Philanthropic Funding Opportunities

Updated: March 2023

 

To apply for an opportunity listed below, submit your proposal through the Rush Research Portal. Select “Non-Profit: Philanthropy” as the “Funding Source” when creating a new master project and grant within the portal.

If you are unsure which office can coordinate a particular application, just ask! Members of either team will be happy to direct you to the right place:

Archived philanthropic RFPs from the past year can be found here.

 

Funding Source
Grant Name
Description
Deadline
Pablove Foundation
2022 Research Grants
Senior postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty who hold M.D.s or Ph.D.s are eligible for this career development award. In addition, established scientists who are re-directing their research are also eligible to apply for seed funding. $50,000 may be used for direct costs that cover investigators’ salaries, supplies, technical help and travel. In lieu of indirect costs, a maximum of 5% of the grant amount will be provided to sponsoring institutions upon submission of the progress report. More Information
 
TBD
LOI due 
(Previous cycle deadline was 12/01/2021; check website)
Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research
2023 Scientific Scholar Awards and Pilot Study Awards
The Rivkin Center is seeking applications for two grant programs. For the Scientific Scholar Awards, grants of up $120,000 over two years will be awarded to promising laboratory and clinical scientists interested in pursuing a career as an independent investigator in ovarian cancer research. Eligible applicants must have an MD, PhD, or equivalent degree with career goals focused on ovarian cancer, and clinicians must have completed their residency. For the Pilot Study Awards, grants of $75,000 will be awarded for investigator-initiated studies in all areas of ovarian cancer research that pave the way for new avenues of ovarian cancer research and to expand our understanding of the disease. For both grants, funds are for direct costs only. More information
TBD
Full proposal due
(Previous cycle deadline was 12/01/2021; check website)
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Junior Investigator Awards
The Junior Investigator Award offers an award of up to $30,000 per year for two years for one child and adolescent psychiatry junior faculty (assistant professor level or equivalent). The program is intended to facilitate innovative research. The research may be basic or clinical in nature but must be relevant to our understanding, treatment and prevention of child and adolescent mental health disorders. More Information
 
