Request for Proposals: 2024 LCRF Minority Career Development Award (CDA) in Lung Cancer
1. Program Summary
National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding is considered a prerequisite for establishing independence,
academic promotion, recognition as an expert, serving on grant review panels, and leadership roles. Minority
applicants are less likely to receive grants, to have the R phases of K01 or K99 awards activated, need more
submissions to obtain funding, and often will not resubmit proposals.
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As minority applicants must
overcome systemic and structural barriers due to race, ethnicity, country of origin, socioeconomic status,
and/or language, many leave academia which further exacerbates the lack of diversity in Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and medical fields. To provide protected time and
mentoring to these trainees, we continue to offer the LCRF Minority Career Development Award (CDA) for
Lung Cancer for minority Postdoctoral/Clinical Fellows and Assistant Professors within 10 years of completing
their MD training and/or PhD degrees to submit proposals.
The LCRF Minority Career Development Award (CDA) for Lung Cancer is a two-year career development
award intended to support early-stage scientists from underrepresented groups working in lung cancer and
working in diverse areas of research including basic, clinical, translational, disparities, and social
determinants of health research. The objective of this award is to increase the number of highly skilled and
trained researchers from groups that are historically underrepresented in academia, medicine, and
leadership in lung cancer research. This program aims to close the gap between the mortality rates and
representation in lung cancer research by funding minority researchers with $150,000 over a period of two
years.
We encourage applications on a wide variety of topics including but not limited to the following:
• Lung cancer biology
• Risk reduction and screening for early detection
• Identification of new biomarkers
• Development of more effective and less toxic therapies including but not limited to targeted and immune-
therapies
• Genetic and gene-environment interactions
• Interactions and contributions of multiple factors (e.g. smoking, genetics, environment, societal factors)
to disparities in lung cancer outcomes
• Mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance to lung cancer therapies
• Bioengineering approaches to understanding and/or treating lung cancer (i.e., theranostics, biomaterials,
nanotechnology, controlled-drug release, and gene-therapy)
• Supportive measures for people with lung cancer and their families
• Identification of metabolic vulnerabilities in lung cancer
2. Eligibility Criteria
Investigators must be from racial or ethnic groups that are underrepresented in health-related sciences and
biomedical research.This includes Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaskan
Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. Individuals from racial or ethnic groups that can demonstrate
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convincingly that they are underrepresented by the host institution will also be eligible.
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Investigators will need to
fill out demographic information and provide a short statement from their Institution indicating their eligibility.
Investigators must be affiliated with a non-profit academic or research institution and must be post-doctoral
researchers, clinical fellows, or early-career and mid-career investigators within 10 years of receiving their MD
and/or Ph.D. However, exceptions will be made for investigators with more than ten years’ experience in other
disease areas or topics. Exceptions may also be made for those who did training outside the US.
Applicants from US-based and international institutions are eligible to apply and may hold any residency/citizenship
status. Applicants may only apply for one LCRF grant per grant cycle. Applicants are prohibited from applying if they
have received funding from the LCRF within the last 4 years. Ineligible investigators with these or other special
circumstances may request review by contacting the LCRF grants office (see Inquiries section below).
3. Budget Requirements
The maximum award amount is $150,000 for a period of two years (disbursed at $75,000 per year). Additional
budget requirements are:
• Funding from this award may not be used to support institutional indirect / facilities and administrative costs.
• The LCRF grant must be the primary source of support for the project. Additional secondary funding (e.g. for
core services support) is permitted.
• There is no limit on the amount of salary support that may be requested. However, appropriate justification
for all budget items is required. Any salary requests totaling in excess of 20% of the budget must be explicitly
justified.
• Any equipment costs must be limited and directly applicable to the research project (i.e. large, general
equipment costs are not permitted).
• Direct patient care costs that could be reimbursed by other sources will not be covered.
• Travel and publication costs are permitted.
4. Open Science and Data Sharing Policy
LCRF is committed to promoting open science by helping to increase access to investigators' findings and improving
collaboration and data sharing among the lung cancer research community. Accordingly, it is a condition of LCRF
funding that all peer-reviewed articles supported in whole or in part by LCRF funds must be made available in the
PubMed Central online archive no later than twelve months after publication. In addition, LCRF grantees must
indicate explicitly in all reports, publications, and other research communications whether the data, methods used
in the analysis, and materials used to conduct the research will be made available to any researcher for purposes
of reproducing the results or replicating the procedure. At the time of application, all investigators must indicate if
they will or will not make their data, analytic methods, and study materials available to other researchers.
5. Application Instructions and Requirements
A. Go to https://proposalcentral.com/ and login under the “Application Login” section. After logging in,
complete your Professional Profile before starting an application If you are already registered with Proposal
Central, access the site and log in with your Username and Password. If you do not have an account yet,
please click on “Need an account?” and follow the instructions.
B. Click on the “Grant Opportunities” Tab.
C. A list of applications will be displayed. The list of applications can be filtered for just this organization by
clicking “Filter by Grant Maker” at the top and selecting “Lung Cancer Research Foundation” in the drop-
down menu. Find the “LCRF Pilot Grant” and click the “Apply Now” button in the “Apply Column”.
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https://extramural-diversity.nih.gov/diversity-matters/underrepresented-groups
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D. See the deadlines for the LOI stage, if applicable, and the Proposal stage. All deadlines are in US Eastern
Time. If a document icon is showing, you can click on it to download it. This includes necessary information
about the deadline from the grant maker.
E. Click the link or download the document in the Contact Information column. Clicking the link opens an email
to the program administrator. If a document is provided instead, it includes the grant maker contact
information.
