Grant Program
Types of Grants
General Research GrantsNew Investigator Grants
Named Grants and AwardsRequests for Proposals
Workshop / Meeting Grants
General Research Grants
FARA will support research with grants provided by the organization itself and in collaboration with partner organizations dedicated to advancing FA research and treatments.
FARA pursues a multi-tiered approach. FARA, itself, provides support for the first couple of tiers — smaller, short-range "seed" grants, and somewhat larger, mid-range (R21-type) grants. The smaller, "seed" grants (usually $25,000 to $60,000 per year for one or two years) are intended to attract new research investigators and assist existing investigators by supporting the early phases of their research. These "seed" grants will permit investigators to collect preliminary data and test initial hypotheses. In some cases, significant findings might result, or additional investigators might be attracted to the field. In other cases, this preliminary research will better prepare the investigators to submit successful applications for the second-tier, mid-range (R21-type) FARA grants or even third-tier, larger, longer-term (2-5 year, R01-type) grants from larger grant-making Agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The second-tier FARA grants (usually $60,000 to $150,000 per year for one or two years) are intended to advance more mature research.
Applications for grants greater than $150,000 are considered on an ad-hoc basis. Researchers looking for higher levels of support are encouraged to submit letters of intent to FARA prior to sending a full application.
Postdoctoral Fellows and Pre-Doctoral Candidates
Salaries for postdoctoral fellows and pre-doctoral candidates can be included under personnel costs in the budget of a FARA General Research Grant application.
In addition, FARA has an application subtype specifically for investigators requesting only salary (plus applicable benefits)
to support postdoctoral fellows or pre-doctoral candidates in their laboratory. It is strongly encouraged that the trainee prepare the
research plan to be submitted with the application. The name and CV of the postdoctoral fellow or pre-doctoral
candidate must be included in the application. The guidelines for FARA's General Research Grants should be followed,
but the only allowable budget item is salary for the postdoctoral fellow or pre-doctoral candidate (plus applicable
benefits and tuition support) and the requested amount must be the appropriate NIH stipend level.
Please contact FARA before submitting this type of application.
Guidelines
for General Research Grants
- General Research Grants are accepted on a rolling basis through the year – 24 x 7 x 365.
- Letter of intent is only required for proposals exceeding $150,000 per year.
Letters of intent can be submitted via email to FARA’s Executive Director, jen.farmer@curefa.org
- A Letter of Intent must include a brief description of the proposed project objectives with the relevance to FA and the hypothesis or hypotheses, key preliminary data or research findings that support the rationale for the proposal, and brief summary of the Principal Investigator’s background and contact information.
- All grants should be submitted using FARA’s Research Portfolio Management Program – www.curefa.org/rpmp
- FARA only funds direct costs. No indirect costs will be awarded.
- Grant proposals should not exceed 24 months in duration.
- Grant awards are made in one year allocations. All subsequent payments are contingent upon receipt and satisfactory review of a progress report. FARA reserves the right terminate any grant award for inadequate progress, failure to submit reports, deviation in scope of the original research, and/or changes in funding priority.
- A detailed budget must be submitted with all proposals, including a justification to support reported expenses. Allowable expenses include: personnel costs/salary, laboratory reagents and supplies, equipment, animal expenses, patient expenses directly related to study and not reimbursable by third party insurers, and patient travel. Expenses not awarded: indirect costs/overhead, travel to meetings and conferences, membership to scientific societies
- If human subjects are used in the proposed study, the study must be approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Full funding will not be provided until proof of IRB approval is demonstrated to FARA. Human subjects studied in the course of research conducted under a grant are under no circumstances a responsibility of FARA.
- If animals are used in the proposed study, the study must be approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (or equivalent) indicating that appropriate precautions have been taken to assure that proper treatment, care and humane conditions have been provided.
New Investigator Award - 2 year award
The Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) invites proposals, under a competitive Request for Applications (RFA) process, to award a grant to young or new investigators who have demonstrated an interest in FA research and want to further that commitment.
Recipients of the New Investigator Award:
2011-2012 - Vijayendran Chandran - Generating cellular and mouse model for Friedreich's ataxia via inducible and reversible
silencing of frataxin gene expression using shRNA
2010-2011 – Lata Mahishi - MicroRNAs in FA
2009-2010 - Marguerite Evans-Galea - Evaluating the Molecular and Epigenetic Alterations in Friedreich Ataxia
deacetylase inhibitors on repeat instability and frataxin expression
2008-2009 – Alain Martelli - Iron Metabolism in Friedreich’s Ataxia: from the fundamental understanding of iron dysregulation
to the therapeutic potential of iron chelators
2007-2008 – Marek Napierala - Influence of chlorambucil-conjugated GAA•TTC sequence-specific polyamides and histone
deacetylase inhibitors on repeat instability and frataxin expression
New Investigator Grants Proposals are accepted twice a year March 1st and September 1st then awards are announced June 1st and December 1st.
Program Objectives
We believe in welcoming, mentoring and supporting new scientists in the FA research community. This award is to support young investigators who are beginning their independent research careers and have a strong interest in pursuing research that advances knowledge and insights of FA. This award is also intended to support investigators from related fields of research who want to apply their knowledge and experience to a specific area of FA research. Proposals for basic, translational and clinical research will be considered responsive to this RFA.
Guidelines
All applications must be received by March 1st or September 1st 2012. All applications should be submitted through FARA’s grant website –
www.curefa.org/rpmp. On the Main Grant Page of the application please indicate “NIA Award” in the RFP field.
Grant proposals should not exceed 24 months in duration.
Applications will be accepted from for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, public or private institutions,
and foreign institutions. Budget must be for direct costs only and must not exceed $100,000 per year. Allowable costs
under this award: Laboratory supplies, reagents, purchase and care of laboratory animals; small pieces of laboratory equipment;
salary for the principal investigator. Costs not allowed under this award include: support for travel to scientific and
professional meetings usually attended by the investigators, computer hardware or software and indirect costs.
- A letter of support should be provided by
the applicant’s supervisor/advisor/mentor
- A personal statement from the applicant should also be included
that addresses the applicant’s current interests, career goals
and interest in Friedreich’s ataxia research.
Grant awards are made in one year allocations. All subsequent payments are contingent upon receipt and satisfactory review
of a progress report. FARA reserves the right terminate any grant award for inadequate progress, failure to submit reports,
deviation in scope of the original research, and/or changes in funding priority.
Selection Criteria
All applications will be peer-reviewed and scored based on significance of proposal, approach/methods of the research plan, the support of supervisor and personal statement, environment/resources and budget. The proposal with the best score will be awarded. Scientific advisors from FARA will oversee the review, decision and notification process.
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Timeline: Application/Proposal due date: Mar 1st & Sep 1st, 2012 Award announcement: Jun 1st & Dec 1st, 2012 Grant start date: Jul 1, 2012 & Jan 1, 2013 |
Contact: Jennifer Farmer Jen.Farmer@CureFA.org (484) 879-6160 |
Named Grants and Awards
The Bronya J. Keats Award for International Collaboration in Research on Friedreich’s Ataxia
The Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) invites proposals, under a competitive Request for Applications (RFA) process, to award a grant focusing Friedreich’s ataxia research that relies on international collaboration among scientists. We anticipate funding one, one-year award, under this program. The total award is limited to $50,000 (direct costs only).
Program Objectives/Criteria
The Bronya J. Keats Award for International Collaboration in Research on Friedreich’s Ataxia will be given on an annual basis to investigators performing high-quality, promising Friedreich’s ataxia research that relies on international collaboration among scientists. All awards will be to grant proposals that feature key contributions from investigators in at least two countries. Special consideration will be given to grants that:
- Bring new scientists to the FA community – either new investigators or experienced scientists from related disciplines that bring new insights or technologies to FA
- Focus on genetic basis of, or mitochondrial dysfunction in FA
- Address needs of special FA populations (such as individuals with point mutations, Acadian population, etc.).
Guidelines for The 2012
Bronya J. Keats Award for
International Collaboration in Research on Friedreich’s Ataxia
All applications must be received by July 1st, 2012. All applications should be submitted through FARA’s grant website – www.CureFA.org/rpmp. On the Main Grant Page of the application please indicate “Keats Award” in the RFP field.
