AHEAD Awards (Advancing Health Equity and Addressing Disparities)

ACS Research Priority Areas

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has established these 6 areas to prioritize the research we fund to help advance the mission. All research proposals (except Institutional Research Grants, Mission Boost Grants, and Professor grants) must fall into at least 1 of these 6 priority areas:

• Etiology (causes of cancer)
• Obesity/Healty Eating and Active Living (HEAL)
• Screening and Diagnosis
• Treatment
• Survivorship
• Health Equity Across the Cancer Continuum

AHEAD Awards (Advancing Health Equity and Addressing Disparities)

ACS is announcing AHEAD (Advancing Health Equity and Addressing Cancer Disparities) Awards intended to fund pilot, first-in-field, innovative strategies that increase quality cancer screening, clinical trials—and cancer care closer to home.

The spirit of our AHEAD Awards highly aligns with the Cancer Moonshot goal—to make the cancer experience less burdensome for patients and their families and caregivers. This special funding opportunity was inspired, in part, by successes made during the COVID-19 pandemic to pivot the delivery of medical care away from major health centers into communities and even the comforts of home. The COVID-19 pandemic also highlighted the value of facilitating home care in innovative ways, especially for immunocompromised cancer patients and other vulnerable populations.

Scientific Scope

AHEAD Awards will fund exploratory, novel research studies that seek to improve access to quality cancer screening and/or cancer care by bringing technologies to individuals rather than requiring travel to healthcare facilities. A scientist's proposed research may break new ground or strategize a new application of existing technologies or new intervention. We encourage  the testing of high-risk, high-reward pilot projects to maximize the likelihood for breakthrough research and critical impact.

Examples of possible research areas:

• Digital technologies to democratize clinical trials
• Biometrics and wearables
• Remote imaging and at-home testing
• Novel strategies for telehealth
• Remote and at-home cancer screening
• Innovative modes of delivering at-home care

Eligibility and Budget

The principal investigator must:

• Have a doctoral degree
• Work at a US academic institution or eligible non-profit organization
• Have an independent faculty appointment (or equivalent position)

Discovery Boost Grants are funded up to $135,000 per year for up to 2 years, plus 10% indirect costs. The maximum allowable budget is $297,000 for a 2-year project period.

Eligibility

_ You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website.