Pilot Research Awards
The AACAP gives a number of grants to early career investigators conducting basic or clinical pilot research programs in the understanding, treatment and prevention of child and adolescent mental health disorders. Candidates must be enrolled in a general psychiatry residency and they must not have any previous significant, individual research funding in the field of child and adolescent mental health. These awards are granted in the amount of $15,000. More Information
04/03/2023
Application Deadline
American Cancer Society
The Role of Health Policy and Health Insurance in Improving Access to and Performance of Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment Services
A call for research that evaluates the impact of the many changes now occurring in the healthcare system with a particular focus on cancer prevention, control, and treatment. Efforts focusing on improving access to care may also impact inequities that contribute to health disparities. New health public policy initiatives such as the new federal and state marketplaces that have expanded insurance coverage, as well as Medicaid expansion in some states, create natural experiments ripe for evaluation. Research to be funded by this RFA should focus on the changes in national, state, and/or local policy and the response to these changes by healthcare systems, insurers, payers, communities, practices, and patients.
Eligibility: Independent investigators at any career stage with a doctoral degree and a full-time faculty appointment or equivalent, who are evaluating changes in the health care system with a focus on cancer. More Information
04/01/2023
Application Deadline
Foundation for Women’s Wellness
Women’s Health Research Awards
The Foundation is offering one-time, non-recurring $25,000 awards for research in the area of cardiovascular disease, top female cancers, hormones role in disease and/or stage-of-life health concerns like pregnancy and menopause, as well as other diseases disproportionately affecting women. More Information
04/07/2023
Application Due
Whitehall Foundation
Research Grants Program
The Whitehall Foundation supports scholarly research in the life sciences, especially in dynamic areas of basic biological research that are not heavily funded by federal agencies. Research grants are available to established scientists; applications will be reviewed on their scientific merit and the innovative aspects of the proposal. Research grants up to three years will be provided, ranging from $30K to $75K per year. More Information
04/15/2023
Application Due
Acumed LLC
Fellowship/education grants
Fellowship Grant: These grants provide support for ACGME-accredited fellowship programs, or, for programs outside of the United States, accredited by the particular country’s ACGME equivalent. Fellowship Grants are intended to be used towards fellow stipends and direct educational expenses. The awarding of Fellowship Grants is limited to once per calendar year. More Information
05/01/2023
Acumed LLC
Education grants
Professional Medical Education Grants:  Professional Medical Education Grants provide funding for independent medical educational programs for health care professionals, including congresses, conferences, symposiums, or courses, with or without labs, that are sponsored by professional medical associations, societies, or continuing education providers and academic institution labs. This includes support requested for cadaveric labs intended to educate fellows or residents at an academic institution. More Information
Rolling deadline: completed application, including all required supporting documentation, must be received at least 60 days before the scheduled date of the event, activity, or program
The Alternatives Research & Development Foundation
2022 Open Grant Program
This foundation promotes alternatives to the use of laboratory animals in research, testing, and education.  The grant program provides opportunities for scientists who have interest and expertise in alternatives research.  Preference is given to projects that use pathway-based approaches as exemplified by the 2007 National Academy of Sciences report, Toxicity Testing in the Twenty-first Century: A Vision and A Strategy.  This award provides up to $40,000. Funds may not be used for the PI’s salary, fringe benefits, or travel.  More Information
04/17/2023
Application Due
Foundation for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Various Research Grants
The Foundation for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is offering multiple research grant opportunities. The New Investigator Research Grant and Pediatric PM&R Research grant are awarded in the amount of $10K. Scott F. Nadler PASSOR Musculoskeletal Research Grant is awarded in the amount of $30k. More Information
05/01/2023
Application Due
William T. Grant Foundation
Research Grants
This funder awards grants to research that increases understanding in two areas: programs, policies and practices that reduce inequality in youth outcomes; and strategies to improve the use of research evidence in ways that benefit youth. The Foundation focuses on studies affecting youth ages 5 to 25. Research grants about reducing inequality typically range between $100,000 and $600,000 and cover two to three years of support. Research grants about improving the use of research initiative will range between $100,000 and $1,000,000 and cover two to four years of support. More Information
05/03/2023
Application Due
Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness
2022 Research Grants
ISPB offers unique grant opportunities supporting mentored pre-clinical or clinical research programs designed to foster junior investigator development while advancing clinical care in ophthalmology and optometry. Preference is given to high-quality grant submissions from applicants (PI) that are at the start of their career, including medical students, residents, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, assistant professors, and other junior faculty in the ophthalmology and optometry fields. Students must be currently enrolled full-time at an accredited Illinois institution of higher education or postdoctoral fellows/residents that are within seven years after receiving their advanced degree (MD, OD, PhD). Students, postdoctoral fellows, and residents are required to have a faculty mentor involved with their research. More Information
05/10/2023
Application Due
Brain Aneurysm Foundation
2022 Research Grant Program
The Foundation is accepting applications for basic scientific research in early detection, improved treatment modalities, and technological advances for improving outcomes of patients with brain aneurysms as well as projects that are translational, clinical/outcome, early detection, imaging, and SAH/SAH complications focused. Any project with the potential to advance basic scientific, translational, and clinical brain aneurysm research will be considered. Grants will be awarded this year in varying amounts ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 each. More Information
05/11/2023
Application Due
Elsa U. Pardee Foundation
Elsa U. Pardee Foundation Research Grant
The Elsa U. Pardee Foundation funds research to investigators in United States non-profit institutions proposing research directed toward identifying new treatments or cures for cancer. The Foundation funds projects for a one-year period which will allow the establishment of capabilities of new cancer researchers or new cancer approaches by established cancer researchers. It is anticipated that this early-stage funding by the Foundation may lead to subsequent and expanded support using government agency funding. Project relevance to cancer detection, treatment, or cure should be clearly identified. By design, there are no limits set on the grant amount that can be requested. It must be reasonable and clearly supported by the scope of the project outlined in the application. Applications requesting more than 5% overhead are usually not considered. Papers verifying nonprofit status and relevant human subject and experimental animal treatment approvals from the recipient institution will be requested prior to project initiation. A final report summarizing financial expenditure and research achievement is required. More Information
04/30/2023
Application Due
Gateway for Cancer Research
Gateway Grant
Gateway funds Phase I and II patient-centered cancer clinical trials that have the potential to shift the paradigm for standard of care. Strives to fund treatment-based studies at the bedside, including all types of cancers. Seeks to bring urgency to the process of cancer research for those patients who are looking for treatments today and are faced with difficult decisions without innovative live-saving options.  Gateway will place increasing emphasis on the funding patient centered and novel research that includes approaches with a high potential for success. 6 open awards providing between $200,000-$1,500,000 for between 2-5 years More Information
05/02/2023
Application Due
Lung Cancer Research Foundation
LCRF Minority Career Development Award (CDA) in Lung Cancer
$150,000 award  over 2 years for post-doctoral researchers, clinical fellows, or early-career and mid-career investigators within 10 years of receiving their MD and/or PhD. Investigators must be from racial or ethnic groups that are underrepresented in health-related sciences and biomedical research. More Information
05/31/2023
Application Due
LUNGevity Foundation
The Lustgarten Foundation Innovation and Collaboration Program
The Lustgarten Foundation Innovation and Collaboration Program intends to provide seed funding for highly innovative research with significant potential to accelerate the mission of the Lustgarten Foundation. Proposals should address key outstanding questions and have the potential to lead to a change in the current paradigm or conventional wisdom. Proposals that involve collaborations across groups or that bring new expertise and/or technology into the field will be preferred. $110,000 Award. More Information
04/01/2023
Application Due
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative/the National Academies
Science Diversity Leadership Program
Each grantee receives $1.15 million over 5 years. The Science Diversity Leadership Program will fund “outstanding early- to mid-career researchers at U.S. universities, medical schools, or nonprofit research institutes who … have a record of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in their scientific fields. They will have made significant research contributions to the biomedical sciences.” More Information
05/19/2023
Application Due
The Patchwork Collective
The Maternal & Infant Health Award
A single initiative will receive $10 million. The Maternal & Infant Health Award is a grant competition using the MacArthur Foundation’s Lever for Change platform, seeking to “improve and accelerate equitable maternal and infant health outcomes around the world.” Successful projects will be community-led, impactful, durable, and feasible. More Information
06/02/2023
Registration Deadline
The Vilcek Foundation
Creative Promise in Biomedical Science
Six $50,000 cash awards available. The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise support emerging to mid-career immigrant professionals who have demonstrated exceptional achievements early in their careers. More Information
06/12/2023
Application Due
Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation
Skeletal Metastases and Pathological Fracture Research Grant In collaboration with the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society
$25,000 award. Solicits investigator-initiated research proposals focused on skeletal metastases. With advances in targeted therapies and personalized medicine, patients with advanced cancers and skeletal metastases live longer.
 
