Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) may nominate two junior faculty candidates for the Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research Awards: one in Mainstream/Conventional research, and one in Integrative Medicine research (please see below for further details regarding this category) for 2017. These awards typically provide $75,000 per year for up to three years, contingent upon approved annual progress reports.
Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation Medical Research Awards, issued annually, provide support to junior investigators whose cutting-edge, creative scientific proposals have the greatest potential of broadening our understanding of, and treatment for, blood cancers. The foundation focuses on projects for cancer prevention, detection and treatment that are most likely to be translated into clinical trials within a three- to five-year period.
These Medical Research Awards are specifically designed to provide support at the early exponential phase in the junior investigator’s independent lab career. Our stated purpose is to encourage the exploration of new areas of research in the hematologic malignancies—the kind of bold scientific ideas that lack sufficient data and/or may not be eligible for funding from more traditional mechanisms.
Eligibility
- Applicants must hold a junior faculty position at a 501(c)(3) teaching research institution and have an M.D., Ph.D., or M.D./Ph.D. degree(s) from an accredited institution.
- Applicants must hold the designation of assistant professor (associate professors are ineligible) and must have institutional support either as an independent junior faculty member or tenure track.
- Applicant must have held his/her current position no longer than five years.
- Applicants must clearly state that he/she has independent research projects as well as independent resources and must have preliminary results and/or publications from their independent laboratory.
Anyone interested in being considered as one of VICC’s nominees must submit the following (in PDF format) to LSO@vanderbilt.edu by 5 p.m. on May 19.
- A brief (two-page maximum) research plan including summary budget;
- A brief statement of support from department chair/center director;
- A CV or NIH Biosketch.
Submissions should reference the program name in the subject line of the email.
The chosen nominees will submit a full proposal by the foundation’s Aug. 17, 2017, deadline. If you have any questions about the foundation or its interests and priorities, please contact Megan Smallwood in the Office of Research at (615) 875-7529.
Integrative Medicine Research Category Guidelines
In addition to funding conventional medical research, Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation also seeks to support integrative research projects that explore evidence-based complementary interventions, optimize the manner in which mainstream care is delivered, and improve the lives of those living with cancer, specifically the hematologic malignancies.
Such integrative (complementary) therapies may include:
- Acupuncture
- Integrative mind-body interventions
- Manipulative and body-based therapies
- Meditation
- Music therapy
- Nutrition
- Physical fitness
- Use of biologically based agents (but not in “conventional” ways)
- Yoga
The foundation seeks to support clinical trials and/or pre-clinical research that addresses reducing patients’ physical and emotional distress during or after cancer therapy.
Examples include:
- Neurophysiologic, neuroendocrine and biochemical pathways triggered by massage therapy, including animal studies or instrument-based approaches such as imaging techniques;
- Mechanistic studies of herbs, nutritional supplements or natural products to enhance cognitive function or treat depression or anxiety;
- Herb-drug interactions;
- Basic biological mechanisms and processes that underlie acupuncture, meditation or yoga, including studies in man or animal models or those employing imaging.
Research must be compelling, with firmly grounded scientific rationale and high-quality relevant methodology. Proposals must reflect a solid grasp of the field and employ pragmatic research methodology and design. Proposals will be evaluated for creativity, originality and scientific rigor. Proposals based on promising preliminary data will be favored. Applicant’s prior experience and competencies will be assessed.
