ViiV Healthcare was established to take an innovative approach to the challenge of HIV—and we do. It’s who we are. An innovative approach means we go beyond developing new medicines—we know it takes more to end the epidemic. Through a combination of community-focused approaches that include deep listening, grantmaking, community engagement, shared learning, and cultural arts programs, we ensure that the voices of the HIV community inform everything we do.

ViiV Healthcare is expanding our longstanding Positive Action for Women program with Risk to Reasons, a new initiative dedicated to reframing and refocusing HIV prevention and care for Black women. For too long, women have been overlooked and ignored when it comes to HIV, with Black women bearing the greatest burden. Risk to Reasons sets out to increase awareness and action around HIV prevention for Black women of cis and trans experience. Guided by advocates across the country, the initiative will create content, fund community action and connect advocates to change the impact of HIV in Black communities and get more Black women connected to prevention and care. At the heart of Risk to Reasons is shifting the dominant framework of “risk” that has characterized HIV prevention and care and promoting a new focus on “reasons for HIV prevention.” For many, “risk” is unspecific, stigmatizing, and causes people to disassociate, rather than prioritize their personal prevention needs. Instead, the Risk to Reasons initiative seeks to frame HIV prevention around the reasons that motivate and empower women to address their sexual health. Moving from “risk” to “reasons” offers an opportunity to rethink and redefine the relationship between Black women and HIV.

Risk to Reasons funding is available for projects that:

• Engage Black women to increase awareness and access to prevention.
• Train Organizations and Providers to serve Black women, with a focus on service providers at the critical intersections of HIV and social determinants of health.
• Change the Narrative around HIV and Women building on the framework of Risk to Reasons

Online Application: https://us.viivhealthcare.com/positive-action-for-women.aspx

All Positive Action Southern Initiative projects must be focused on reaching more people in their community who are out-of-care and connecting them to care. PASI projects should identify, link/re-link and engage PLWHA who are out-of-care through the following strategies:

• Expanding outreach and navigation capacity to focus on people who are out-of-care and provide high-touch support for people navigating health care systems
• Partnering with other health and community services to build infrastructure that can help better reach and serve people who are not in care
• Connecting people with strong social and emotional supportive services to address barriers to care and build networks of support
• PASI is seeking proposals that expand outreach, partnerships and navigation services to reach individuals that are out-of-care.

Online Application: https://www.viivhealthcare.com/en-us/positive-action-southern-initiative/

Must coordinate with Foundation Relations. Grant term can be 1-2 years; total award NTE $500,000. The Behavioral Health Initiative is interested in funding projects that address the five priority areas listed below and improve access to behavioral health treatment. Projects must incorporate at least one of these categories:

• Implementation of innovative care delivery models
• Multi-sector responses aimed at developing and strengthening local systems of care for mental health and SUD and supporting efficient entry to treatment
• Use of innovative technology to improve access to care and/or quality of care
• Implementation of team-based approaches to care, including integration at the point of care, sharing health information among providers, and increased provider consultation
• Projects that focus on behavioral health improvements for pregnant women, infants, and foster and adopted children

Online Application: https://mihealthfund.org/grantmaking/behavioral-health-initiative

Deadline is for Letter of Intent; Full Proposals are by invitation only and are due 7/22/2024. There are currently no FDA-approved disease-modifying treatments available for frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and symptomatic treatments only provide limited benefit for patients. Recent scientific advances have provided an increased understanding of pathogenic mechanisms underlying FTD and are driving the development of potential disease-modifying therapies. The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) and The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) seek to accelerate this progress by supporting innovative small molecule and biologic (antibodies, oligonucleotides, peptides, gene therapy, etc.) drug development programs for FTD through this request for proposals (RFP).

The RFP supports:

• Lead optimization of novel disease-modifying compounds, including medicinal chemistry refinement and in vitro ADME.
• In vivo testing of novel lead compounds, biologics, vaccines, or repurposed drug candidates in relevant animal models for pharmacokinetics, dose-range finding, target engagement, in vivo efficacy, and/or preliminary rodent tolerability studies.
• This RFP does NOT support target identification, target validation, assay development, high-throughput and high-content screening. IND-enabling work is supported through ADDF’s Drug Development RFP.

Online Application: https://www.alzdiscovery.org/research-and-grants/funding-opportunities/accelerating-drug-discovery-for-ftd

Deadline is for Letter of Intent, full application is by invitation only and is due 8/7/2024. Grant term NTE 2 years. In 2024, the Donaghue Foundation’s Greater Value Portfolio grant program will fund research projects for two years with a maximum amount of $400,000 per award (plus a 10% indirect cost rate) to advance promising approaches to achieving a higher-value healthcare system. This program aims to test approaches and tools that organizations can readily use to improve the value of the healthcare they provide to their patients and communities.

In the context of the GVP grant program, we prioritize the development of solutions to combat the symptoms of low-value care. Our focus is on fostering a healthcare system where quality, efficiency, and fairness are not just aspirations but achievements realized through the implementation of actionable solutions. Research projects should target and propose corrective measures for the following critical symptoms of low-value care:

• High and rising healthcare costs.
• Unwarranted pricing variations.
• Racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare access, costs, and outcomes.
• Excessive financial burden of care on patients and families.
• Inconsistency in the quality of care delivered.
• Lack of price and outcome transparency in healthcare services.

Online application: https://donaghue.org/greater-value-portfolio/

Deadline is for Letter of Intent; Full proposals are by invitation only and are due 7/25/2024. Grant term NTE 3 years. For requests of $50,000, applicants must contact neurocollabs@simonsfoundation.org by May 9, 2024 before submitting their application to The Neuroscience Collaborations at the Simons Foundation is accepting applications for funding of courses or conferences in fundamental neuroscience. Courses and conferences that align with the scientific missions of our programs, the Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB), with a focus on the fields of systems and computational neuroscience, and/or the Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain (SCPAB), with a focus on healthy cognitive aging, will be prioritized. We especially encourage applications for courses and conferences held and/or organized by people in regions of the world where opportunities for neuroscience courses or conferences have historically been less numerous.

Online Application: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/neuroscience-collaborations-courses-conference-awards/

Deadline is for Letter of Intent; Full Proposals are by invitation only and are due 8/21/2024. As new therapeutics have begun moving the needle for ALS patients, tracking disease progression and monitoring the effects of drug treatment have become even more important. Biomarkers are needed to stratify patient populations, understand response to therapeutics, and quantify disease progression. We are soliciting proposals from collaborative groups focused on the discovery and development of novel disease progression and stratification biomarkers using any modality.

Although all groups studying disease progression biomarkers are eligible to apply, Target ALS is particularly interested in supporting projects that propose the study of:

Cryptic exons and cryptic exon-related biomarkers

Biomarkers with utility in ongoing or upcoming therapeutic trials

Biomarkers for patient population stratification for specific therapeutics (e.g. presence of specific cryptic exons, cognitive involvement, ALS/FTD spectrum)

Online Application: https://www.targetals.org/biomarker-consortia/

Grant term NTE 4 years. A maximum of $200,000 in total direct costs may be requested per year. The purpose of the R Accelerated Award Grant is to advance ALSF's mission to find cures and better treatments for childhood cancers by providing support to scientists focused on pediatric oncology research. Applicants must have an original project that is not currently being funded that has a clear focus on accelerating the discovery of more effective, less toxic therapies for childhood cancers. Research projects should address a testable hypothesis based on strong scientific rationale. Applicants must be first-time recipients of a pediatric cancer research-focused NIH R01 award or equivalent independent award. Demonstration of continued commitment to pediatric cancer investigation as well as institutional support are critical components of a successful application.

Online Application: https://www.alexslemonade.org/researchers-reviewers/applicants

The purpose of the ‘A’ Award Grant is to advance ALSF’s mission to find cures and better treatments for childhood cancers by providing support to early-career scientists who want to establish a career in pediatric oncology research. The ideal applicant has an original project that is not currently being funded. Demonstration of a future commitment to pediatric cancer investigation as well as institutional support for the career development of the investigator are critical components of a successful application. A mentor is required, and a career development plan must be included.

Online Application: http://www.alexslemonade.org/grants/guidelines

Must coordinate with Foundation Relations. Select institutions are invited to submit up to two applications per grant cycle. WSU is a 2024 Invited Institution. This program is designed to support high-risk, high-reward projects that address critical scientific and therapeutic roadblocks. If successful, these projects will have high-impact outcomes that open new avenues for treating, curing, and improving the lives of individuals suffering from disease. The Program has three principal areas of focus:

• Identification of biological markers of disease activity and progression,
• Identification of targets for therapeutic interventions, and
• Development of therapeutic agents that will disrupt, arrest, or prevent the disease process.

Catalyst Awards provide an opportunity to conduct preliminary work on high-risk, high-reward research addressing a wide variety of clinical disease areas. The target of the Falk Catalyst’s funding is projects at the intersection of technology and clinical science, intended to move from basic science insights towards solutions, techniques, and tools that can be transferred to clinical practice in the near term. The Catalyst Research Award Program provides one to two years of seed funding to enable the planning and development of projects, teams, tools, techniques, and management infrastructure necessary to successfully compete for two- to three-year awards through the Transformational Research Award Program. The work proposed in the Catalyst submission will serve to demonstrate the scientific promise, infrastructure, methods, and preliminary data in support of further transformational research.

