Collaborative Call for Applications to Support Research in Breast Cancer, other Solid Tumors, and Hematologic Malignancies: 2023 Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and Karolinska Institutet

The Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center and Karolinska Institutet have created a unique collaborative international network focused on innovative science and translation, and are in an excellent position to leverage this relationship to make a global impact on cancer through research focusing on innovative scientific discovery and/or the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer. In 2023, these collaborative efforts will support up to 2 demonstration projects in breast cancer and up to 3 additional projects in other solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this funding is to initiate and further enhance collaborative research endeavours in the cancer area between Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center and Karolinska Institutet - Cancer Research KI.

We seek highly innovative approaches that may involve considerable scientific risk, but which may potentially lead to a breakthrough in a particular area, or to the development of new techniques, agents, methodologies, models, and applications that could have a major impact on cancer research and patient outcomes. It is expected that support via this program will lead to impactful publications, discoveries and targeted submission of subsequent extramural peer-reviewed grants seeking support from other sources. These will be the metrics of success for this grant award program, and regular followup with the investigators will be done to ensure progress.

FUNDING

Up to five (5) individual projects will be awarded for one year with a second year of funding contingent on satisfactory progress in the first year.  Up to two projects will be funded within the area of breast cancer and up to three projects will be funded in support of research in other solid tumors and/or hematologic malignancies. Project investigators may request up to $100,000 (total cost) for the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center component ($50,000/year for 2 years) and up to 1.25 MSEK for the Karolinska Institutet component (625,000 SEK/year for 2 years) per project. Indirect costs are included in the total award. Funding for this RFA is through established philanthropic support at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center and Cancer Research KI (Karolinska Institutet).

KEY DATES

• Application submission deadline Sweden: 23:59 on March 31, 2023
• Application submission deadline Rochester, MN, USA: 5:00 pm (CT) on March 31, 2023
• Award Announcements: June 1, 2023
• Award Period: July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2025 

ELIGIBILITY

Mayo applicants must hold a faculty position at any of the three Mayo Clinic sites. At KI, all faculty with a PhD and working at least 50% at any KI Department are eligible to apply for funding. Each collaborative application must include one investigator from Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center and one investigator from Karolinska Institutet.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

The application should be written in English and contain:

• Research program (four pages maximum, excluding references)
• Applications need to clearly identify how the research strengths of each investigator will synergize such that the research could not move forward without the collaboration.  Applications from Mayo/Karolinska investigators forging new collaborations as well as from investigators with a prior track record of collaboration are welcome
• For Mayo investigators, a current NIH biosketch is required
• For Karolinska investigators, a Short CV of the principal investigator (including current funding) and a Publication list for the last eight years (2015–2023)
• Project budget for Year 1 and 2 as well as simple budget justifications for Mayo Clinic Cancer Center partner in dollars and Karolinska Institutet partner in SEK
• Formatting: Arial font, size 11, margins 1” inch, single spaced with page numbering.

SUBMISSION

Please send your application as a single pdf file named "Mayo_KI collaboration call_first name_last name" to cancerresearchki@ki.se and breastspore@mayo.edu at the stated deadlines.

Late submissions will not be accepted. There will be no exceptions.

EVALUATION

The applications will be subjected to a scientific review that will include both internal and external (Mayo) and external (KI) scientific reviewers.  The evaluations will be combined and an executive committee (composed of the Director of Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Research and the Director of Cancer Research KI (pending no conflict of interest exists) will make the final funding decision based on the ranking from the combined evaluations. 

Review Criteria: Reviewers will consider each of the criteria below:
 

• Scientific merit, including adequacy of design and proposed statistical analysis.

• Originality and innovativeness of the proposal and relevance to the overall goals of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center/Karolinska Institutet Collaboration.
• Qualifications of the key personnel and their ability to conduct the proposed research.
• Degree to which the project addresses an issue of significant importance for reducing cancer incidence and mortality rates and increasing survival and quality of life.
• Potential for the project to obtain subsequent extramural/external peer-reviewed external research funding and the potential source (programmatic grant, collaborative grant, individual investigator grant).

ENABLING COLLABORATION

To facilitate new collaborations, we are offering assistance in identifying research partners at both institutions. Please write a short description of the proposed project and send this to either Tammy Greenwood at greenwood.tammy@mayo.edu at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center (Mayo investigators) or Johanna Furuhjelm johanna.furuhjelm@ki.se at Cancer Research KI (KI investigators).  We will identify contact details for potential research collaborators in the appropriate area of breast cancer research or solid tumor research.

INQUIRIES

Additional inquiries may be emailed to cancerresearchki@ki.se or breastspore@mayo.edu.