New £1.5 Million Medical Research Foundation Initiative for Child and Adolescent Cancer Pain Research
The Medical Research Foundation has launched a new initiative to support research that will increase understanding of the mechanisms underpinning child and adolescent cancer pain to improve diagnosis and treatment, and/or impact on future outcomes.
The Medical Research Foundation (MRF) has established a new £1.5 million research funding initiative – Child and Adolescent Cancer Pain – to support research that will increase understanding of the mechanisms underpinning child and adolescent cancer pain to improve diagnosis and treatment, and/or impact on future outcomes.
The initiative will fund two types of grant (Research Grants and Launchpad Grants) to support research to better understand pain in children suffering from cancer and improve standards of care.
The Research Grants offer a maximum of £300,000 over three years to fund direct project costs, which may include a salary contribution of 20% for the PI and Co-PI. Proposals that aim to build capacity through the next generation of researchers are also encouraged. Grants will support costs relating to postdoctoral salary, training and collaboration development in the UK and internationally.
The Launchpad Grants offer a maximum of £100,000 over two years for pilot studies, data generation and collaborations to develop competitive proposals for larger research funding. The Launchpad Grants are also intended to support early-career researchers and mid-career researchers who are seeking to lead on research, progress ideas and concepts that will allow them to strengthen their careers.
Application is open to all UK-based researchers, clinical academics and allied health professionals at HEIs, Research Council research institutes, hospitals, and other independent research organisations in the UK. Applicants at all levels of seniority can apply, providing they hold a PhD, DPhil or MD. Applicants will have the opportunity to detail how the impact of COVID-19 has affected their career progression, which will be taken into account when assessing applications.
Areas of research could include, for example:
- Understanding of the biological mechanisms involved in child and adolescent cancer pain
- The development of treatment approaches for child and adolescent cancer pain
- Understanding and reducing the impact of child and adolescent cancer pain on health and well-being
The Medical Research Foundation is also keen to support collaborative and multi-professional research and encourages applications led by multi-professional collaborations, for example basic scientists, clinicians and allied health professionals working together. Applications are also encouraged from established researchers working in adult pain, cancer, or other adjacent fields of research who wish to apply their skills and knowledge to a proposal focusing on cancer pain in young people
Guidance and application documents are available from the Medical Research Foundation website.
Proposals should be submitted by the deadline on 27 July 2022 (12:00).
(This report was the subject of a RESEARCHconnect Newsflash.)