Explore current open funding applications from the George Washington University (GW) Cancer Center and Katzen Cancer Research Center below. Projects are intended to be collaborative in nature and advance the mission and vision of the GW Cancer Center. Awards should lead to competitive, peer-reviewed, external grant applications that bring sustained funding and are generally limited to members of the GW Cancer Center (specific PI requirements for each grant are explained in more detail below).
For those seeking to apply as members of the GW Cancer Center, the membership application can be found by clicking on the button below.
GW Cancer Center Membership Application
Applications for Katzen grants are reviewed by the GW Cancer Center Peer Review Committee, which may include outside expert reviewers. As part of the scientific peer review, all applications will undergo a selection process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific and technical merit will be discussed and assigned an impact/priority score. View current and previously funded research projects.
Formatting the Application
Applications for Katzen funding must be submitted on the forms provided with all required documentation. Applications should adhere to the following formatting requirements:
- Applications must be single spaced, one-sided with 0.5 margins on all sides. Space between paragraphs is recommended. Use 11 point Arial as the minimum font size for the text of the application, with page numbering in the footer. 9 point Arial font may be used for figures, legends, and tables with fixed spacing that can be photocopied. Do not reduce line space or reduce by photocopying.
- Do not send supplementary material pertinant to the application unless you have received a specific request from the GW Cancer Center's Research Review Committee.
- Submit the original of the complete proposal and letters of support.
- Transmit one electronic copy of the complete proposal as a single file in Word or Adobe PDF format to Leo Schargorodski at lschargorodski@mfa.gwu.edu.
All applications for GW Cancer Center/Katzen funding should be submitting using the form below.
GW Cancer Center/Katzen 2020 Pilot Award Application
Funding Opportunities
Current funding opportunities are described below. For additional information or questions about the application process, please email Leo Schargorodski at lschargorodski@mfa.gwu.edu.
- 2020 GW Cancer Center/Katzen Pilot Award Program: Population Sciences and Policy Program Enhancement (Due March 13, 2020)
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The George Washington University (GW) Cancer Center is pleased to announce targeted pilot awards for projects that directly advance the scientific themes of the Population Sciences and Policy Program. This initiative is intended to 1) support our community of scientists in conducting rigorous, impactful cancer-relevant research and obtaining additional extramural funding; and 2) expand our network of scientists and collaborations addressing cancer-relevant research.
Applications may be from any discipline but should propose high-impact cancer-related or cancer-relevant research. Applicants should consider the broad cancer continuum (e.g., prevention to survivorship), health inequities, and the entire lifespan (e.g., childhood, aging) and should propose work that generally falls into one of the following categories:
- Cancer Epidemiology: Describe the cancer burden, identify multilevel risk factors, and identify cancer control opportunities.
- Interventions: Investigate, implement and evaluate interventions and strategies to reduce cancer risk and enhance early detection across the life course and throughout the cancer continuum.
- Quality of Care: Evaluate the impact of health care interventions and systems-focused metrics that improve the quality of care received by cancer patients.
Any full-time, regular faculty member who is a member of the GW Cancer Center's Population Sciences and Policy Program is eligible to submit an application for a pilot award. Review criteria largely align with NIH review criteria (i.e., Significance, Investigator, Innovation, Approach). Additional criteria include:
- Likelihood of future competitive, peer-reviewed, external grant applications that bring sustained funding
- Relevance to and the potential for high impact for the GW Cancer Center's catchment area
- New investigators, new applicants and/or new GW Cancer Center members are strongly encouraged to apply
It is anticipated that 3-4 research proposals will be funded up to $50,000 each. Funding may be used for research staff time and/or non-personnel expenses critical for implementation of the study. Non-allowable expenses include faculty salary support, travel (unless required to conduct the research), conference fees, equipment and indirect expenses.
Applications are due via email to lschargorodski@mfa.gwu.edu no later than 4:00 PM on March 13, 2020. For questions and for submissions, contact Leo Schargorodski at lschargorodski@mfa.gwu.edu.
Requirements upon funding: Project period is expected to be June 1, 2020 - May 31, 2021. A progress report will be due December 31, 2020 describing study progress and financial stewardship. Projects that have made significant progress but have not been completed by the end of the project period can request a no-cost extension to complete the work. A final report will be due August 1, 2021.
- 2019 GW Cancer Center/Katzen Pilot Award Program (Closed)
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The GW Cancer Center is pleased to announce pilot awards for projects that focus on intra-programmatic interactions from Multi-Principal Investigators (PIs) within the same GW Cancer Center programmatic areas including:
- Cancer Biology
- Microbial Oncology/Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy*
- Cancer Engineering and Technology
- Cancer Control, Prevention and Policy Program
*Note: For this RFA, we will allow members of Microbial Oncology and the Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Program to act as a single program as their themes and interests have significant overlap.
Any full-time, regular faculty member who is a member of the GW Cancer Center is eligible to submit an application for a pilot award. Awards may be from any discipline and may be laboratory or translational in scope. This RFA requires two PIs from the same program. Additionally, preferential review will be given to the following:
- Documented, active participation and interactions between PIs in program meetings, publications, abstracts, posters and/or extramural/intramural grant applications.
- Projects with high likelihood of leading to joint publications and competitive, peer-reviewed external grant applications that bring sustained funding.
Budget request should be in the range of $25,000 per PI, for a total budget of $50,000.
