CRI Technology Impact Award Grant

The CRI Technology Impact Award supports innovative, early-stage concepts aimed at transforming cancer immunotherapy. Applicants must be tenure-track faculty and propose novel, practical research plans that demonstrate technical sophistication and transformative potential. The award focuses on advancements in computational biology, cancer profiling, real-time visualization, multicellular culture systems, and new therapeutic technologies. Importantly, this award does not fund clinical trials but allows the use of samples from independently funded trials for technology development.

Program Overview
The CRI Technology Impact Award is designed to support early-stage, pre-development concepts—innovations that have not yet been built or tested, but that hold the potential to transform the landscape of cancer immunotherapy.
OverviewThe most competitive applicants will propose innovations that address areas where technological advancement can have the greatest impact on cancer immunotherapy and patient outcomes. Such technologies may include, but are not limited to:
Computational systems biology approaches to analyze large-scale datasets, develop more accurate models of underlying cellular and molecular networks, with the goal of better explaining and predicting response/resistance to cancer therapyAdvanced cancer (or molecular) profiling technologies that can be used to identify key barriers to immunotherapy and improve target identification and therapeutic decision-makingReal-time visualization technologies that allow tracking of molecular and cellular immune responses to treatment in mice or humansComplex multicellular culture systems that model interactions between tumors and the immune system and enable therapeutic testing or mechanistic studiesNovel therapeutic technologies that promise to safely and effectively promote tumor immunity in new ways
Proposals will be evaluated based on novelty, creativity, technical sophistication, and most importantly, their transformative potential to shape the future of cancer immunotherapy.
The CRI Technology Impact Award does not support clinical trials, though samples collected as part of independently funded clinical trials can be used if appropriate for technology development. For clinical trial support refer to the CRI Clinical Innovator.

Eligibility

Applicants must hold a faculty appointment as a tenure-track assistant professor (or higher rank) at the time of award activation. If not, documentation from their institution must accompany the Letter of Intent indicating they will hold the position of assistant professor (or higher rank) by the time of award activation.The grant will be awarded to a scientist who describes an extraordinarily novel, yet practical research plan that is creative and technically sophisticated.Joint submissions from collaborators will also be considered. (The collaborators will share the award.) Each collaborator must meet the eligibility criteria.Selected projects that meet their 12 and 24 month milestones may be eligible for follow-on funding that will enable the established proof-of-concept technology to be developed into a methodology that improves