Submissions Due November 7PHILADELPHIA — October 1, 2013 — The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is now accepting submissions of ideas for the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C)-Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Convergence Dream Team Translational Research Grant, which will offer up to $8 million over a three-year period. The Lustgarten Foundation is providing $4 million in funding for this team. Collectively, the Fox Family Cancer Research Funding Trust and the Fox Family Foundation are making a $5 million gift to Stand Up To Cancer, $4 million of which is supporting this particular team.
Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., describes convergence research as an exciting new approach that brings together the biological, computational, physical, and engineering sciences and entails not only collaboration among research groups, but also the integration of disciplinary approaches that were originally viewed as separate and distinct.
The grant provides three years of funding for research projects that must include therapeutic interventions for pancreatic cancer and deliver near-term patient benefit through investigation by a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional Convergence Dream Team of experts. The project must bring together biology (e.g. genomics, epigenetics, proteomics, and/or other biological fields) and at least one additional field of research such as physics, engineering, or immunology.
Proposals for the grant must describe plans indicating how the group will use a transformative and synergistic approach, and how the work will be translated into the clinic. To maximize creativity, innovation, and collaboration, the projects should span multiple disciplines and use modern scientific tools to attack research questions in a coordinated effort. In particular, the use of convergence research is required, which in addition to biology, aims to capitalize on a range of fields such as computer science, engineering design, immunology, and nanotechnology.
A SU2C-Lustgarten Joint Scientific Advisory Committee (JSAC) will conduct a unique, interactive, rapid, and rigorous evaluation of the applications via a multistep scientific review process. The JSAC is comprised of highly accomplished senior laboratory researchers and physician-scientists, as well as advocates.
The committee is chaired by Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., institute professor at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is co-chaired by William G. Kaelin, Jr., M.D., professor in the Department of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and associate director of basic science for the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center; and David Tuveson, M.D., Ph.D., director for research of The Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Research Lab at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and director of research for The Lustgarten Foundation.
Letters of Intent for SU2C-Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Convergence Dream Team Translational Research Grant projects are due by noon ET on Nov. 7, 2013, via proposalCENTRAL at https://proposalcentral.altum.com.
For general information on eligibility criteria, the application process, and other details about this Dream Team grant, visit http://www.AACR.org/SU2CFunding. Inquiries may be directed to the AACR Scientific Review and Grants Administration Department at 267-765-1049 or su2c@aacr.org.
The SU2C-Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Convergence Dream Team Translational Research Grant recipients are scheduled to be announced in spring 2014.
# # #
Media Contacts:
SU2C
Jane Rubinstein
212-843-8287
jrubinstein@rubenstein.com
AACR
Rick Buck
215-446-7162
rick.buck@aacr.org
Lustgarten Foundation
Sabrina Strauss
212-576-2700
LustgartenPR@goodmanmedia.com
About Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was established in 2008 by film and media leaders who utilize the industry’s resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, and to increase awareness about progress being made in the fight against the disease. As SU2C’s scientific partner, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and a Scientific Advisory Committee led by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., conduct rigorous, competitive review processes to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and provide expert review of research progress.
Current members of the SU2C Council of Founders and Advisors (CFA) include Talk Show Host, Journalist and well-known Cancer Advocate Katie Couric; Sherry Lansing, Chairperson of the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Board of Directors and Founder of the Sherry Lansing Foundation; EIF President and CEO Lisa Paulsen; EIF Senior Vice President Kathleen Lobb; Rusty Robertson and Sue Schwartz of the Robertson Schwartz Agency; Pamela Oas Williams, President of Laura Ziskin Productions and Executive Producer of Stand Up To Cancer’s In-house Production Team, and Nonprofit Executive Ellen Ziffren. All current members of the CFA were co-producers of the 2012 televised special. The late co-founder Laura Ziskin executive produced both the Sept. 5, 2008, and Sept. 10, 2010, broadcasts. SU2C was formally launched on May 27, 2008. Sung Poblete, Ph.D., R.N., has served as SU2C’s president and CEO since 2011.
About The Lustgarten Foundation
The Lustgarten Foundation is America’s largest private foundation dedicated to funding pancreatic cancer research. Based in Bethpage, New York, the Foundation supports research to find a cure for pancreatic cancer, facilitates dialogue within the medical and scientific community, and educates the public about the disease through awareness campaigns and fundraising events. The Foundation has provided millions of research dollars and assembled the best scientific minds with the hope that one day, a cure can be found. And because Cablevision Systems Corporation, a leading media and telecommunications company, underwrites all of The Lustgarten Foundation’s administrative costs, 100 percent of every dollar donated to the Foundation goes directly to pancreatic cancer research. Learn more at Lustgarten.org
About The Fox Family Cancer Research Funding Trust
The Fox Family Cancer Research Funding Trust supports innovative, multi-disciplinary pancreatic cancer research focused on changing the paradigm of treating pancreatic cancer and accelerating development of effective strategies to measurably improve patient outcomes.
About The American Association for Cancer Research
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 34,000 laboratory, translational, and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 18,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes eight peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients, and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the scientific partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration, and scientific oversight of team science and individual grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer. For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org. Follow the AACR on Twitter: @AACR. Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org.