Applications should be in Arial font, 11-pt or larger, and are limited to 5 pages, including figures but not including references. Within the 5 pages, be sure to include:
- Abstract, research question, aims, methods and timeline
- How the project will benefit from interactions of multi-PIs
- PIs' qualifications and environment to support project success
- Impact statement regarding the significance of the project to catchment area needs
- Plan for and likelihood of obtaining extramural funding with pilot data
Attachments: Submit NIH biosketches of the PIs and any key personnel.
Applications are due no later than 4:00 PM on June 1, 2019. For questions and for submissions, contact Leo Schargorodski at lschargorodski@mfa.gwu.edu.
Requirements upon funding: Project period is expected to be July 1, 2019-June 30, 2020. A progress report will be due in January 2020 describing study progress and financial stewardship. Projects that have not made significant progress may be discontinued. A final report will be due August 1, 2020.
- 2019 GW Cancer Center Liver Cancer Pilot Award Program (Closed)
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The GW Cancer Center is pleased to announce pilot awards for projects that focus on liver cancer in the Greater Washington, D.C. Metro area focusing on two priorities:
- The epidemiology of liver cancer in D.C. and its associated risk factors (hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, heavy alcohol use, smoking, obesity, anabolic steroids, chronic arsenic exposure, aflatoxin exposure, vinyl chloride exposure, thorium dioxide exposure, and opioid abuse): What are the risk factors that are causing liver cancer in our region? Why are some populations disproportionately affected?
- Education to prevent and detect liver cancer when most treatable, including those focused on hepatitis C prevention and treatment.
All projects must have the potential to leverage the pilot funding into an extramural grant application. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Washington, D.C. has the nation's highest liver cancer death rate. D.C. also leads the nation in infection rates for hepatitis C and HIV, two prominent risk factors for liver cancer.
Any full-time, regular faculty member who is a member of the GW Cancer Center is eligible to submit an application for a pilot award. Awards may be from any discipline and may be laboratory and/or translational in scope. Awards should lead to competitive, peer-reviewed, external grant applications that bring sustained funding.
You may call the GW Cancer Center administrative offices to confirm membership at 202-741-2210. For those seeking to apply as members, the GW Cancer Center Membership application can be found here.
Preferential review will be given to the following:
- Research that is focused on the epidemiology of liver cancer
- Projects that focus on the education to prevent, screen and provide early detection of liver cancer
- Projects that focus on subpopulations in the D.C. region that are disproportionately affected by liver cancer
Up to two research proposals will be funded up to $30,000 each. The application form and instructions can be downloaded below. Only this application form will be accepted. The application should be in Arial font, 11-pt or larger and is limited to three (3) pages, including figures but not including references. Within 3 pages, be sure to include:
- Abstract, research question, aims, methods and timeline
- PI qualifications and environment to support project success
- Impact statement regarding the significance of the project to catchment area needs
Plan for and likelihood of obtaining extramural funding with pilot data
Attachments: Submit NIH biosketches of the Principal Investigator and any key personnel. Collaborative, cross-disciplinary projects are encouraged.
Applications are now closed.
Requirements upon funding: Project period is April 1, 2019-March 30, 2020. A progress report will be due in September 2019 describing study progress and financial stewardship. Projects that have not made significant progress may be discontinued. A final report will be due April 30, 2020.
- GW Cancer Center/Children's National Medical Center Pilot Awards Program: Strengthening the Consortium (Closed)
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We are pleased to announce a pilot grant request for strengthening the GW Cancer Center consortium between the GW University (GWU) and Children's National Medical Center. The goal of this RFA is to accelerate the discovery and development of novel approaches for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with cancer, while strengthening the collaboration between GWU and CNMC based faculty. As with all GW Cancer Center pilot awards, a major objective is to advance the scientific endeavors towards publication and peer-reviewed grant funding.
It is anticipated that two pilot awards will be funded for activities that demonstrate strong collaboration and multi-disciplinary effort. Responsive applications must be:
- Highly interactive in nature and include a CNMC employed Cancer Center faculty member and a GW University employed Cancer Center faculty member (Dual PI);
- From a broad range of disciplines that seeks to advance and promote discovery and development while fostering concerted dialogue across basic, translational, and/or clinical research to benefit patients with cancer (including malignant blood disorders).
Each institutional PI must have a PhD or MD, PhD degree, currently conduct research on key research interests, and be an active Cancer Center Member (view current active faculty members). The awards are given to highly promising scientists at various stages of their careers. High priority will be given to projects that demonstrate interdisciplinary teams that successfully integrate clinical care and laboratory research developed from this funding opportunity. The awards are given to provide "seed money" to generate preliminary data for the investigators to ultimately prepare and obtain extramural research awards, namely NIH grants. Please do not apply more than once. Note that the Executive Committee (EC) members are not eligible for this funding opportunity.
It is anticipated that two (2) research proposals will be funded at $50,000 each.
The applications should be in Arial font, 11-pt or larger and are limited to 3 pages, including figures but not including references. Within the 3 pages, be sure to include:
- Abstract, research question, aims, methods and timeline
- PI qualifications and environment to support project success
- Impact statement regarding the significance of the project to catchment area needs
- Plan for and likelihood of obtaining extramural funding with pilot data
- Attachments: NIH biosketches of the Principal Investigator(s) and any key personnel; budget and justification using this template
- Capital purchases, computers and office supplies are not allowed. Must have IRB or IACUC approval or pending at the time of funding.
Applications are due no later than 4:00 PM on December 20, 2018. For questions and for submissions, contact Leo Schargorodski at lschargorodski@mfa.gwu.edu.