Cooley’s Anemia Foundation: Research Fellowship Grant

The Cooley’s Anemia Foundation offers a Research Fellowship aimed at supporting clinical trials in Cell and Gene Therapy for thalassemia. With funding up to $50,000 annually, eligible researchers can apply for both phase I and II trials. The fellowship prioritizes projects that enhance understanding and treatment of thalassemia, targeting postdoctoral and junior faculty investigators. Applicants must ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and demonstrate adequate facilities for conducting research, with a focus on advancing therapeutic innovations.

Statement of Purpose
The Cooley’s Anemia Foundation is dedicated to serving people afflicted with various forms of thalassemia, most notably the major form of this genetic blood disease, Cooley’s anemia/thalassemia major.
We do so by funding medical research to advance treatment and curative approaches, by supporting and advising patients and their families and advocating on their behalf and by educating medical professionals and the general public.
The Cooley’s Anemia Foundation invites national and international applicants to apply for grants to facilitate clinical trials in Cell and Gene Therapy to advance a cure for thalassemia. Both phase I (safety) and phase II (efficacy) trials are eligible for support

Eligibility

Applicants should state explicitly the status of their proposed trials; for example, whether the trial has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (or equivalent processes at non-US sites) or whether review meetings at regulatory agencies have been scheduled. Studies proposed for this RFA must be accompanied by a realistic timeline of progress to human trials. The Foundation recognizes that this timeline can be long. While the funds may be used toward any aspect of launching a human gene therapy trial, the Foundation will request careful documentation of other support of the investigator(s) and the project, and a thorough justification of the allocation of costs to various support mechanisms. This will best enable reviewers to assess feasibility of the proposed project. Examples of expenses allowed will include:Clinical-grade vector production and quality control. Research subject assessments.Late-preclinical studies and ex vivo studies on research subjects required for safety and efficacy assessments (including, but not limited to, evaluation of vector genome integration events, studies of transduction efficiency, studies of globin production by transduced hematopoietic stem cells from subjects).Patient care costs directly related to the study.Research assistant or research nursing support.Assurance must be given that adequate clinical and other facilities (including, where applicable, laboratory and vector production facilities) exist and are available to conduct the research project and, in case of investigations involving human subjects, a full human subject protection plan should be included as an appendix.Animal studies, if any, must be directly relevant to the specific proposed clinical trial.The Cooley’s Anemia Foundation invites national and international clinical and basic science investigators (postdoctoral or junior faculty) to apply for its prestigious fellowship program. Applications should be focused on the understanding or treatment of thalassemia or a complication that is related to thalassemia. The areas of interest include, but are not limited to, studies of globin gene regulation, globin gene transfer and expression, fetal hemoglobin production, hematopoietic stem cell research, bone marrow transplantation, iron chelation and iron overload, endocrine and cardiac disorders in thalassemia, and transfusion therapy and its complications.Postdoctoral applicants must have adequate preceptorship and guidance by an experienced investigator. The sponsor of a postdoctoral fellow should be an investigator with adequate experience and at an institution with adequate research facilities. The application is expected to be the original work of the candidate but should reflect the close advice of the interested and involved sponsor. Applicants are encouraged to review the proposal with their mentor before submission in order to strengthen the application. Postdoctoral applicants must have an M.D., Ph.D., or equivalent degree, and cannot hold a faculty position. Junior faculty applicants must have an M.D., Ph.D., or equivalent degree, and must have completed less than five years at the assistant professor level at the time the applications are due. Junior faculty members do not require sponsors.Fellowships are awarded to the medical institutions where the research is to be undertaken; thus, each application must be approved by and administered through the appropriate administrative representative at the institution. Assurance must be given that adequate laboratory facilities exist and are available to conduct the research project and, in case of investigations involving human subjects, that the project has been reviewed and approved by the appropriate committee or governing body on human research. The research may not be conducted at a for-profit laboratory.

Ineligibility

The research may not be conducted at a for-profit laboratory.