Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) @ Stanford Medicine PICI @ Stanford Medicine Bedside to Bench Grant Program Call for Proposals Letter of intent deadline: Monday, Dec. 12, 2016 The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) @ Stanford Medicine Bedside to Bench Grant Program supports early stage projects that will enhance interdisciplinary basic and translational research among the Stanford scientific community in Cancer Immunotherapy. The PICI Bedside to Bench Grant will support collaborations between basic scientists and clinical researchers that lead to fundamental discoveries and advance the field of cancer immunotherapy. These awards are targeted to faculty with early-stage, high-risk ideas that would not be funded by traditional sources. We are particularly interested in the following areas of study: T-Cell Therapies, Checkpoint Non-Responders, Antigen Discovery and the Tumor Microenvironment. All proposals must involve at least one basic science and one clinical investigator. We encourage applications from scientists across a broad array of disciplines whose combined perspectives will help to accelerate the pace of discovery. Eligibility The RFA is open to all members of the Stanford University faculty with University (UTL), Medical Center (MCL), Non-tenure line Research (NTLR) and Clinician Educator (CE) faculty appointments. Clinical Instructors and Instructors may apply (with a faculty collaborator). Note: Clinician Educator (CE) faculty PI waivers are not needed for internal funding opportunities. All proposals must involve at least one basic science and one clinical investigator Award Funding Awards will be funded for TWO YEARS, with possibility of renewal, with an earliest start date of April 1, 2017. Awards up to $200,000 direct costs ($100,000 per year, with 15% IDC to be added for a total of $115,000 per year.) The Bedside to Bench PICI @ Stanford Medicine Grant: We invite proposals that foster scientific discovery in the field of cancer immunotherapy, and which focus on interrogating clinical samples using cutting edge technologies. Successful proposals will engage collaboration between clinical investigators and basic research scientists. We are particularly interested in proposals that seek to identify correlative biomarkers of response to immunotherapy or that will enable discovery of new targets or pathways that could be leveraged for therapeutic gain using immune based therapies. Selected proposals will have access to the Stanford Medicine PICI Biobank and the services of the Stanford Medicine PICI Correlative Science Unit at no cost. The PICI Correlative Science Unit offers access to leading edge technologies that were developed at Stanford, including CyTOF, highdimensional flow cytometry, and ATAC-Seq epigenetic profiling, thus enabling state-of-the-art 1
discovery science aimed at identifying novel biomarkers and correlates of response for immunooncology trials conducted at Stanford. Timeline RFA posted November 16, 2016 Letter of Intent due December 12, 2016 Invitations for full proposals January 17, 2017 Full proposals due February 20, 2017 Notice of selection March 20, 2017 Funds available April 1, 2017 1 year progress report April 1, 2018 2 year progress report April 1, 2019 Follow-up Progress Reports As appropriate Evaluation Criteria Applications will be evaluated on the following positive criteria: Innovation of the proposal Potential to lead to greater understanding of cancer immunotherapy or a novel therapeutic approach Extent of multi-disciplinary collaborations. All applications must identify at least one basic scientist and one clinical investigator on the research team. Utilization and/or development of novel technology platform(s) and/or novel application of assays and technologies offered by the Stanford Medicine PICI Correlative Science Unit Award Funding Awards will be funded for TWO YEARS, with possibility of renewal, with an earliest start date of April 1, 2017. Awards up to $200,000 direct costs ($100,000 per year, with 15% IDC to be added for a total of $115,000 per year.) Funding will be available once all IRB, SRC and/or APLAC approvals are received (if applicable). Funds may be used for: PI Salary Support Other personnel directly supporting proposed project Equipment and supplies Other purposes deemed necessary for successful execution of proposed project Selected proposals will have access to the Stanford Medicine PICI Biobank and the array of technologies provided by the Stanford Medicine PICI Correlative Science Unit at no cost. The PICI Correlative Science Unit offers access to leading edge technologies that were developed at 2
Stanford, including the following three services: CyTOF, high-dimensional flow cytometry, and ATAC-Seq epigenetic profiling. Unused funds will revert back to the PICI @ Stanford Medicine at the end of the funding period, unless a carryforward is requested and justified. All proposed expenses must conform to the general policies of the University. Funding may be revoked if adequate progress is not being made or progress reports are not submitted. APPLICATION PROCESS: Letter of Intent (LOI) By Monday, Dec. 12, 2016, please submit one PDF file (File name: Last name_pici_grant.pdf ) containing the following via email attachment to: Denise Baughman at deniseb@stanford.edu Email subject line: 2017 Stanford Medicine PICI Bedside to Bench Grant PI: [Insert PI Last Name] Letter of Intent format: 1. One page, one side 2. Arial 11-pitch font 3. 1/2-inch margins all around 4. Single spaced The Letter of Intent should include: PI & Co-PI(s) names, titles, departments, Project title, and a concise statement of the proposed research. If applicants plan to use PICI Correlative Science Unit, please note which technologies identified above will be utilized and how the technologies will inform the project. (Reminder: all applications must have a clinical and a basic science collaborator.) A subset of letter of intent applicants will be invited by Jan. 17 th to submit full proposals by Feb. 17, 2017. More information about the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy can be found at: http://www.parkerici.org. Full Application Procedure (by invitation only) Applicants must receive an invitation to submit a full proposal in response to their Letter of Intent. Invitations for full proposals will be sent on Tuesday January 17, 2017. Full proposals will 3
