In keeping with our mission, the LCRF grant program provides funding for research into the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure of lung cancer. Our funding mechanisms are designed to fund innovative projects across a variety of diverse topics and to support the careers of talented scientists. To learn about research that has been previously funded by LCRF, please visit the Our Investigators section. Information for investigators seeking funding for research, including an overview of our funding mechanisms and any current requests for proposals, can be found below. For questions about our grants, please contact us at grants@LCRF.org.
About Our Grants
2025 LCRF Leading Edge Research Grant Program
Lung cancer continues to be the number one cause of cancer deaths worldwide, accounting for an estimated 130,180 deaths annually in the United States alone. Despite being the most common cancer killer of both men and women, lung cancer research remains critically underfunded. To help close this gap and improve outcomes, the goal of the LCRF Leading Edge Research Grant Program is to fund innovative projects across the full spectrum of basic, translational, clinical, epidemiological, health services, early detection, disparities, and social determinants of health research. The 2025 LCRF Leading Edge Research Grant Program will provide $150,000 over a period of two years for projects including but not limited to the following topics:
- Lung cancer biology
- