YITA 2019

    1. Eligibility:
      1. Each Young Innovators Team Award team must be composed of at least 2 young investigators who hold a faculty appointment at an academic research institution within or outside the United States at the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) or above. All team members must be within five years of their first faculty appointment.
      2. Investigators representing non-profit academic research centers worldwide are eligible to apply. Investigators from for-profit companies and government-sponsored institutions, i.e. NIH, are ineligible.
      3. Individuals employed by federal government agencies may participate in research proposals as non-funded collaborators, but may not apply for direct funding.
      4. The Young Innovators Team may be assembled from one institution, or several institutions worldwide. However, the selection and review process will place higher weighting upon teams that foster multi-institutional, trans-disciplinary collaboration.
      5. Investigators need not be specifically trained in lung cancer research; however, they should be working in an environment capable of conducting high quality, high impact lung cancer research.
      6. Investigators must be able to show clear evidence of an independent research program.
      7. Multiple applications will be accepted from a single institution, provided that each application has a different PI and represents a distinct hypothesis.
      8. An investigator may serve as a PI on only one proposal.
      9. Documentation of an equal in-kind level of support from the young investigator’s institution will be requested in the form of dedicated time, space, equipment, institutional overhead, core institutional resources, etc. The documentation required is a letter from the Cancer Center Director or Departmental Chairperson, which confirms institutional commitment to the career development of the Young Innovator, for the entire duration of the award. The letter must specify the percentage of total time committed to research, the applicant will devote to this project under consideration.
    2. Key Criteria:
      1. Relevance to lung cancer patients: The proposed research must deliver a meaningful and measurable result that will help GO2 move towards our goal of making lung cancer a chronically managed disease by the year 2023.
      2. Innovation, creativity, quality and originality of proposed transformative research: Novel approaches with strong scientific rationale and clear capacity to revolutionize prevention, early diagnosis, staging, or treatment for patients with lung cancer or for individuals at risk are encouraged.
      3. Scientific merit: Outstanding and rigorous proposals that present an appropriate, feasible and adequate experimental design/methodology and measurable outcomes as determined by peer review.
      4. Potential for rapid translation to clinical testing and patient benefit: Proposals that articulate a clear path to clinical application will be strongly favored.
      5. Key Criterion for GO2 Team Science Awards: Collaborative and multidisciplinary emphasis: Meaningful collaboration between two or more PIs with complementary expertise that offers the possibility for synergistic advances. Research groups may be within the same institution, or interinstitutional.
      6. Research Environment and Investigator capability: Each member of the team must be able to demonstrate the ability to undertake independent investigator-initiated clinical research, and must be working in an environment that provides adequate facilities and supports their research and growth. Each member must specify the percentage of their time committed to research, that they will allocate to this project.
      7. Structured Mentorship Plan:  Each member of the team must submit a letter from a mentor at his or her institution that describes a structured plan for mentorship. The Mentor Support Letter must include:
        1. Training and Mentorship Plan for the applicant that provides a detailed description of the intended structure of the mentor-investigator interaction for the duration of the award,
        2. Confirmation that the applicant is within first five years of their first faculty appointment,
        3. A critical review of the both the applicant and the proposed research,
        4. The role(s) or anticipated role(s) the applicant holds (or will hold) at the institution,
        5. The level of institutional commitment to the applicant’s career development as an independent researcher,
        6. Approximate time applicant will be able to devote to this project as a percentage of total time committed to research.
    3. Application Form: To be completed online by the Principal Investigator at www.lungcancerfoundation.org/grants/apply.The online application submission portal will accept applications during May 31, 2018 – July 15, 2018. Please be prepared to submit your PDF and enter the following details on the portal during these dates: 1) names, academic ranks/titles, institutions, addresses and other contact information of all team members and their administrative assistants, 2) Technical and non-technical titles of the proposed research, 3) Technical and non-technical abstracts describing the research (1000-word limit each).
    4. Research Proposal: The Research Proposal and all supporting documents should be merged into a single PDF file to be uploaded along with the application form at via the online portal. A complete application will include the documents below, arranged in the following order in the PDF file that includes page numbers:
      1. Cover Page: Title of the proposal, and names, institutions and contact information of all investigators and their mentors.
      2. Statement of originality (1-page limit): This statement delineates why the work is first in field, original and will be of immediate benefit to lung cancer patients. GO2 seeks novel ideas, not derivatives of ongoing investigations or incremental research. Please specify how long you anticipate for the bench-to-bedside translation of the proposed research to impact lung cancer patient lives.
      3. Research Proposal (10-page limit): Includes the narrative text, any preliminary data in support of the proposal, specific aims, project timeline, milestones and deliverables. Please describe the specific outcomes/deliverables of the proposed research plan in general, and for each specific aim. Please address potential problem areas and present alternative approaches and solutions.
      4. Team Science (1-page limit): Please detail the nature of, and rationale for the proposed collaboration, the specific role of each participant, and synergistic opportunities that will be utilized in the proposed project.
      5. A list of references of research cited.
      6. NIH Biosketch: Please submit a 4-page NIH Biographical Sketch for each investigator, including a list of relevant publications, available for download at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/biosketchsample.pdf.
      7. Mentor’s Letter of Support for each team member
      8. Institutional Letter of Support for each team member
      9. Budget page(s): Please include budget justification and an annual budget for the proposal prepared using an NIH Budget form like PHS 398 or similar. Up to 5% of the award may be used to cover indirect costs, overhead costs or other institutional levies; fringe benefits for personnel salaries are also allowable. The following information is required for all members of the team (and any collaborators who will receive salary support from the grant): current support, pending support and institutional support (start-up funds etc.). All funding sources including intramural and extramural sources must be included- institutional awards, grants from for-profit, and not-for-profit agencies, government bodies etc. Please indicate if there is overlap between any funded/pending grant and the current proposed research.
      10. Certification of compliance with Human Subjects and Animal Care Assurance as applicable, are required by GO2 for consideration of submitted proposals for review. In cases where ethical/regulatory approval is required to perform the work, such approvals must be provided at the time of application submission. Failure to secure such approvals before application submission will result in the automatic rejection of the proposal.
    5. Reporting results:
      1. Full term funding of the award will be contingent upon review of bi-annual Progress Reports:
        1. Mid-Year 1 page lay update, 2 page scientific summary
        2. Year End 1 page lay/non-technical summary, 5 page scientific summary, 5 slide PowerPoint deck with scientific data
        3. Financial Progress Reports, telephonic and in-person data presentation, and other oversight activities may be conducted by GO2 and the Scientific Review committee.
      2. Recipients may be asked to present an in person scientific progress report to the Scientific Review Committee at the Annual GO2 Centers of Excellence Summit.
      3. Multi-year support is not automatic for any GO2 award and is conditioned on meeting pre-determined milestones and deliverables, including submission of complete and accurate progress reports.
      4. A final Progress Report (2 page lay summary/ 10 page technical summary with data, PowerPoint presentation) must be filed within 60 days of the award’s end date.
      5. All GO2 award recipients must acknowledge GO2 support in all scientific publications, press releases, social media entries arising from this funding.
      6. Electronic copies of publications, presentations, abstracts that report research supported by GO2 funds must be submitted to Dr. Amy Moore, amy@go2.org, at the time of publication. These articles will be a part of the recipient’s award file and will assist GO2 and its partners to educate patients, caregivers, donors and others about the progress of the proposed research and its impact on the field of lung cancer biology.