be due on Monday February 20. Guidelines and all required applications forms and documents will be available on the Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI) Funding website by November 30 th. A complete application will include a cover page, abstract, research proposal (4 pages maximum), bibliography, budget, budget justification, and NIH biosketches. Details about each section are provided in the following paragraphs. Cover Page and Abstract All sections of the downloadable PDF cover page and abstract forms must be completed in full. A single PTA will be set up for each accepted proposal. Please enter Department/Division Manager name and contact information for managing the award funding. Research Proposal The research proposal should be no more than four pages (single-spaced, 1/2 inch margins, Arial 11). Investigators are free to organize information as they choose. A recommended outline includes: Specific Aims Background and Significance Innovation and Methods Utilization of PICI Correlative Science resources, if applicable Milestones Discussion of follow-on plans, proposals, and implications The discussion of follow-on activity is aimed at insuring that these internally funded grants lead to productive outcomes such as new clinical trials, peer-reviewed grants, or other scientifically or clinically important accomplishments. Investigators should suggest their own milestones and these will be an important part of proposal evaluation. Bibliography Include only key references and references cited in the body of the proposal. Budget Awards will be made based on TOTAL COST. Awards will be grossed up to cover the 15% Indirect Costs (IDC) rate. The accompanying budget justification should be sufficiently detailed so that reviewers can assess whether the proper resources have been requested. The MS Word budget file will be available on the SCI Funding website. Grant funds may be budgeted for: (a) PI salary support (b) other personnel directly supporting proposed project (c) equipment and supplies 4
(d) other purposes deemed necessary for successful execution of proposed project. Unused funds will revert back to the PICI @ Stanford Medicine at the end of the funding period, unless a carryforward is requested and justified. All proposed expenses must conform to the general policies of the University. NIH Biosketches The application must include an NIH biosketch, with other support included for the PI and Co- Investigators. MS Word file NIH biosketch form will be available on the SCI Funding website. IRB, SRC and APLAC Approval Necessary approvals are not required at the time of proposal application but are required before funding can be released. Research involving animals or human subjects must be reviewed in accordance with the University's general assurances and HIPAA. Projects involving human subjects must be submitted to an Internal Review Board (IRB). Intervention studies and clinical protocols must be reviewed and approved by the Scientific Review Committee (SRC). Projects involving animal studies must also submit approval forms from the Administrative Panel on Animal Care (APLAC). All investigators and persons named on the budget page must have certification of training in the protection of human subjects. Funding will not be made available, until appropriate IRB, SRC and/or APLAC approvals are received. Delays in approvals will not extend the funding period. Appendices If the investigator has received other grant support for the proposed research (or similar research) in the past, relevant funding information should be included in the appendices. Otherwise appendices are discouraged. Review and Criteria A joint review committee comprised of PICI @Stanford Medicine and Cancer Institute members will review proposals and make recommendations for award funding. Evaluation criteria include those attributes listed above and: Scientific merit Relevance to cancer immunotherapy research and/or clinical/translational cancer immunotherapy research Qualifications, experience and productivity of the applicants Collaboration within the cancer research and technology development community Project feasibility given facilities, milestones, budget, time and other resources available Potential for future grants and/or publications A Note to Potential Reviewers 5
Members of the review committee will not be disqualified from being applicants, in which case they will recuse themselves at appropriate times. Members of the review committee will be expected to submit their written reviews in a timely manner and to participate in each committee meeting. External reviews may be solicited on larger proposals or where a perceived conflict of interest exists. Monitoring PICI @ Stanford Medicine staff will track accomplishments of awardees to the stated goals on an ongoing basis. This record will be used to justify the ongoing funding of the program. Awardees will be required to provide annual progress reports after project award. Progress reports must be consistent with proposal milestones. Awardees are required to present their work at the annual PICI member retreat or at a special seed grant conference open to all PICI members. You may be requested to discuss your progress at a future PICI leadership meeting. Future funding eligibility will be based on the completion of deliverables. Funding may be revoked if adequate progress is not being made or progress reports are not submitted. Acknowledgement of Research Support Awardees must acknowledge the research support of the Stanford Medicine PICI in all communications, including publications, presentations, newsletters and abstracts. Suggested boilerplate text is: This work was conducted with support from the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Stanford Medicine. Award Terms and Conditions All awardees will be required to become Parker Institute Project Members and will be subject to relevant terms and conditions. These terms include requirements that you: 1) provide manuscripts to PICI before publication; 2) share your data with other PICI researchers; and 3) know that inventions you create under this project or in the field of cancer immunotherapy will be licensed by a committee of PICI staff plus representatives from Stanford and other PICI institutions. For more information, please contact Jaysen Rajkomar at: jaysen.rajkomar@stanford.edu. For additional information regarding this grant program, please send your inquiries to Elisabeth Einaudi at: eeinaudi@stanford.edu. 6