2024 Seed Grant Program
The Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) is soliciting interdisciplinary team research proposals to initiate new collaborations and enhance existing collaborations among faculty. This seed grant program aims to enable faculty teams to:
- Develop novel cancer-focused research ideas that require the involvement of multiple cancer investigators from different disciplines.
- Formulate a hypothesis-driven or technology-focused research project that relates to one or, ideally, both of the CCIL research programs and their accompanying themes.
- Collect preliminary data or other relevant information to support a feasible approach for grant proposals to an NCI-recognized funding agency.
- Garner external funding for multi-investigator, program project level research projects using CCIL support as a catalyst.
Proposals are due May 1, 2024!
Submit a Proposal
Please submit your proposals in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation’s Special Program portal via the link below.
Dates and Deadlines
May 1, 2024
Proposal Due Date
June 17, 2024
Award Notification
July 8, 2024
Earliest Start Date
Eligibility
Research Team
Proposals must reflect substantive involvement of multiple investigators from different scientific disciplines and/or academic departments.
Projects should demonstrate substantive collaboration between CCIL members and must specifically address CCIL research program strategic themes. Proposals should include a description of the innovative nature of the research and the team’s capabilities, where the contribution of each collaborator’s expertise is evident. At least two of the team members must be current CCIL members.
Principal Investigator
Each project will identify a lead principal investigator (PI) who assumes organizational leadership for the project. A faculty member may only be PI on one submitted project. However, there is no limit to being a co-investigator on other projects. Applicants are strongly encouraged to include faculty at the Assistant Professor rank on their teams. Priority will be given to projects for which PIs are existing CCIL members. Preference will be given to investigators who have not previously received substantial CCIL research support funding.
Please review the full RFP for complete eligibility requirements.
Funding
Each research team may submit proposals for up to $200,000 for up to a 2-year period. Funds will be disbursed as follows:
- up to $100,000 in funding for Year 1
- up to $100,000 in support for Year 2
CCIL funding to launch research projects is expected to be catalytic. Projects will be expected to achieve milestones and actively seek significant external support in the form of a multi-PI research proposal to NIH, NSF, DOD, or other federal agencies, industries, or foundations. Investigators must submit progress reports at critical time points which may affect continued support. The CCIL will release Year 2 funds only after successfully completing the stated goals and metrics outlined in Year 1. This must include a collaborative proposal submission that is at least at the R01 level. A National Cancer Institute (NCI) submission is HIGHLY preferred. The Cancer Center at Illinois must be listed as the institute of record for the submission.
Project costs may include supplies, staff time, and research facility use fees. Funds to be sent to other institutions or organizations must receive prior approval from the CCIL. The funds cannot support tenure-track faculty salaries.
Reporting
Funded investigators should participate in monthly progress update discussions with CCIL leadership/administration. Two written reports are required:
- Year 1 Progress Report
- Final Project Report
Each should highlight the collaborative nature of the research and address progress made toward the specific goals, milestones, and metrics. Each project PI must present at the CCIL Annual Retreat (on the progress of Phase 1 and Final Project).
Proposal Preparation
Format
Proposals should not exceed seven pages (single space, 0.5-inch margins, Arial 11-point font, including figures and tables). Guidelines and the maximum number of pages for each section are described below. Supplemental attachments are not permitted.
Coversheet/Title Page
This page must include the project title, the names of the research team members and their primary affiliations (indicate the lead PI), their contact information, and the funding amount requested.
Content
Section 1. Project Abstract (1 Page)
- Limit length to 30 lines or less of text
- Include the project’s broad, long-term objectives and specific aims
- Include a description of the research design and methods for achieving the stated goals
- Write in plain language, so even a non-scientist can understand the importance of the project
Section 2. Project Narrative (3 Pages)
- Describe the research project and its cancer relevance, including its potential for broad impact. Please note the review criteria listed below
- Discuss how the proposed activities will leverage existing strengths across CCIL programs and themes
- Include a statement of the potential translational application of the research being proposed
- Describe the role and qualifications of the PI, co-investigators, and other members of the team for whom funding is requested
Section 3. Project Milestones (1 Page)
- Provide a list of scientific and organizational milestones over the 2-year period
- Identify the specific goals and metrics for Phase 1 and for the completed project
- Year 1 milestones must include significant progress toward developing a project proposal to an NCI recognized funding agency. Submission of collaborative publications is highly encouraged.