Online Application: https://hria.org/tmf/falkcap/

As a Principal Investigator, you may apply in only one category per cycle. This restriction does not apply to Co-PI status or applicants to the Mentored Clinician Scientist Grant. This grant promotes the development of new clinician-scientists who have demonstrated success as both a clinician and a researcher. Allows investigators to spend dedicated time in research for a period of up to five years to develop a long and productive career in academic surgery.

Online Application: https://www.oref.org/for-researchers/funding-opportunities

Must coordinate with Foundation Relations. This funding call will support multidisciplinary teams to generate evidence on where dengue and Zika viruses co-circulate and investigate the implications this has on host immune responses and clinical outcomes. Research funded through this award will support global efforts to understand and predict the spread of these pathogens, especially where data are limited. Funded projects will also help to design and implement future interventions to reduce dengue and Zika’s growing burden and impact on health.

Online Application: https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/schemes/infectious-disease-award-understanding-dengue-and-zika-spread

Deadline is for Concept Paper; Full Proposals are by invitation only and are due 10/22/2024. Grant term NTE 3 years. E.W. "Al" Thrasher Awards focus on projects that are changing pediatric clinical care. Each award is a novel approach to problems plaguing pediatrics. The award is open to applications focusing on any disease or topic within the umbrella of pediatrics, both in and outside the United States. 

Ideal applications for the Thrasher Award address significant health problems, offering the potential for practical solutions to these problems. Typically, the primary outcome is a health outcome in children. Solutions should be innovative and have the potential for broad applicability with low barriers to implementation. Projects with a shorter distance to clinical applicability are given priority.​ Hypothesis-driven research is critical, exploratory, or hypothesis-generating research will not be competitive.

For projects focused on improving disease diagnosis, please ensure that there are well-researched, effective treatment options available to patients upon diagnosis.

Email LOI: https://www.thrasherresearch.org/SitePages/al-thrasher-award.aspx

Must coordinate with Foundation Relations. Deadline is for Concept Paper (not required but strongly suggested); Full Proposals are due 8/22/2024. The Community Health Impact Initiative supports health-focused, community-based organizations with bold ideas that empower communities to solve their most pressing health issues and successfully implement health-focused, community-driven interventions.

Proposals should focus on eliminating health disparities, improving health equity, building community wellness, increasing social integration for marginalized populations, bolstering community support systems, and expanding health-related community engagement efforts. Specific topics might include but are not limited to proposals to improve oral health access, health literacy, health-related transportation, or environmental health.

Online Application: https://mihealthfund.org/grantmaking/community-health-impact

Must coordinate with Foundation Relations. Notes: Strictly LOI Submission Proposals are invitation only. Award amount based on previous grants. To promote a high performing healthcare system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults.

Must coordinate with Foundation Relations. The fund will facilitate the advancement of innovative basic science, translational or clinical research. Focus includes:

• Research and Access. Research support for Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) and related research and emerging research leaders in the field.
• Access support for programs that improve the health outcomes of vulnerable people, particularly underserved, low-income individuals who don’t have adequate access to health care.

The foundation is equally interested in efforts that have a broad and meaningful impact and focus on intervention and prevention beyond the boundaries of any one disease.
Online Application: https://www.dresnerfoundation.org/program-areas/health-research/

Evidence for Action (E4A) prioritizes research to evaluate specific interventions (e.g., policies, programs, practices) that have the potential to counteract the harms of structural and systemic racism and improve health, well-being, and equity outcomes. Our focus on racial equity means we are concerned both with the direct impacts of structural racism on the health and well-being of people and communities of color (e.g., Black, Latina/o/x, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, and other races and ethnicities), as well as the ways in which racism intersects with other forms of marginalization, such as having low income, being an immigrant, having a disability, or identifying as LGBTQ+ or a gender minority. This funding is geared toward studies about “upstream” causes of health inequities, such as the systems, structures, laws, policies, norms, and practices that determine the distribution of resources and opportunities, which in turn influence individuals’ options and behaviors. Research should center on the needs and experiences of communities exhibiting the greatest health burdens and be motivated by real-world priorities. It should be able to inform a specific course of action and/or establish beneficial practices, not stop at characterizing or documenting the extent of a problem.
Online Application: https://www.rwjf.org/en/grants/active-funding-opportunities/2024/evidence-for-action--innovative-research-to-advance-racial-equity.html

Must coordinate with Foundation Relations. Pioneering Ideas: Exploring the Future to Build a Culture of Health seeks proposals that are primed to influence health equity in the future. We are interested in ideas that address any of these four areas of focus: Future of Evidence; Future of Social Interaction; Future of Food; Future of Work. Additionally, we welcome ideas that might fall outside of these four focus areas, but which offer unique approaches to advancing health equity and our progress toward a Culture of Health.

Online Application: https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/funding-opportunities/2020/pioneering-ideas-2020-exploring-the-future-to-build-a-culture-of-health.html?rid=0032S000027IF4VQAW&et_cid=2046258