Applications will be accepted from for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, public or private institutions, and foreign institutions. Budget must be for direct costs only and must not exceed $50,000. Allowable costs under this award: Laboratory supplies, reagents, purchase and care of laboratory animals; small pieces of laboratory equipment; salary for the principal investigator, scientific (including postdoctoral fellows) and technical staff (including laboratory technicians). Costs not allowed under this award include: support for travel to scientific and professional meetings usually attended by the investigators, computer hardware or software and indirect costs.
Selection Criteria: All applications will be peer-reviewed and scored based on significance of proposal, approach/methods of the research plan, the collaboration between the investigative teams, environment/resources and budget. The proposal with the best score will be awarded. Scientific advisors from FARA will oversee the review, decision and notification process.
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Timeline: Application/Proposal due date: July 1st, 2012 Award announcement: September 1st 2012 Grant start date: September 15th, 2012 |
Contact: Jennifer Farmer Jen.Farmer@CureFA.org (484) 879-6160 |
2012 Phillip Bennett and Kyle Bryant Translational Research Awards
The Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) invites proposals, under a competitive Request for Applications (RFA) process, to award a grant
focusing on pre-clinical and clinical investigations that will advance treatments for Friedreich’s Ataxia. We anticipate funding two one-year
awards under this program. The total award is limited to $120,000 (direct costs only) for each.
Kyle Bryant and Ride Ataxia
Kyle Bryant is a young man with FA who has incredible determination, spirit and vision. In 2007, Kyle embarked on an amazing journey and fundraising and awareness initiative – Ride Ataxia. He and his Dad biked from San Diego, California to Memphis, TN. The money Kyle raised was matched by FARA and NAF and both organizations announced the first Kyle Bryant Translational Research Award. In 2008 with a trip from Sacramento, California to Las Vegas, Nevada and in 2009 with a trip from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, WA, Kyle’s success has only grown - in participants, in opportunities to raise awareness and in critical funds raised for research. For more information on Kyle Bryant and Ride Ataxia go to RideAtaxia.org
Phillip Bennett
The 2012 Ride Ataxia Nor Cal event was dedicated to the memory of a leader in the community, Phillip Bennett. Phillip was the force behind Sunset On Friedreich's Ataxia (SOFA), one of the first large scale fundraising events benefitting FA research. This community dinner/dance/auction raised a total of $200k and led the way for many other fundraisers to follow. Phillip was not afraid of FA or the future, he lived moment by moment, squeezing every drop from life. Phillip's close friend Jamie Richards writes at his passing in March "Too many of us wait. And wait, and wait. Someday, we tell ourselves, we'll say it, start it, try it, do it or complete it. Phillip didn't wait. He swam and skied. He rode roller coasters. He rappelled and river rafted. He even went spelunking. He made friends. He laughed. He partied. He crammed 72 years of life into 27." This year the proceeds from the NorCal ride will be combined with Phillip's memorial fund, and this money will be used to fund the 2012 Phillip Bennett Translational Research Award.
