Career Enhancement Program Pilot Grant
The Winship Lung Cancer SPORE aims to promote the advancement of early career lung cancer investigators through the conduct of a mentored Career Enhancement Program (CEP). The CEP aims to provide an environment that enables talented early career investigators to engage in a two-year mentored research program and to facilitate their success and their academic career development in terms of achieving independent investigator status.
Eligible candidates are encouraged to submit proposals to be funded for two years upon successful completion of the first year, with a maximum of $50,000 per year in direct funds. Proposals relevant to lung oncology with high translational significance and innovation are requested, and will be reviewed by the SPORE's CEP Review Committee prior to any funding decisions. Awardees are expected to provide twice-annual progress reports to the CEP Committee and to present their progress twice annually at the Lung Cancer SPORE investigator meeting. Awardees are granted access to the SPORE Administrative, Pathology, and Biostatistics and Bioinformatics core resources and opportunities for collaboration that arise from membership in the SPORE.
Adam Marcus, PhD, director of the Lung SPORE Career Enhancement Program, encourages investigators interested in lung cancer translational research to learn more about the program.
Applications should be uploaded on or before 11:59 pm on Monday, May 1, 2023 to https://https://intranet.winship.emory.edu/pilotgrant. Please direct any questions you have regarding this funding opportunity to Dana Ray via email.
Key Dates
- Application Receipt Date: Monday, May 1, 2023
- Anticipated Start Date: Thursday, June 1, 2023
Developmental Research Program Pilot Grant
The Winship Lung Cancer SPORE Developmental Research Program (DRP) aims to identify new and innovative research opportunities by supporting meritorious proposals that could expand into full research projects in the future, including those of high risk-high reward projects that might otherwise not be funded; to foster collaborative research between investigators; and to enhance translational research in lung cancer by increasing the number of meritorious investigators working on lung cancer.
DRP pilot projects must conduct basic, translational or clinical research into the cause, prevention, detection or treatment of lung cancer. Awards will be in the amount of $50,000 for a 1-year project period. Proposals relevant to lung oncology with high translational significance and innovation are requested, and will be reviewed by the SPORE's DRP Review Committee prior to any funding decisions. Awardees are expected to provide twice-annual progress reports to the DRP Committee and to present their progress twice annually at the Lung Cancer SPORE investigator meeting. Awardees are granted access to the SPORE Administrative, Pathology, and Biostatistics and Bioinformatics core resources and opportunities for collaboration that arise from membership in the SPORE. Pilot project renewals for a second year are considered on a competitive basis and will be judged on progress, relevance to lung cancer, translational potential, and the potential to grow into a full project. Individual investigators are eligible to submit additional proposals in subsequent years.
Applications should be uploaded on or before 11:59 pm on Monday, May 1, 2023 to https://https://intranet.winship.emory.edu/pilotgrant. Please direct any questions you have regarding this funding opportunity to Dana Ray via email.
Key Dates
- Application Receipt Date: Monday, May 1, 2023
- Anticipated Start Date: Thursday, June 1, 2023
Excellence Through Diversity
Applications are welcomed from candidates at Emory University and other institutions in the state of Georgia, and from women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities. To support excellence and diversity among pilot grant applicants and awardees, proposals are encouraged from groups identified as nationally underrepresented in the sciences including women, members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Contact Information
For inquiries regarding Winship's Lung Cancer SPORE pilot grants, please email the program coordinator.
Lung Cancer SPORE Award Recipients
2023
Career Enhancement Program pilot grant recipient:
- Predicting treatment response for immunotherapy in NSCLC by novel imaging biomarkers
Mohammadhadi Khorrami, PhD
Developmental Research Program pilot grant recipients:
- Exploiting PER1-regulated circadian deficiency to enhance radiation responses in LKB1-mutant LUAD
Melissa Gilbert-Ross, PhD - Overcoming CD8 T cell exhaustion in NSCLC by IL-2 + pembrolizumab combination therapy
Masao Hashimoto MD, PhD
2022
Career Enhancement Program pilot grant recipient:
- The role of autotaxin in immune checkpoint blockade resistance in NSCLC
Jessica Konen, PhD
Developmental Research Program pilot grant recipient:
- VIP as an immune checkpoint upregulated following anti-PD1/PDL1 immunotherapy in lung cancer
Edmund K. Waller, MD, PhD, FACP - Elucidating and Exploiting CETN1 for Small Cell Lung Cancer Therapy
David Yu, MD, PhD
2021
Career Enhancement Program pilot grant recipients:
- Spatial Subcellular Signaling Networks for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Therapies
Ahmet Coskun, PhD - Metabolic effects of radiation in the lung cancer microenvironment
Aparna Kesarwala, MD, PhD
Developmental Research Program pilot grant recipient:
- Adenosine depletion for lung cancer combination immunotherapy
John Blazeck, PhD - The mechanism underlying the sex-based difference in the growth of LKB1- mutant lung adenocarcinoma in nude mice
Wei Zhou, PhD
2020
Career Enhancement Program pilot grant recipients:
- Discovery of new therapeutic options for lung cancer patients with lost tumor suppressor genes
Andrey Ivanov, PhD - Deconstructing lung cancer heterogeneity in collective invasion and metastasis
Janna Mouw, PhD
Developmental Research Program pilot grant recipients:
- Role of Hippo signaling in maintaining metabolic heterogeneity for NSCLC metastasis
Mala Shanmugam, PhD, MS - Modulation of SREBP1/lipid metabolism in EGFR-targeted lung cancer therapy
Shi-Yong Sun, PhD
2019
Career Enhancement Program pilot grant recipients:
- A rapid and genetically tractable whole animal model to identify novel vulnerabilities in lung cancer
Melissa Gilbert-Ross, PhD - Identifying and Targeting the Immune-Dependent Vulnerabilities in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Xiulei Mo, PhD
Developmental Research Program pilot grant recipients:
- Elucidating B cell responses in NSCLC with checkpoint inhibitor therapy
Ignacio Sanz, MD - Targeting novel metabolic signaling factors in metastatic lung cancer
Sumin Kang, PhD