Improving the Early Detection of Lung Cancer Award
Rising Tide/LUNGevity Request for Proposals
The Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research and LUNGevity Foundation are partnering to issue a Request for Applications To Improve Early Detection of Lung Cancer through biomarkers and imaging.
The request for application (RFA) supports clinical trials and validation studies aimed at:
- improving current stratification criteria for of the high-risk population, or
- validating new early detection tests that are more acceptable than first line LDCT screening, or
- testing new methods for stratification risk of IPNs
by utilizing new imaging, blood biomarkers or monitoring algorithms, with patient partners involved in the study design and execution.
This award application process will be managed through the RTFCCR online platform SmartSimple [SmartSimple | Rising Tide Foundation].
Award Structure and Allocation
Investigators may receive up to USD 1,000,000 per project, over three years.
Award funds may be used for the salary and fringe benefit costs of personnel other than the applicant. Fringe benefit costs may only be expended upon the stipulation that they cannot be obtained from another source. No more than 25% of the requested budget may be used for an investigator’s salary and/or fringe benefits. Travel costs for investigators cannot be covered by this grant. Please note that indirect costs, such as overhead, are not covered.
Allowable costs for clinical trials include: expenses related to subject recruitment (such as participation cost reimbursement, phlebotomy charges, etc.), clinical laboratory analyses of human subjects or their samples (such as clinical laboratory assays, imaging charges, etc.), and correlative validation studies. The award may be used to help with operational costs, The investigator is required to procure funding to cover the remaining cost of the trial, a fundraising plan will be requested as part of the application.
Duration: The Rising Tide/LUNGevity Award for Improving the Early Detection of Lung Cancer may be granted for up to 3 years.
Clinical Trial Eligibility Criteria
The following criteria must be met for the proposed clinical trial/ validation study:
- The study may improve existing or identify newly developed tests, test methods, technologies, or devices.
- The study should focus on populations at high risk of development, or progression of cancer or on identifying nodules or other structures detected on imaging (incidentally or on intentional search) which are likely to be malignant
- Studies with a clinical intervention and a clinical endpoint will be prioritized.
- Early development of a diagnostic tool without analytical validation in cancer populations or samples is not supported in this funding mechanism. Nation-wide population screening are not supported in this funding mechanisms.
- Patient research advocates or patient organizations (patient partners) must be involved in the proposed study from its beginning (please refer to the video below for guidance on patient involvement).
Final selection will be contingent on scientific review and availability of funds.
For more information, please read the full RFA.
Application process
The application process involves the following steps:
- Letter of Intent (LOI) are submitted online through our grant management system SmartSimple (SmartSimple | Rising Tide Foundation) with deadline February 12th, 2025. They will be assessed by internal staff and advisory board members of both foundations.
- Full Grant Application: the most promising LOIs that align with our RFA topic will be invited to submit a full grant application online.
- Grant Review Committee: full grant applications are reviewed by our grant review committee, a panel of external experts that carries out a comprehensive scientific review. Each application is independently analyzed and ranked by scientific peer reviewers, patient experts and biostatisticians on the panel.
- Recommendations made by the grant review committee are submitted to the RTFCCR’s and LUNGevity’s boards of directors for final funding approval. Upon approval recipients will be notified of the award, no later than a month after the board meeting. Declination letters will be sent to those who were not successful in their application.
Q&A on Patient Involvement in Early Detection
About LUNGevity
LUNGevity Foundation is a 501(c)(3) philanthropy specifically focused on funding research for the early detection and effective treatment of lung cancer. LUNGevity’s mission is to improve mortality rates of lung cancer patients through the development of protocols and tools for early detection of lung cancer, early intervention in the disease progression, and treatments, including targeted therapy and immunotherapy. LUNGevity focuses on translational science. For more information about LUNGevity Foundation, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.