2011 Kyle Bryant Translational Research Award recipient:
- Dr. Joseph Sarsero
Correction of Friedreich ataxia iPS cells by non-viral gene therapy
2011 Phillip Bennett Translational Research Award recipient:
- Dr. Gino Cortopassi - Repurposing existing approved drugs for Friedreich's ataxia therapy
2010 Kyle Bryant Translational Research Award recipients:
- Dr. Martin Delatycki - An Open Label Proof of Principle Study of Resveratrol as a Treatment for Friedreich Ataxia
- Dr. Devin Oglesbee - High-Throughput Meso-Scale Discovery of Frataxin Enhancers
2009 Kyle Bryant Translational Research Award recipients:
- Dr. Mark Payne - Optimizing delivery of frataxin using cell penetrant peptides
- Dr. Gino Cortopassi - Screening for mitofunctional Friedreich’s Ataxia therapeutics
- Dr. Marek Napierala - Crosstalk between microRNAs and iron metabolism in the pathogenesis of Friedreich’s ataxia
2008 Kyle Bryant Translational Research Award recipients:
- Dr. James Rusche - Repligen Corporation, Project Title: Development of Methods to Determine the Pharmacodynamic Effect of HDAC Inhibitors on Frataxin Expression
- Drs. Subha V. Raman and Roula al-Dahhak - Ohio State University, Project Title: Preclinical Markers of Cardiomyopathy in Friedreich's ataxia
2007 Kyle Bryant Translational Research Award recipient:
Program Objectives/Criteria
Proposals should be for pre-clinical/translational or clinical research focused on Friedreich’s ataxia with aims targeting one or more of the following:
Identification of biomarkers for FA that will elucidate disease variability, severity, and prognosis; facilitate drug screening, and/or optimize selection of patients and clinical endpoints for clinical trials. Could center on various approaches such as:
Genetic-based studies
Protein-based studies
Imaging studies
Metabolomics
Development of animal or cellular models that permit further evaluation of candidate therapeutics.
Development of tools and technologies that can be directly used for therapy development. Examples include novel gene therapy vectors, genetically-modified cells, drug delivery devices, etc. These tools or technologies should overcome existing obstacles to treatment and be capable of being directly applied to, or adapted for, delivery of potential therapeutics.
Pre-clinical development and testing of potential targets, biologics, and devices in cells and animals.
Clinical studies of patient outcome measures, potential interventions, or devices.
Guidelines
All applications must be received by August 1st, 2012. A letter of intent should be submitted with your title and a few sentences describing the focus of your proposal by July 1st, 2012 – jen.farmer@curefa.org. All applications should be submitted through FARA’s grant website – www.CureFA.org/rpmp. On the Main Grant Page of the application please indicate “Kyle Bryant Translational Award” in the RFP field.
Applications will be accepted from for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, public or private institutions, and foreign institutions. Budget must be for direct costs only and must not exceed $120,000. Allowable costs under this award: Laboratory supplies, reagents, purchase and care of laboratory animals; small pieces of laboratory equipment; salary for the principal investigator, scientific (including postdoctoral fellows) and technical staff (including laboratory technicians). Costs not allowed under this award include: support for travel to scientific and professional meetings usually attended by the investigators, computer hardware or software and indirect costs.
Selection Criteria: All applications will be peer-reviewed and scored based on significance of proposal, approach/methods of the research plan, innovation, investigator/experience, environment/resources and budget. The proposal with the best score will be awarded. Scientific advisors from FARA will oversee the review, decision and notification process.
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Timeline: Letter of intent: July 1st 2012 Application/Proposal due date: August 1st 2012 Award announcement: October 1st 2012 Grant start date: October 15th, 2012 |
Contact: Jennifer Farmer Jen.Farmer@CureFA.org (484) 879-6160 |
Keith Michael Andrus Memorial Award
The Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) invites proposals, under a competitive Request for Applications (RFA) process, to award a grant focusing on the cardiac disease of Friedreich’s ataxia. We anticipate funding one one-year award under this program. The total award is limited to $75,000 (direct costs only).
Keith was the inspiration for the formation of FARA. Keith’s diagnosis of Friedreich’s ataxia at the age of 11 led his step-father and mother, Ron and Raychel Bartek, to establish FARA. Keith’s battle with FA ended, January 22, 2010, at the age of 24 due to congestive heart failure. Even during the final and very challenging months of Keith's life he courageously continued to advocate not only for himself but for others with FA as he left no stone unturned exploring advanced and experimental treatment options.
As a tribute to Keith’s legacy and to help improve the lives of others diagnosed with FA, the Keith Michael Andrus Memorial Award has been established. This award is specifically designated for cardiac research.
2011 Keith Michael Andrus Cardiac Research Award recipient:
- Dr. Francisco Sacca - A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial to test the efficacy of Epoetin alfa on physical performance of FA patients
2010 Keith Michael Andrus Cardiac Research Award reciepient:
- Dr. Arnulf Koeppen - The cardiomyopathy of FA
Program Objectives/Criteria
The award will be to a grant proposal that features key contributions toward understanding and/or treating the cardiac complications associated with FA.
