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Center for Cancer Engineering – Curing Cancer Through Research in Engineering and Sciences

Accelerator Award Program

    The Ohio State University Center for Cancer Engineering – Curing Cancer Through Research in Engineering and Sciences (CCE-CURES) is pleased to announce its Accelerator Award Program Request for Proposals (RFP). The aim of the CCE-CURES Accelerator Award Program is to provide seed funding that enables and invigorates new interdisciplinary collaborations with high potential to compete effectively for funding opportunities from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) or other funding agencies that support cancer research. This award mechanism specifically seeks applications that bridge engineering and physical sciences with basic studies of cancer development, metastasis, detection and therapies. Applications that align with the scientific research themes of CCE-CURES will be considered with the highest priority.

    1. Mechanisms of Cancer Invasion and Metastasis to Target Cancer Progression
    2. Biosensors and Molecular Imaging for Cancer Detection
    3. Therapeutics to Improve Cancer Care
    4. Data Analysis and Computing to Link Discovery to the Cancer Clinic

    Eligibility

    These grants require one principal investigator (PI) and one or more co-Pl(s). Cross-disciplinary research teams composed of faculty from distinct colleges, programs and/or institutes are highly encouraged. However, at least one member of the research team must be a member of an OSUCCC research program at the time of proposal submission. Additional unfunded collaborators may be included. All proposed research must be clearly distinct from ongoing externally or internally funded research.

    Funding Levels

    Awards will be up to $30,000 in direct costs per grant per year. Depending on the type/quality of the awards, we anticipate funding between three to five awards. The tentative start date is April 1, 2022.

    Proposal Submission

    The deadline for submission was 5 p.m. EDT on Monday, February 14, 2022. Awards are expected to be announced in mid-March.

    Proposal Preparation

    Please assemble as a single PDF file.

    1. Project description (maximum 4 pages). Use a minimum 11-point font size, single line spacing, 0.5” margins.
      1. Name and department/position of the PI and co-PI(s)
      2. Proposal title
      3. Hypothesis or objective
      4. Background
      5. Briefly formulated Specific Aims and General Research Plan
        • Including any relevant preliminary studies
        • Rationale, methods and expected outcomes
      6. Expertise of the team and synergy among team members to enable the scope and complexity of the proposed research.
      7. Statement of Cancer Relevance: Provide a lay summary that explains how the successful completion of the proposed work will lead to a better understanding of cancer biology or improve our ability to prevent, detect, or treat or manage cancer or cancer patients. This section should not exceed 250 words and should be readily understood by a non-scientist reviewer.
      8. A list of targeted external funding agencies with deadlines (if known) and a description of how meeting the objectives of the proposed research would translate into external proposal development (e.g. proof of concept, generation of necessary preliminary data).

    The following are not included in the page limit

    1. References cited.
    2. Budget information (general, not detailed). However, the following expenses are NOT allowed: faculty salaries and benefits; computers and equipment purchases; and food and entertainment.
    3. NIH Biosketch for PI, co-PI(s) and relevant co-I(s) (if applicable).
    4. Current and pending support (no page limit) for PI and all co-PI(s) (if applicable).

    Terms and conditions

    All selected proposals are subject to terms and conditions, including reporting requirements, that will be specified when the awards are made.

    • All publications that result from seed funding must appropriately acknowledge Ohio State University CCE-CURES support. The acknowledgment shall read as follows: This work was supported in part by The Ohio State University Center for Cancer Engineering (CCE-CURES).
    • Funds cannot be transferred from this project to another chartfield.
    • Since funding for this award tier was provided by Pelotonia, all funded PI and co-PI(s) must either: 1) have participated in Pelotonia 2021 OR 2) commit to participating in Pelotonia 2022.

    Review Criteria

    • Intellectual merit of proposed research activity, including innovation and impact
    • Potential for the proposed research to be funded through extramural funding mechanisms from cancer-allied agencies (e.g. NCI, cancer programs from DoD)
    • Clearly distinct from ongoing externally or internally funded research
    • Potential to seed transformative advances involving physical science and engineering-inspired cancer research

    Contact Information

    Matthew D. Ringel, MD (Matthew.Ringel@osumc.edu) and Jonathan W. Song PhD (song.1069@osu.edu), co-directors of CCE-CURES