Notice of Upcoming Funding Opportunity: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention Team Grants

Introduction

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of the Team Grants: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention.

This funding opportunity is led by the CIHR Institute of Cancer Research (CIHR-ICR) in collaboration with the CIHR Institutes of: Aging (CIHR-IA), Gender and Health (CIHR-IGH), Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes (CIHR-INMD), Population and Public Health (CIHR-IPPH), and in partnership with the BioCanRx, Cancer Research Society (CRS), Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) - Adopting Sustainable Partnerships for Innovative Research Ecosystem (ASPIRE), and other external partners.

Overview

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Approximately 2 in 5 Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime, and 1 in 4 will die of their diseaseFootnote *. The World Health Organization reports that between 30%-50% of cancer deaths are related to modifiable risk factors, suggesting that implementing evidence-based prevention strategies could be impactful in reducing cancer incidence and burden on individuals, families, and communitiesFootnote **.

The Team Grants: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention aims to unite interdisciplinary research teams to advance the biological and mechanistic understanding of cancer etiology, genesis, and risk, linked with host, lifestyle, environmental, social, and other factors, to identify new targets and approaches for cancer prevention, risk reduction, and early detection. Collaborations between traditional cancer prevention researchers (e.g., population and public health researchers, epidemiologists, social scientists) and those from other disciplines (e.g., biologists, immunologists, geneticists, drug developers) or who are new to the field are strongly encouraged. Collectively, these research teams will develop and disseminate evidence-based solutions to enable improvements in cancer prevention, risk reduction, and early detection at the individual and/or population-level.

Objectives

This funding opportunity aims to:

  • Advance the understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying cancer etiology, genesis, and/or risk linked with host, lifestyle, environmental, social, and other factors to enable improvements in cancer prevention, early detection, and risk reduction at the individual and/or population-level.
  • Foster and enable interdisciplinary team science by connecting diverse researchers across discovery, clinical, health services, and population health research, and knowledge users and knowledge holders, whose collaborative efforts are required to achieve an improved understanding of the biological mechanisms and associated determinants of health that influence cancer risk and development.
  • Bridge the gap between research and clinical/public health practice through knowledge mobilization.
  • Strengthen and promote research capacity in cancer prevention, early detection, and risk reduction through interdisciplinary and experiential-based approaches.

Research Areas

This funding opportunity focuses on primary and secondary cancer prevention, and will support projects relevant to the overall objectives and the following research areas:

  • General Pool
  • Breast Cancer Pool
  • Cancer in Women Pool
  • General External Exposome Pool
  • Germline Mutations Pool
  • Technology, Tools, and Methods Pool
  • Ultra-Processed Foods Pool
  • Vaccines Pool
  • International Japan-Canada Geroscience Pool
    • Note: There will be an additional international scientific mobility requirement for the Japan-Canada research team to promote international knowledge exchange and strengthen networks between Japan and Canada.

Funds Available

At the time of this announcement, the total amount available for this funding opportunity is up to $32,000,000 CAD and up to ¥380,000,000 YEN, enough to fund up to approximately sixteen (16) grants. This amount may increase if additional funding partners participate.

  • The maximum amount per grant is $400,000 CAD per year for up to five (5) years, for a total of $2,000,000 CAD per grant.
  • The maximum amount for the Japanese component of the "International Japan-Canada Geroscience" grant is ¥76,000,000 YEN per year for up to five (5) years, for a total of ¥380,000,000 YEN. This Japanese funding amount is in addition to the funding provided for the Canadian component of the International Japan-Canada Geroscience Team as described above. As such, the Japan-Canada Geroscience Team is eligible for total funding of up to $2,000,000 CAD and ¥380,000,000 YEN.

Anticipated Timelines

These timelines are estimates and subject to change

Webinar: Winter 2025
Launch: Fall 2024 / Winter 2025
Registration Deadline: Winter 2025
Application Deadline: Summer 2025
Funding Start Date: Fall 2025

The official CIHR funding opportunity will be posted on ResearchNet in the coming weeks.

For a full list of CIHR funding opportunities, please visit ResearchNet.

Contact information

CIHR Contact Centre
For general inquiries please contact:
613-954-1968
support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Disclaimer: The information contained herein is anticipatory only and does not represent an official funding commitment by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Accordingly, the information, contained herein may differ from the official funding opportunity that will be published on ResearchNet.

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