The Intramural Funding Program (IFP) enables Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center to advance its mission to reduce the burden of cancer in its catchment area by supporting strategically aligned innovative research. IFP funds, which come from the CCSG, the State of Florida, the University of Miami, and philanthropy, facilitate impactful collaborations, advance transdisciplinary, translational, and team science research and accelerate clinical trial development. The program’s success is measured by the generation of peer reviewed funding, publications, patent applications, and externally funded clinical trials.
Sylvester’s IFP, is overseen by the Deputy Director, Dr. Antonio Iavarone, M.D. and a team which uses well-established, rigorous processes for soliciting, reviewing, awarding, and tracking research outcomes. For questions about the IFP please contact:
- Kathleen Frank, Senior Grants Administrator-IFP Program
Email: kathleenfrank@miami.edu
Phone: (305) 243-2208 - Jorge L. Vázquez, Executive Director, Research Operations
Email: jorgevazquez@med.miami.edu
Phone: (305) 243-5708
Application and Award Announcement Dates
Cycle I | Cycle II | |
---|---|---|
RFA Launch | January |
August |
Applications Due | March | September-October |
Merit Review | April | September-October |
Study Sections | May | November |
Award Selection | May | November |
NOAs Issued | May | November |
Earliest Anticipated Start | June/July | December |
Review the specific request for applications (RFA) for deadline information. Not all RFAs are available in all cycles.
IFP Award Categories
Cycle I
- Transdisciplinary Science Pilot Award
- Translational Science Pilot Award
- Community Partnerships in Advancing Health Equity in Cancer Care Pilot Award - New!
- Early Career Advancement Pilot Award - Early Career Investigator Award
- Engineering Cancer CuresTM Pilot Award
Cycle II
- Translational Science Pilot Award
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Recognition Supplement Award
- Team Science Award
- Community Outreach and Engagement Pilot Award
- FACCA Pilot Awards
- American Cancer Society (ACS) Pilot Awards - Early Career Investigator Award
Monthly
- NCI/NIH Boost Award
- NCI/NIH Catalyst Award
- Sylvester Bridge Funding Award
- Clinical Trial Acceleration Award
Transdisciplinary Science Pilot Award
This funding opportunity is designed to fund collaborations bringing together investigators from diverse disciplines, promoting the highest level of scientific discovery and translation that serves patients in our catchment area. Projects will be evaluated based on their relevance to the catchment area, interdisciplinary nature, potential impact, and potential for extramural funding. PIs funded by this project are expected to apply for NIH level peer-reviewed extramural funding within two (2) years of receipt.
Translational Science Pilot Award
This funding opportunity seeks to translate cancer research projects from the lab/population-based study into the clinic or the reverse. This funding opportunity is designed to fund highly innovative research that will: (1) stimulate translational cancer research, (2) encourage new multidisciplinary collaborations and (3) generate pilot data that can lead to an extramurally funded project in cancer research. Projects will be evaluated based on their relevance and potential impact on the catchment area and potential for extramural funding. PIs with research projects that are pre-clinical and ready to be translated into an Investigator Initiated Study and/or correlative studies based on newly developed biomarkers or targets are highly encouraged to apply.
Community Outreach and Engagement Pilot Award
This funding mechanism promotes transdisciplinary research collaborations focused on cancer disparities, that address issues relevant to the diverse community of people living in South Florida. Pilot funds allow investigators to pursue new ideas and develop preliminary data to support successful NCI or cancer-related NIH R01 applications.
Early Career Advancement Pilot Award - Early Career Investigator Award
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to enhance the diversity of the cancer research workforce at Sylvester by supporting eligible early career investigators from underrepresented populations in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences. The Early Career Advancement Award provides seed funds to junior investigators who have no current peer reviewed funding, with the goals of attracting them into cancer research and serving as a catalyst for the submission of national research grants. Research applications should focus on important clinical issues, population-based studies, basic cancer biology or translational cancer research.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Recognition Supplement Award
This supplemental funding opportunity recognizes an individual or group with an active research project or a peer-reviewed grant proposal under review that promotes health equity, addresses and/or mitigates cancer disparities, and advocates for and/or enhances diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Cancer Center.
