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Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grants

Breaking new frontiers in cancer research through innovative team science

The Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grants is a long‐standing program involving the best cancer researchers in Canada. These programs support Canadian research teams exploring new frontiers in cancer research (i.e., breakthrough and transformative biomedical, clinical and translational research which may form the basis for innovative cancer prevention, diagnosis and/or treatment).

2024 Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grant Competition

TFRI hosted an open-access webinar to outline changes to the application process for the 2024 PPG competition and to answer questions. The webinar recording is available below.

Watch now

Purpose

To support multidisciplinary program projects of excellence that contribute to important topics of relevance to cancer research. The goal of the Terry Fox New Frontiers PPG is to discover and explore new knowledge with the potential to transform cancer diagnosis, treatment and/or understanding of cancer biology.

Secondary goals are:

  1. High-quality research that addresses an important cancer topic that is best approached through collaborative teams
  2. Innovative and high-risk projects of large impact, for which the group research environment will maximize the chance of success.  As part of the revised funding envelope for the competitions going forward, TFRI will look favorably upon applications which incorporate high risk/high reward strategies or research plans.
  3. Leveraging of cutting-edge technologies that builds synergistic collaborations, and
  4. An innovative and supportive training environment for the next generation of cancer researchers.

Scope of the Program

This Request for Applications (RFA) support program projects comprised of a minimum of three independent researchers and their individual research projects that may also include one or more technology (or ‘core’) platforms that will be used by the projects in pursuit of an important cancer research topic.

Support Offered

This RFA will support New and Renewing PPG Applications. Please note that there are separate application templates and guides for new and renewal applications to this program.

  • New Applications are defined as coming from a group of investigators proposing a new thematic area of cancer research. New Applications can apply for a three, four, or five year grant term commencing July 1, 2024, with a total budget of up to $2,400,000.
  • Renewing Applications are defined as coming from (1) a minimum of three continuing investigators whose PPG term is coming to an end, and (2) continuing development of the same thematic area of cancer research as the previous PPG. Renewing applications can apply for a five, six, or seven year grant term commencing July 1, 2024, with a total budget of up to $7,500,000. A proposal that was unsuccessful in a previous PPG competition as a renewal can only apply as a new application. Should investigators of a continuing PPG whose term is coming to an end decide to split into two independent groups, the resulting proposals will be considered as new applications.

Key Deadlines and Dates

Stage Dates
Letter of Intent Monday, July 10, 2023 (5:00 pm PDT)
Invitation to Submit Full Application from TFRI
Monday, September 11, 2023
Full Application Monday, November 20, 2023 (5:00 p.m. PST)
Site Visits March/April 2024
Funding Starts
July 1, 2024

Guidance provided

Please note that the format of a full application has been substantially revised for this competition. Contact TFRI if you require additional information or clarification.

Templates 

PPG Full Applications for 2024 Competition

The following teams have been invited to submit a full application for the 2024 Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grant competition.

Project Leader(s) Institution(s) Title

D. Berman

Queen’s University

Epithelial and Immune Plasticity in Bladder Cancer

S. Girardin

University of Toronto, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, University Health Network, Hospital for Sick Children

Leveraging the gut microbiome to protect against colorectal cancer

A. Karsan

BC Cancer, Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer

Strategies to Divert Malignant Potentials in Acute Leukemia

B. Nelson

BC Cancer, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Dalhousie University, University of Victoria

Integrated Immunotherapy for Ovarian Cancer

U. Tabori

Hospital for Sick Children

Immune Interception for Malignant Gliomas in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults

I. Tai, T. Kim

BC Cancer, Hospital for Sick Children, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute

Identifying and Targeting Molecular Drivers of Gastric Cancer Initiation and Progression

G. Zheng, B. Wilson, J. Irish

University Health Network, Sunnybrook Research Institute

Porphysome Nanoparticle-Enabled Image-Guided Cancer Interventions

 

 

Contact

Russell Watkins, PhD
Senior Programs Manager
Terry Fox Research Institute
675 West 10th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1L3 Canada
Telephone: 778-652-2592
mail: rwatkins@tfri.ca