- Year 2 milestones should include submission of collaborative publications. Submission of additional collaborative proposals is highly encouraged. The CCIL may assist the team, when feasible, in assembling the proposal and obtaining external reviews prior to submission.
- Evidence of substantive collaboration (including periodic joint meetings, workshops, and publications) must be prominent in the proposal and details presented in the Year 1 progress report.
Section 4. References (1 Page)
- Include titles of papers
Section 5. Budget and Budget Justification (1 Page)
- Provide a budget estimate, with narrative justification that does not exceed $100,000 in funding for Year 1 and up to $100,000 in support for Year 2. Researchers should divide estimates into major expense categories (e.g., personnel, equipment/use fees, supplies, support). PIs should also specify the anticipated utilization and costs of CCIL Shared Resources. Expenses for use of external shared resources in lieu of campus facilities must be specifically identified, justified, and approved.
- Indirect costs and salaries for the PIs are not permissible.
Review Criteria
Reviewers will evaluate each criterion on a scale of 1-9, consistent with the common practice for NIH applications.
Significance
Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? Is there a strong scientific premise for the project? If the aims of the project are achieved, how will scientific knowledge or technical capabilities be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive the field of cancer research? How will this project contribute to the CCIL scientific program(s), and support and advance the goals of the CCIL?
Investigator(s)/Research Team
Are the PIs, collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the project? If the PI is an Early Stage Investigator and/or in the early stages of their independent career, do they have appropriate experience and training? For this collaborative project, do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise that spans the themes of the CCIL programs?
Innovation
Does the proposal seek to shift current cancer research paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions?
Approach
Are the overall strategies, methodologies, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project? Have the investigators presented strategies to ensure a rigorous and unbiased approach, as appropriate for the work proposed? Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success presented?
Milestones
Are milestones provided that ensure a high likelihood of progress? How likely is the formulation and submission of a multi-PI project application to a funding agency?
Previous Seed Funding Program Projects
2022 Seed Grant Projects
A Molecular Lego Kit for Kinase Inhibitors
Principal Investigator
- Martin Burke, Professor, Chemistry
Research Team
- Emad Tajkhorshid, Professor, Biochemistry
Targeting the Bidirectional Crosstalk Between Gut Microbial Metabolism and Bile Acids to Alleviate Intestinal and Liver Tumorigenesis
Principal Investigator
- Christopher Gaulke, Assistant Professor, Pathobiology
Research Team
- Sayeepriyadarshini Anakk, Associate Professor, Molecular & Integrative Physiology
- Collin Kieffer, Assistant Professor, Microbiology
- Bo Wang, Assistant Professor, Comparative Biosciences
Engineering Mechanical and Chemical Gradients to Control Cancer Cell Metastasis
Principal Investigator
- Catherine Murphy, Professor, Chemistry
Research Team
- Taher Saif, Professor, Mechanical Sciences and Engineering
Versatile Redox Detection of a-Glycosylated Proteins in Blood, a Potential Universal Biomarker for Robust Cancer Detection
Principal Investigator
- Joaquin Rodriguez Lopez, Associate Professor, Chemistry
Research Team
- Brian Cunningham, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Zeynep Madak-Erdogan, Associate Professor, Food Science and Human Nutrition
Molecular Dynamics Modeling of Target Recycling Amplification for Ultrasensitive Detection of RNA-based Cancer Biomarkers
Principal Investigator
- Emad Tajkhorshid, Professor, Biochemistry
Research Team
- Brian Cunningham, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Optogenetic Modulation of the Tumor Microenvironment to Improve Cancer Immunotherapy
Principal Investigator
- Kai Zhang, Associate Professor, Biochemistry
Research Team
- Erik Nelson, Molecular and Integrative Physiology
2021 Seed Grant Projects
Delineating the Role of Orc6 in Genome Surveillance and Cancer Progression
Principal Investigator