Eligibility: OREF requires an orthopaedic surgeon in the role of principal investigator (PI) or co-PI who may be collaborating with a PhD and/or MD in order to foster the application of a full range of expertise, approaches, technologies, and creativity.  A PhD may serve as the principal investigator (PI) if an orthopaedic surgeon serves as co-PI with equal contributions. More Information
06/15/2023
Application Due
Helen Hay Whitney Foundation
Basic Biomedical Research Fellowship
Candidates who hold or are in the final stages of obtaining a Ph.D., M.D., or equivalent degree and are seeking beginning postdoctoral training in all basic biomedical research are eligible to apply for a fellowship. This is a three-year fellowship that provides an annual $61K-$65K stipend and $1.5K research allowance.  A two-day meeting of fellows is held in November of each year and travel expenses incurred are covered by the foundation.  More Information
06/15/2023
Application Due
Little Giraffe Foundation
2022 Neonatal Research Initiative
This funder is offering neonatal research grants in the amount of $5,000-$10,000. Research may address either the long-term or immediate health needs caused by premature birth, or identify causes and means of preventing this condition.  Appropriate research subjects include basic biological processes governing development, genetics, clinical studies, reproductive health, environmental toxicology, and social and behavioral studies.  More Information
06/25/2023
LOI Due
CureSearch for Children’s Cancer Research
Young Investigator Award
An opportunity for funding up to $75,000 per year for up to three years. Provides seed support for bright researchers, early in their careers, pursuing exciting and novel research in pediatric oncology. LOI opens May 1st. More Information
05/26/2023
LOI Due
CureSearch for Children’s Cancer Research
Accelration Initiative
An opportunity for funding in the range of $500,000 to $1.5 million over three years. CureSearch’s Acceleration Initiative Acceleration Initiative projects are highly innovative, address a significant challenge in pediatric cancer drug development, and have a strong probability of clinical application — ready to reach patients within three to five years.
05/26/2023
LOI Due