the michelson prizes: next generation grants are $150,000 research grants given annually to support promising researchers who are applying disruptive concepts and inventive processes to advance human immunology, vaccine discovery, and immunotherapy research for major global diseases.

the 2022 michelson prizes will be looking for research proposals human immunology and vaccine research.  the committee will be looking for research aimed at tackling the current roadblocks that exist in human vaccine development and expanding our limited understanding of key immune processes that are fundamental to successful vaccine and immunotherapy development.

the application portal for the 2022 michelson prizes will be open until june 26, 2022.  for more information about the prizes, please visit www.humanvaccinesproject.org/michelsonprizes.

for more information, please contact jill sherman, international research facilitator, at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca

arthur b. mcdonald fellowships recognize early stage academic researchers in the natural sciences and engineering and support them to enhance their research capacity, so that they can become leaders in their field and inspire others. nserc awards up to six mcdonald fellowships each year.

•  if you are interested in being nominated for this award, please contact dr. batia stolar, associate vice-president, research & graduate studies, at avp.research@lakeheadu.ca

loss of biodiversity on agricultural lands is occurring at an unprecedented rate due to agricultural intensification and habitat loss. research shows that canada’s agricultural lands offer an immediate and large-scale opportunity to mitigate further biodiversity losses, and by promoting and increasing soil organic matter, we can help support more adaptive and resilient agricultural lands.

goal: the initiative seeks to expand the adoption of ecologically-based beneficial management practices (bmps) that increase soil organic matter in order to improve biodiversity and resiliency on agricultural lands across canada. the lois will allow the foundation to understand the opportunities and comprehensive project ideas that currently exist, in order to build an informed framework for the proposal phase.

the initiative’s goal will be supported by the foundation’s longer-term strategy which is comprised of catalyzing and shepherding ‘winning approaches’, to ultimately scaling projects with the greatest opportunities for impact. successful applicants who meet the defined selection criteria within the loi will be invited to submit full proposals.

strategy: the initiative aims to increase the number of agricultural producers using bmps that are scientifically proven to help increase soil organic matter on farmland. through multi-year investments, the initiative aims to promote a behavioural shift towards the wider acceptance and adoption of the following bmps:

• cover cropping;
• nutrient management (4r principles); and
• crop diversification/ rotation.

project eligibility: our strategy is designed to test which of the following approaches maximize the adoption rate of the desired bmps in an efficient and scalable manner. eligible approaches include:

1. incentivizing stewardship: projects which incentivize producers to adopt one or more of the identified bmps (e.g. reverse auctions, community-based models).
2. outreach/education and training: projects which increase access to, share technical knowledge of, and train producers on the identified bmps.
3. sustainability certification/standard: a project which aims to establish a sustainable farmland management certification/standard at scale.

cfn is pleased to announce that it has partnered with age-well, perley health and sepsis canada to co-fund early career researchers (ecrs) in canada. this competition will help ecrs build skills, knowledge and allow them to develop early stage research programs such that they are competitive for future larger funding competitions.

partnership engage grants are expected to respond to the objectives of the insight program and the connection program. however, partnership engage grants cannot respond exclusively to the objectives of the connection program.

these grants provide short-term and timely support for partnered research activities that will inform decision-making at a single partner organization from the public, private or not-for-profit sector. the small-scale, stakeholder-driven partnerships supported through partnership engage grants are meant to respond to immediate needs and time constraints facing organizations in non-academic sectors. in addressing an organization-specific need, challenge and/or opportunity, these partnerships let non-academic organizations and postsecondary researchers access each other’s unique knowledge, expertise and capabilities on topics of mutual interest.

sshrc welcomes applications involving indigenous research, as well as those involving research-creation.

the overarching goal of this funding program is to accelerate the application of high-quality evidence that is meaningful to people affected by cancer in the near term (i.e. 2-5 years).

through ccs accelerator grants, we will support research that addresses one of the following: 