All applications for funding must be submitted online at Proposal Central through a two-stage process consisting
of a letter of intent (LOI) and full proposal. Applicants may only apply for one LCRF grant per grant cycle. Upon
submission and review of the LOI, applicants whose submission is reviewed favorably will be invited to complete a
full proposal. Any applications for an extension of a previously awarded grant require resubmission as a new
complete application (LOI and subsequent full proposal) and must include an update describing the progress
made during the prior award period. Specific Aims at the LOI stage do not require references and should not
exceed 1 page. Text should be Arial, Times New Roman, Palantino Linotype, Courier New, Georgia, or Helvetica
11-point font or higher. Margins should not be less than 0.5” on standard letter paper ( 8 ½” x 11”), and you must
verify the margins on the documents that you upload.
The following application components are required for a complete submission:
Letter of Intent
Full Proposal
• General Information / Demographics
• Specific Aims (one page in length)
• NIH Biosketch (NIH Biosketch
Instructions)
• General Information
• Demographics
• Eligibility Statement from the Institution
• NIH Biosketch
• Mentoring Plan (one page in length)
• Lay Summary
• Specific Aims (one page in length)
• Narrative (six pages maximum):
o Background and Significance
o Preliminary Data (if applicable)
o Experimental Approach
o References (not included in page-limit)
• Success Factors
• Timeline
• Future Plans
• Budget
• Letter(s) of Support, including the Mentor
letter
• Eligibility Statement
o Several sentences to one paragraph stating eligibility.
o This will not be shown to reviewers.
• Key words (up to 5 key words describing the work that will help with review selection)
• Mentoring/Professional Development Plan (1 page)
o Mentor/Mentoring Team and how they will work with applicant
o Trainee’s accessibility to the mentoring team
o Trainee’s plan for professional development
o List any course/workshops
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o Applicants career goals
• NIH Biosketch
*
(no more than 5 pages per person)
*Additional Considerations:
o The application must include a NIH biosketch of the primary investigator and any key personnel
involved in the project.
o The application must include at least one letter of support from the applicant’s primary mentor
affirming the following statements:
o The applicant will be formally affiliated with and/or employed by the institution/organization
during the grant period.
o There is adequate institutional space and equipment to accomplish the proposed project.
o The mentor’s willingness to serve as a mentor for the applicant.
6. Timeline
• LOI submission deadline: March 4, 2024
• Applicants notified of LOI decision: April 19, 2024
• Full proposal submission deadline: June 10, 2024
• Notification of award: November 2024
• Project start: December 1, 2024
7. Evaluation of Applications
All applications are evaluated using a two-stage review process that includes review of LOIs and select full proposals.
Only applicants whose LOI is reviewed favorably will be invited to submit a full proposal. At each stage, the
evaluation consists of an administrative review, a comprehensive review by LCRF’s Scientific Advisory Board and a
review conducted with patient advocates (see figure below). At the LOI stage, evaluations will focus on high-level
aspects of the research proposal including overall rationale, feasibility, and potential impact on the lung cancer
field. At the full proposal stage, submissions will additionally be evaluated for sound scientific rationale, study
design, feasibility, and creativity/innovation. Similar to an NIH R21 award, reviewers at the LOI stage and at the full
proposal stage will be asked to provide an impact score reflecting their assessment of the likelihood for the project
to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the field of lung cancer research and/or reducing disparities in lung
cancer outcomes.
Application review process.
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8. Award Notification and Announcement
All applicants will be notified of their award status by the date specified in the Timeline section above.
Regrettably, due to the high volume of submissions, LCRF is not able to provide feedback on LOIs or proposals that
are not selected to receive an award.
9. Post-award Reporting Requirements
During the funding period, all investigators are required to submit at least two progress reports including the
following:
Due Date
At conclusion of year one
of the grant term
Within sixty days of
conclusion of the grant
term
All reporting is required to be done in ProposalCentral, and additional reports may be assigned when project
terms are amended (e.g. in the case of a no-cost extension or institutional transfer). Receipt of the second year of
funding is contingent upon submission and approval of the interim progress report at the conclusion of the first
year of the grant term.
10. Inquiries
For questions, please contact the LCRF office at grants@lcrf.org or via phone at +1 (212) 588-1580. OR
If you have any difficulties registering, logging in, or creating your application, contact ProposalCentral Customer
Support at: 800-875-2562 (Toll-free U.S. and Canada), +1-703-964-5840 (Direct Dial International).
References
1. Ginther DK, Schaffer WT, Schnell J, Masimore B, Liu F, Haak LL, and Kington R. (2011).” Race, Ethnicity,
and NIH Research Awards.” Science. 333(6045):1015-9.
2. Hoppe TA, Litovitz A, Willis KA, Meseroll RA, Perkins MJ, Hutchins BI, Davis AF, Lauer MS, Valantine HA,
Anderson JM, and Santangelo GM. (2019). “Top choice contributes to the lower rate of NIH awards to
African-American/black scientists”. Sci Adv.5(10):eeaw7238. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaw7238.
3. Pickett C. (2018). “Examining the distribution of K99/R00 awards by race.”
http://rescuingbiomedicalresearch.org/blog/examining-distribution-k99r00-awards-race/ [Accessed
August, 24, 2021].
4. Eblen MK, Wagner RM, RoyChowdhury D, Patel KC, and Pearson K. (2016). “How criterion scores predict the
overall impact score and funding for national institutes of health peer-reviewed applications0”. PLos One.
11(6):e0155060.
5. Erosheva EA, Grant S, Chen M-C, Lindner MD, Nakamura RK, and Lee CJ. (2020). NIH peer review:
criterion scores completely account for racial disparities in overall impact scores. Sci Adv.
6(23):eaaz4868.