Request for Proposals

The goal of the workshop No Stone Unturned: The Relentless Pursuit of a Cure for Glioblastoma, is to inspire and support breakthrough science in glioblastoma research and to accelerate the development of new therapies. The Mark Foundation, the Sontag Foundation, and a coalition of funders of cancer research invite workshop attendees to submit a Letter of Intent under a unique request for proposals through The Mark Foundation’s ASPIRE Award and Endeavor Award funding mechanisms.

Successful proposals will pick up on themes and ideas developed at and inspired by the workshop, and/or to progress the development of innovative and effective glioblastoma therapies.

Eligibility

  • Proposed projects must address glioblastoma in one of the following problem areas in the field in the spirit of the questions addressed at the workshop, including:
    • Identification and/or rigorous validation of new targets in glioblastoma
    • Development of innovative and effective glioblastoma therapies
  • Similarly, there are certain types of studies that are less likely to be a good fit for this call, based on the feedback we’ve heard at the workshop. Nothing is strictly excluded, and if in doubt, you can submit an LOI to convince the review committee. Ideas that are less likely to succeed and may have a higher bar include:
    • Clinical trials for existing therapies (for which an IND has already been filed) or combinations of multiple existing therapies
    • Re-purposing studies (at any stage)
    • Clinical trial platforms or other “open” studies for which the specific therapeutic agent has not yet been selected
  • The principal investigator who submits the application must have attended the workshop, No Stone Unturned: The Relentless Pursuit of a Cure for Glioblastoma.
  • Principal investigators must be independent researchers at their respective institutions. Applicants may apply for the ASPIRE (1-year) or Endeavor Award (3-year). We recommend you review the program websites before applying.
  • Researchers are limited to one application as principal investigator for each program (ASPIRE and Endeavor), but may be co-investigators (or co-principal investigators) on other proposals without limitation.
    • For ASPIRE awards, only the principal investigator is required to have attended the workshop. Others who did not attend the workshop may be included if eligible.
    • Endeavor Awards require one principal investigator and at least two co-principal investigators. The principal investigator and at least one co-principal investigator must be workshop attendees. Others who did not attend the workshop may be included if eligible. The maximum team size is nine investigators, with additional collaborators allowed (see program page for details).
  • Collaborative teams formed during the workshop are strongly encouraged for both programs.

Terms

  • Applicants may request funding to support a total budget of $250,000 for a period of 1 year for an ASPIRE Award or $3,000,000 for a period of 3 years for an Endeavor Award.
  • All full proposals will go through a rigorous peer review process.
  • The number of awards granted will depend on the number and quality of proposals submitted, as well as the funds available. There is not a pre-determined number of each award type that will be selected.
  • The budget and duration requested for the grant must match a realistic estimate of the cost and timeline for the proposed work.
  • The budget limit includes both direct and indirect costs, with indirect costs not to exceed 10% of the direct costs.
  • The letter of agreement will include IP terms with a revenue-sharing component.
  • The anticipated start date is September 1, 2025.

Letter of Intent Guidelines

ASPIRE Award:

The letter of intent can be a maximum of 2 pages, including any references, figures, or tables. The PDF must contain the following information:

  • Project title
  • Brief abstract (less than 200 words)
  • Problem statement describing unmet need and opportunity to enable substantial and differentiated impact for cancer research and glioblastoma patients
  • Synopsis of research plan, including key feasibility or proof-of-concept question(s) to be answered, methods overview, and list of specific aims
  • Statement of innovation

Endeavor Award:

  • Project title
  • Project summary/abstract – limit 350 words
  • Project description – limit 5 pages, including figures and tables but excluding literature references
    • Specific Aims
    • Introduction, background, and description of unmet need
    • Research plan broken into Aims, with each Aim having:
      • Clear objective
      • Preliminary studies if applicable
      • High-level description of the experimental approach
      • Milestones and timelines
    • Future directions – if the research plan is successful, what is the 5-10-year vision for expansion of the project?
    • Literature cited (does not count against page limit)
  • Team Description
    • List all co-Principal Investigators (co-PIs), and collaborators (name, institution, title, contact info)
    • For the PI and co-PIs, provide the following:
      • 1-3 sentences describing their role in the project.
      • Biosketch (NIH or similar format preferred; limit 5 pages per investigator)
    • List any existing collaborations between co-PIs, including existing funding support for collaborative projects.
  • Collaborative Science Statement – limit 1 page
    • Why is this project a team science project? Describe how the output of the individual investigators (data, samples, hypotheses, compounds, etc.) will be integrated and/or shared in a way that makes the impact of the project as a whole larger than the sum of its parts.
    • How will the team work together? Describe the plan for team structure, communications, and shared resources.
  • Budget overview – On the template provided in the portal.

How to Apply

The application process will begin with a letter of intent stage consisting of a 2-page description of the project. The portal for the letter of intent is now open and letters are due on January 8, 2025. Invitations for full applications will be issued in March 2025.

Apply for ASPIRE Award

Apply for Endeavor Award

Key Dates

Thursday, November 14th, 2024: Letter of intent portal opens
Wednesday, January 8th, 2025: Letter of intent submission deadline
March 2025: Invitations for full application
September 2025: Anticipated award start

ASPIRE Program Overview

ASPIRE Awards are designed to enable innovative approaches to solving high-impact problems in cancer research. These awards will be used to support high-risk, high-reward projects with research plans designed to answer key feasibility and proof-of-concept questions in an accelerated, one-year period. Projects that successfully demonstrate feasibility may be selected to apply for additional funding in a second phase to further develop their innovative concepts.

Endeavor Program Overview

Endeavor Awards support collaborative research projects that bring together investigators with diverse areas of expertise to tackle challenges in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. These grants are awarded to teams of three or more investigators to generate and integrate data from diverse lines of research and transform those insights into advances for cancer patients that could not be achieved by individual efforts.