Apply for funding
Cures Start Here
Physician-scientists advancing pediatric cancer research are invited to apply for a CKC grant.
Our grant program is designed to fund promising ideas at critical stages—helping researchers generate data, explore novel approaches, and move discoveries closer to clinical application. We encourage proposals that challenge existing boundaries, foster collaboration, and ultimately bring hope to children and families facing cancer.
How It Works
Become a CKC grant recipient for your research.
Please review our Request for Proposal (RFP) and read the guidelines below to give yourself the best opportunity to be a Curing Kids Cancer grant recipient.
Guidelines for qualifying applicants
How Curing Kids Cancer Grants Work
Each grant is reviewed by our Medical Advisory Board and recipients are selected based on their grading.
Goal and Focus
The goal of these grants is to overcome barriers to the clinical application of new treatment approaches for childhood cancer. A priority is to fund projects that have already shown great promise, but that have a specific funding need to move forward. The three main focus areas for this RFP are:
- Cancer immunotherapy or targeted therapy
- High-grade brain tumors or other difficult-to-treat pediatric cancers
- Epigenetic modifying therapy or gene therapy
Applications of novel technologies (e.g. nanotechnology, omics, gene editing, bioinformatics, and AI) in these areas are welcome.
Eligibility
- Applications will only be accepted from Children’s Oncology Group member institutions in North America (no citizenship requirements).
- Open to PIs at all academic ranks with MD and/or PhD
- Limit of one application per institution for either the Collaborative or the Individual grant with the endorsement of the Chief(s) of the Division(s) of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology.
Application Guidelines
Under one application, you will have an option to select one of the following.
Types of one-year grants to be awarded:
- Individual: 1-2 individual grants of $150,000 each will be awarded
- Collaborative: Up to 1 multi-institutional collaborative grant of $300,000 will be awarded
- There must be at least 2 collaborating divisions of pediatric hematology/oncology from separate institutions.
- A collaborative project can either include a new proposal or a proposal where preliminary data has already been gathered
Applications to fund correlative studies associated with clinical trials in the focus areas will be considered. Funding for the associated clinical trial must have already been secured and applications must include a description of the developmental pathway for the therapeutic approach.
- The NIH salary cap must be employed
- 10% indirect costs from the total award will be allowed (e.g., maximum $15,000 indirect and $135,000 direct costs per award)
- A second year of funding may be applied for but will require a full review
Grant Schedule
Other Opportunities for Funding
Curing Kids Cancer strives to support our researchers in whatever way we can so that the children can receive the best cutting-edge treatments as fast as possible. If your project does not fall under our grant categories, it may still have the opportunity to receive funding. Here are examples of other needs we meet:
Curing Kids Cancer Scholar
Curing Kids Cancer recognizes the need for doctors to be trained in pharmacology as well as pediatrics and oncology. That is why each year we sponsor a researcher’s education to become triple boarded. Currently, we are providing funding to Dr. Jade Wulff from Texas Children’s Cancer Center.
Endowments
Curing Kids Cancer has multiple endowments for hospitals who need extra support pursuing their goals; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital. At Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, specifically, we are in a multi-year pledge to support their new Cell and Gene Therapy Laboratory.
Gift Matching
Curing Kids Cancer wants to encourage others to support childhood cancer research. Let us know if there is an opportunity to match a gift from your institution or another donor. This year, we matched the MacDonald Fund at Seattle Children’s Hospital for their high-risk leukemia clinical trials program.
For more information on funding opportunities, contact us or call 616-255-6726.
