RUNX1 Early Career Investigator Grant Program

The RUNX1 Early Career Investigator grant is a three-year award designed to fund research investigating strategies that will lead to the development of therapies that will prevent the transition from pre-malignancy to overt hematologic malignancy in patients with RUNX1-FPD.

The Research Program and ALSF host an annual scientific meeting that brings together grant recipients and other scientists. Grant recipients are expected to present their progress as part of the annual review.  The program also aims to support, inform, educate, and connect patients, healthcare providers, researchers, and other stakeholders in the RUNX1 community.

Objective

• To promote the establishment of a new generation of basic and translational scientists interested in tackling inherited hematologic malignancy predisposition disorders with a focus on RUNX1-familial platelet disorder. They believe that providing capital to early career investigators not only injects funding to where it is needed most, but also cultivates a new cohort of investigators who will be invested in an area of research that historically has had limited attention.

Scope 

• Aims of research proposals must be relevant to the goal of preventing hematologic malignant transformation in RUNX1-FPD. Proposals that seek to translate from bench to bedside will receive priority.
• Example areas of research interests include:
  • Characterize the role of RUNX1 in DNA damage repair and the impact germ line RUNX1 mutations may have on acquisition of somatic mutations in the blood.
  • Determine the functional differences of human RUNX1 mutant proteins and their role in conferring risk of hematologic malignancies.
  • Define the effects of germ line RUNX1 mutations on specific immune cells and potential contribution to the process of clonal evolution to HM.
  • Address the contribution of increased levels of inflammatory cytokines present in RUNX1-FPD bone marrow to somatic evolutionary processes that result in clonal hematopoiesis and its transformation to HM.
  • Investigate feasibility of developing therapies that target specific germ line RUNX1 mutation types. For example, for nonsense mutations test compounds that promote read-through of mRNA transcripts bearing nonsense mutations or for splice-site mutations develop antisense oligonucleotide-based therapies that target pre-mRNA fragments and can modulate aberrant splicing.

Funding Information

• The requested budget should be in proportion to the scope of the proposed project and should be at or under $180,000 USD in direct costs over 3 years. A maximum of $60,000 in total costs may be requested per year.

Ineligible Expenses

• RRP/ALSF adheres to the NIH salary cap for principal investigator(s).
• Indirect costs are not allowed.
• The grant may not be renewed; one no-cost extension request is allowed.
• Other budget items may include fringe, travel, supplies and small pieces of equipment. RRP/ALSF funds cannot be used for tuition remission.
• If utilizing a subcontract or sub award, you must include this expense in the budget:
  • No indirect costs will be paid.
  • The PI’s institution is responsible for disbursing funds for sub awards and/or subcontracts

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicant institutions may be based in the U.S. or outside of the U.S. Applicants need not be United States citizens. Funds must be granted to non-profit institutions or organizations.
• Applicants must have an MD, PhD, or MD/PhD (DO, MBBS, or equivalent) and be within five years of their first faculty appointment as an Assistant Professor or equivalent tenure-track position. Associate and Full Professors are ineligible. If at the Instructor level, the applicant must submit a letter of support from their mentor at the sponsoring institution.
• A minimum of 75% of the applicant’s time during the award period must be allocated as protected time for all research activities. This percentage of time includes both activities on this grant and the applicant’s other research responsibilities.
• Applicants may have research grants from other funding sources during the award period, but there must be clear documentation of mechanisms to avoid scientific and budgetary overlap.
• Applicants must have research experience working in, and a deep understanding of, normal or malignant hematopoiesis and/or immunology.
• One resubmission of a previously unfunded application is allowed. Use the Resubmission section of the application to respond to the prior RRP/ALSF critique of the proposal. The response will be scored in the review process in addition to the criteria used for new applications. Resubmissions compete with new applicants for funding.

Ineligibility Criteria

• The RUNX1 Early Career Grant is not transferable to another investigator.
• RRP/ALSF does not fund proposals for research utilizing human embryonic stem cells or non-human primates. Research with human induced pluripotent stem cells is permissible.

Selection Criteria

• Training/Education record
• Publication record
• Grant awards and research awards/recognition
• Quality and overall ranking of research proposal based on the NIH 9-point scoring system
• Alignment to overall goal of preventing hematologic malignancies in RUNX1-FPD and the feasibility of translating findings into the clinic.

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