• ·       synthesis grants: applications that aim to synthesize existing evidence (both qualitative and quantitative) to conclusively identify unmet cancer-related needs, identify research gaps, or to pool existing evidence to determine implementation strategy effectiveness. the expectation is that funded syntheses would contribute to informing decisions about programs, procedures, practices, or policies that will be meaningful to people affected by cancer. 
• ·       implementation science grants: applications that aim to identify, assess, develop and evaluate strategies that can influence the adoption, implementation and sustainment of validated, efficacious, reproducible, and needed evidence-based interventions - including programs, practice guidelines and policies) (or conversely, de-implementation of ineffective, contradicted, mixed, and untested (i.e. potentially harmful) health interventions) that will be meaningful to people affected by cancer.

important dates:

• ·       abstract registrations due: may 25, 2022
• ·       notification of relevance results: june 2, 2022
• ·       full applications due: july 20, 2022
• ·       results announcement: october 2022
• ·       anticipated start date: october 15, 2022

funding will be available for: 

• ·       up to $100k per synthesis grant over 1-2 yrs (max $50k/yr)  
• ·       up to $200k per implementation science grant over 1-2 yrs (max $100k/yr)  
• ·       approximately $1.6m in total may be awarded in this funding envelope

view the full funding opportunity here.

the eureka smart cluster has launched its 5th call for proposals for research, development and innovation (r&d&i) projects.

smart is a flexible, industry-driven eureka cluster program whose aim is to promote collaborative, international, and close-to-market r&d&i projects in advanced manufacturing.

•  please contact jill sherman, international research facilitator, if this opportunity is of interest at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca

the fy22 defense appropriations act provides funding for the tbdrp to support innovative, high-impact tick-borne disease research.  the managing agent for the anticipated program announcements/funding opportunities is the cdmrp at the u.s. army medical research and development command (usamrdc).

the fy22 tbdrp funding opportunity announcements for the following award mechanisms is posted on the grants.gov website. 

applicants to the fy22 tbdrp funding opportunities must be relevant to at least one of the following focus areas.  applicants are particularly encouraged to submit applications focused on tick-borne diseases (tbds) and conditions endemic to the u.s., and/or involving patients with persistent lyme disease.  the proposed research must be focused on directly impacting human health and diseases/conditions that affect the u.s. military (active duty or veteran), their beneficiaries, or the american public. 

• ·        prevention (idea development award only)

○       drugs, antibodies, vaccines, or other novel approaches that can be administered and/or utilized prophylactically to prevent human tbds and conditions prevalent in the u.s. or that address multiple pathogens

○       identification, validation, and/or improvement of tick- or reservoir-targeted prevention and control interventions that are safe and non-toxic to non-target species

• ·        pathogenesis (idea development award only)

○       pathogenesis of persistent clinical manifestations associated with lyme disease

○       immune evasion and/or tolerance of tick-borne (tb) pathogens (lyme and/or other tbds)

○       tb infections and co-infections (simultaneous or sequential) and their effects on human disease severity, the local and systemic immune response, or pathogen synergy and competition

○       pathogenesis of mammalian meat allergy (allergic response to galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose [alpha gal])

○       understanding the role of tbds on maternal health and adverse birth outcomes, including maternal-fetal transmission

• ·        treatment (therapeutic/diagnostic idea award only)

○       novel preclinical therapeutic strategies for tb pathogens, lyme disease, and/or other tbds with priority given to those in the u.s.

§  potential treatments designed to mitigate development of long-term sequelae following infection

§  repurposing food and drug administration (fda)-approved drugs for off-label indication in preclinical evaluation for use in tbds

• ·        diagnosis (therapeutic/diagnostic idea award only)

○       priority given to development of direct detection diagnostic assays for agents of lyme disease and/or other tbds

○       diagnostic biomarker panel for lyme disease and/or other tbds that distinguishes tb infection from other febrile illnesses

○       approaches capable of distinguishing active infection and previous exposure and/or monitoring response to treatment

○       innovative approaches that provide diagnosis for a single or multiple tb infections

funding opportunities-fy22 tbdrp, congressionally directed medical research programs (cdmrp) (army.mil)

idea development award (ida) – preproposal due may 26, 2022

ida: 

independent investigators at or above the level of assistant professor (or equivalent)

ida – career development option:

• ·     principal investigator (pi) – investigators within 10 years of completing terminal degree at the time of application submission, working to become an independent investigator in tbd research.
• ·     mentor – independent investigators at or above the level of associate professor (or equivalent); must be an experienced tbd researcher as demonstrated by a recent history of funding and publications in tbd research, specifically in the field of the proposed studies.
• ·     mentorship is required.  the pi and mentor may be at different organizations.
• ·        prevention and pathogenesis focus areas only.
• ·        supports research that could lead to impactful discoveries or significant advancements that will accelerate progress toward reducing the burden of lyme disease and/or other tick-borne diseases (tbds) and conditions, and improving patient care and/or quality of life.
• ·        research should be conceptually innovative, exhibit high levels of creativity, or challenge existing research paradigms.
• ·        applications must describe the short- and long-term impact of the proposed research, as well as the public health burden of the diseases being addressed.
• ·        the career development option is intended to fund early-career investigators to conduct impactful research under the mentorship of an experienced tbd researcher. applications submitted under this option will be reviewed via separate, career development-specific evaluation criteria by a separate, dedicated peer review panel.
• ·        preliminary data is required, unless submitting under the career development option.
• ·        clinical trials are not allowed; human studies/clinical research are permitted.

pre-application submission is required; application submission is by invitation only.

ida:

• ·     the maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $500,000 for direct costs.
• ·     indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.
• ·     the maximum period of performance is 3 years.

ida- career development option:

• ·     the maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $300,000 for direct costs.
• ·     indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.
• ·     the maximum period of performance is 3 years.

therapeutic/ diagnostic idea award (tdia) – preproposal due may 26, 2022

tdra: 

independent investigators at or above the level of assistant professor (or equivalent)

tdra – career development option:

• ·     principal investigator (pi) – investigators within 10 years of completing terminal degree at the time of application submission, working to become an independent investigator in tbd research.
• ·     mentor – independent investigators at or above the level of associate professor (or equivalent); must be an experienced tbd researcher as demonstrated by a recent history of funding and publications in tbd research, specifically in the field of the proposed studies.
• ·     mentorship is required.  the pi and mentor may be at different organizations

• ·        treatment and diagnosis focus areas only.
• ·        supports hypothesis-driven therapeutic and diagnostic development research aimed at reducing the burden of lyme disease and/or other tbds and conditions, and improving patient care and/or quality of life.

o treatment-focused applications should be therapeutic evaluation studies designed to promote new ideas aimed at drug or treatment discovery that are still in the early/preclinical stages of development.

o diagnosis-focused applications should propose diagnostic approaches that will be readily integrated into clinical settings.

• ·        research should have translational potential, with proposed studies expected to be empirical in nature and product-driven.
• ·        applicants with limited tbd experience are strongly encouraged to collaborate with experienced tbd investigators.
• ·        applicants with substantial tbd experience are strongly encouraged to partner with experts in therapeutic and diagnostic assay development and transition, particularly those from the commercial sector.
• ·        the career development option is intended to fund early-career investigators to conduct impactful research under the mentorship of an experienced tbd researcher. applications submitted under this option will be reviewed via separate, career development-specific evaluation criteria by a separate, dedicated peer review panel.
• ·        preliminary data is required, unless submitting under the career development option.
• ·        clinical trials are not allowed; human studies/clinical research are permitted.

pre-application submission is required; application submission is by invitation only

tdra:

• ·     the maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $825,000 for direct costs.
• ·     indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.
• ·     the maximum period of performance is 3 years.

tdra- career development option:

• ·     the maximum allowable funding for the entire period of performance is $495,000 for direct costs.
• ·     indirect costs may be proposed in accordance with the institution’s negotiated rate agreement.
• ·     the maximum period of performance is 3 years.

a pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic biomedical research application portal (ebrap) at https://ebrap.org prior to the pre-application deadline.  all applications must conform to the final funding opportunity announcements that are available for downloading from the grants.gov website.  the application package containing the required forms for each award mechanism will also be found on grants.gov.  a listing of all cdmrp and other usamrdc extramural funding opportunities can be obtained on the grants.gov website by performing a basic search using cfda number 12.420.

for email notification when funding opportunities are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “email subscriptions” on the ebrap homepage at https://ebrap.org.  for more information about the tbdrp or other cdmrp-administered programs, please visit the cdmrp website (https://cdmrp.army.mil).

point of contact:

cdmrp help desk
301-682-5507
help@ebrap.org

please contact jill sherman, international research facilitator at intl.research@lakeheadu.ca  for additional information.