- Supriya Prasanth, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
Research Team
- Satish K. Nair, Department of Biochemistry
FORce Control of Cancer Tumor μEnvironment (FORCE)
Principal Investigator
- M. Taher Saif, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering
Research Team
- Kimberly Selting, Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine
- Kannanganattu V. Prasanth, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
- Hyunjoon Kong, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
High-Resolution Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging for Adaptive Glioblastoma Multiforme Patient Treatment
Principal Investigator
- Hua Li, Department of Bioengineering
Research Team
- Fan Lam, Department of Bioengineering
- Zhi-Pei Liang, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Mark Anastasio, Department of Bioengineering
- Paul Arnold, Department of Neurosurgery (Carle Foundation Hospital)
- Daniel Barnett, Carle Cancer Institute
Lipid Droplet Packing: A New Target to Interfere with the Progress of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Principal Investigator
- Cecilia Leal, Department of Materials Science & Engineering
Research Team
- Sayee Anakk, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology
Multi-shape 3D Hanging Drop Array for Cancer Drug-screening
Principal Investigator
- Rashid Bashir, Department of Bioengineering
Research Team
- Panagiotis Z. Anastasiadis, Department of Cancer Biology (Mayo Clinic – Jacksonville, FL)
- George Vasmatzis, Department of Molecular Medicine (Mayo Clinic – Rochester, MN)
- Andrew Smith, Department of Bioengineering
- Joon Kong, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Jie Chen, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Quantitative Ultrasound for Detection of Lymph Node Metastasis from Oral Melanoma & to Document Tumor Response to Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Dogs as a Large Animal Model of Metastatic Cancer
Principal Investigator
- Kimberly Selting, Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine
Research Team
- Audrey Billhymer, Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine
- Michael Oelze, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Rita Miller, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Stable Therapeutic Antibody Expression for Cancer Immunotherapy by Liver-directed Gene Editing
Principal Investigator
- Shannon Sirk, Department of Bioengineering
Research Team
- Thomas Gaj, Department of Bioengineering
- Zeynep Madak-Erdogan, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
- Pablo Perez-Pinera, Department of Bioengineering
Workflows and Tools for Visualizing Tumor Phylogenies in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Principal Investigator
- Mohammed El-Kebir, Department of Computer Science
Research Team
- Zeynep Madak-Erdogan, Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition
- Charles Blatti, National Center for Supercomputing Applications
- Colleen Bushell, National Center for Supercomputing Applications
- Lisa Gatzke, National Center for Supercomputing Applications
- Matthew Berry, National Center for Supercomputing Applications
The Role of the Urinary Sterolbiome in Prostate Cancer Risk
Principal Investigator
- Jason Ridlon, Department of Animal Sciences
Research Team
- H. Rex Gaskins, Department of Animal Sciences
- Joseph Irudayaraj, Department of Bioengineering
- John Erdman, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
2020 Seed Grant Projects
Using Anticancer Drug-Induced Immune Cell Activation to Target Ovarian Cancer for Eradication
Principal Investigator
- David Shapiro, Professor, Biochemistry
Research Team
- Erik Nelson, Assistant Professor, Molecular and Integrative Physiology
- Georgina Cheng, Clinical Assistant Professor, Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Elucidating the Role of Minor Cannabinoids on Immune Cell Activation Involved in Lung Cancer Metastatic Progression
Principal Investigator
- David Sarlah, Assistant Professor, Chemistry
Research Team
- Aditi Das, Associate Professor, Comparative Biosciences
- Timothy Fan, Professor, Veterinary Clinical Medicine
Establishment of a Spatially Resolved Noncoding RNA-mRNA Interactome Map for Breast Cancer Progression
Principal Investigator
- Hee-Sun Han, Assistant Professor, Chemistry
Research Team
- Saurabh Sinha, Professor, Computer Science
- Prasanth Kumar V. Kannanganattu, Associate Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology