financial Assistance / Student Scholarships
Phone: +1 (800) 253-0685 or
Ksenia Shambarger - +1 (970) 262-1230 extension 140
Fax: +1 (970) 262-0311

Conference Student Scholarships: Immunologic Memory, Persisting Microbes and Chronic Disease

Scholarship Deadline: October 6, 2010 (Midnight US Mountain Standard Time)

Immunological memory can provide potent protection from infectious disease. Many infections are cleared rapidly by the immune system leaving the host with protective memory B and T cell memory. However, other host-pathogen interactions are long-term and can develop into chronic diseases. Immunological memory develops differently during these protracted infections. Prolonged host-pathogen interactions, chronic infections and co-infection with multiple pathogens can impact the host’s immune system in ways that remain incompletely understood. Moreover, the universe of microorganisms with which our immune system interacts includes not only pathogens, but also normal bacterial and viral commensal flora. The impact of these microorganisms immunological memory is only just starting to be evaluated. The goals of this meeting are to discuss: 1) cutting edge research on the mechanisms of optimal immunological memory, 2) the impact of prolonged host-microbe interactions on immunological memory and 3) how the application of cutting edge approaches to studying these issues can help generated better vaccines and immunotherapies.

Keystone Symposia is offering scholarships to students and post-docs this conference season. These scholarships, of up to $1000 each, are to be used to help defray the expenses associated with conference attendance, including air (on a U.S. air carrier), ground transportation and lodging costs. Receipts will be required to receive reimbursement.

Abstracts submitted for poster presentation will be used as the basis for awarding the scholarships. Conference organizers will select the scholarship recipients based on the quality of science of the abstract and the relevance of the abstract to the conference topic. Only one application per abstract is accepted.

Keystone Symposia
221 Summit Place #272
PO Box 1630
Silverthorne, CO 80498
www.keystonesymposia.org

Financial Assistance / Student Scholarships
Phone: +1 (800) 253-0685 or
Ksenia Shambarger - +1 (970) 262-1230 extension 140
Fax: +1 (970) 262-0311

Conference Student Scholarships: Immunoregulatory Networks

Scholarship Deadline: December 1, 2010 (Midnight US Mountain Standard Time)

Immunoregulatory networks play a pivotal role in preventing autoimmunity, but also restrict anti-tumor immunity and modulate immune responses to pathogens. While regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a central component of this network, there is now the growing realization that there are many other cellular and molecular components that contribute to this network. While this will be is a Treg-centric meeting, it will also focus on how Tregs integrate with other cellular and molecular components to prevent autoimmunity and control immune responses. This meeting will dissect our current understanding of four key areas: development and homeostasis of regulatory populations, molecular control of immunoregulatory networks, mechanisms of regulatory function and regulatory T cell plasticity. A second goal will be to discuss how Tregs interact with different cells types or utilize different cytokines that modulate or indirectly mediate their activity. A third goal will be to assess how the advances presented can be utilized to develop novel therapies for autoimmune disease and cancer.

Keystone Symposia is offering scholarships to students and post-docs this conference season. These scholarships, of up to $1000 each, are to be used to help defray the expenses associated with conference attendance, including air (on a U.S. air carrier), ground transportation and lodging costs. Receipts will be required to receive reimbursement.

Abstracts submitted for poster presentation will be used as the basis for awarding the scholarships. Conference organizers will select the scholarship recipients based on the quality of science of the abstract and the relevance of the abstract to the conference topic. Only one application per abstract is accepted.

Keystone Symposia
221 Summit Place #272
PO Box 1630
Silverthorne, CO 80498
www.keystonesymposia.org

Financial Assistance / Student Scholarships
Phone: +1 (800) 253-0685 or
Ksenia Shambarger - +1 (970) 262-1230 extension 140
Fax: +1 (970) 262-0311