Team Science Award
This funding mechanism supports groups of investigators working as part of a multidisciplinary research team that plans on submitting a large cancer-related multi-PI grant (e.g., P01, SPORE) within one to two years of the award.
NCI/NIH Boost Award
This award provides supplemental funding to recently awarded NCI/NIH awards. It is designed to restore the budgets of funded proposals, which allows the research to proceed at its intended pace. Over time, these funds should lead to higher rates of successful NCI/NIH grant renewals and other awards.
NCI/NIH Catalyst Award
This award promotes the successful resubmission of NIH/NCI applications that have received nearly fundable scores from an NIH study section. Awards are given to investigators upon receipt of the percentile ranking of the Cancer Center member’s grant application. Recipients of these awards are required to resubmit a revised application within one year of notification that the initial grant application was not funded.
Sylvester Bridge Funding Award
This funding mechanism assists Cancer Center members in maintaining their research activities in the event of a lapse in extramural funding based on their needs over a one-year period. Applicants must have applied or be applying for continuation of extramural funding for the application to be eligible.
Clinical Trial Acceleration Award
The goal of this funding mechanism is to support highly innovative and programmatically important investigator-initiated, national, or industry-sponsored clinical trials, as well as innovative translational studies that have the promise of leading to new clinical trial concepts. The funding opportunity includes three categories: (1) Investigator Initiated Studies (IIS) focused on innovative, multi-disciplinary projects; (2) Gap Funding (GAP) for treatment trials that have a gap between sponsor funding and the SCCC budget estimate; and (3) Translational Funding (TRL) for correlative studies linked to a clinical trial and/or which have promise of being the foundation for an IIS. Prioritization will be given to trials which are catchment area relevant, programmatically aligned or led by a junior faculty.
Engineering Cancer CuresTM Pilot Award
Engineering Cancer Cures is a joint initiative of the College of Engineering and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center with a mission to develop and deploy innovative engineering technologies for cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment. These awards support novel collaborative efforts, involving one member from the College of Engineering and generally one from the Miller School.
FACCA Pilot Awards
The purpose of this Florida Academic Cancer Center Alliance (FACCA) Funding Opportunity is to support scientific collaborations across three Florida cancer centers – Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Moffitt Cancer Center and UF Health Cancer Center. Focus areas are Cancer & Aging, Cancer Prevention, Care Delivery & Survivorship, Metabolism, Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy and Infection and Cancer.
American Cancer Society (ACS) Institutional Research Grant (IRG) Pilot Awards - Early Career Investigator Award
This competition is the result of an ACS Institutional Research Grant to the University of Miami whose purpose is to support early career faculty and encourage independent cancer research. This funding provides “seed money” to early-career investigators who have no current peer-reviewed research grant support, with the goals of encouraging cancer research and serving as a catalyst for the submission of national research grants.
Community Partnerships in Advancing Health Equity in Cancer Care Pilot Award - New!
This is a funding opportunity that focuses on uniting Sylvester faculty members and community stakeholders to pursue collaborative science that will address health disparities across the cancer continuum. This grant opportunity supports research that uses empirical evidence and/or community input to organize the focus of inquiry. Research should draw from local or state data and other relevant information which speaks to cancer health disparities and barriers to health equity in the target geography. Applicants who identify projects within the Sylvester catchment area will be highly considered. Proposals that involve community participation are given priority, as having stakeholder input throughout the research process to address health disparities is essential for advancing Sylvester’s commitment to the CA and mission to advance health equity.
For the full-text RFAs and to apply please visit our Sylvester InfoReady site: CLICK HERE
For more information, please contact us at SylvesterIFP@med.miami.edu.