Proposals for basic. translational and clinical research will be considered responsive to this RFA. For example:
- Exploring the underlying mechanisms of cardiac disease; e.g., testing hypotheses of mitochondrial dysfunction in FA that might lead to cardiac phenotype in patients;
- Clinical studies that further elucidate the cardiac phenotype, natural history and biomarkers, or
- Prospective treatment trials that will allow for the establishment of informed treatment recommendations.
Selection Criteria: All applications will be peer-reviewed and scored based on significance of proposal, approach/methods of the research plan, the collaboration between the investigative teams, environment/ resources and budget. The proposal with the best score will be awarded. Scientific advisors from FARA will oversee the review, decision and notification process.
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Timeline: Application/Proposal due date: Sep 1st, 2012 Award announcement: November 1st, 2012 Grant start date: November 15, 2012 |
Contact: Jennifer Farmer Jen.Farmer@CureFA.org (484) 879-6160 |
Guidelines
All applications must be received by September 1, 2012. All applications should be submitted through FARA’s grant website – www.curefa.org/rpmp. On the Main Grant Page of the application please indicate “KMA Award” in the RFP field.
Applications will be accepted from for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, public or private institutions, and foreign institutions. Budget must be for direct costs only and must not exceed $75,000. Allowable costs under this award: Laboratory supplies, reagents, purchase and care of laboratory animals; small pieces of laboratory equipment; salary for the principal investigator, scientific (including postdoctoral fellows) and technical staff (including laboratory technicians). Costs not allowed under this award include: support for travel to scientific and professional meetings usually attended by the investigators, computer hardware or software and indirect costs.
Requests for Proposals
FARA will issue RFPs on an ad-hoc basis. These RFPs will be targeted to areas of special interest or to solicit proposals to address a question, issue or resource that has priority. All RFPs will be announced through this website and through our e-bulletin list. If you are not a subscriber please sign-up by selecting “Join Mailing List” at the top of this page and follow the prompts.
Workshop / Meeting Grants
FARA fosters collaboration and supports the research community through sponsorship and organization of scientific workshops or meetings. We feel strongly that sharing insights, ideas, and expertise is essential for bringing treatments forward for FA faster and for helping scientists advance their work effectively. Workshops that bring FA researchers and researchers in related disease and specialty areas will generate new hypotheses, discoveries and collaborations. These workshops will be of two types - full-scale workshops and project-specific workshops.
Full-Scale Workshops — FARA sponsors periodic, comprehensive, international workshops like the ones it organized, co-sponsored, and co-hosted with NIH in 1999, 2003 and 2006. These workshops provide the opportunity for the full scientific community involved in all aspects of research related to FA to come together to share findings and insights. Basic, translational and clinical research areas are all highlighted. The conferences are usually a minimum of three days in length. When necessary, FARA will seek financial support from other organizations to help support these workshops.
FARA is willing to receive requests from other organizations hosting similar workshops for grant support.
Project-Specific Workshops — FARA also supports workshops that are more focused and in-depth on a specific topic area or arranged for smaller groups of investigators to establish collaborations or to organize a specific project that requires multiple collaborators. Such workshops should align with FARA’s scientific priorities, mission and optimize collaboration and minimize costs.
FARA has organized two workshops in specific areas of research that have been identified as priority areas and where there was benefit to bringing in expertise from outside the FA research community to apply new insights, share knowledge and latest advances and build new collaborations and resources. In 2006, FARA and NIH co-hosted a biomarker meeting and in 2008 FARA, MDA, and the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University organized and sponsored a workshop on Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Therapeutic approaches.
FARA will fund direct costs only.
Individuals or organizations with a specific interest in a full-scale or project specific workshop should contact FARA’s Executive Director directly. An executive summary outlining the goals and objectives of the meeting, intended participants, explanation of relevance to the FARA mission, timeline and budget will be required. All requests will be reviewed by FARA’s scientific review committee and a recommendation will be submitted to FARA’s Board of Directors. All decisions will be made by the Board.
info@cureFA.org|www.cureFA.org|(484) 879-6160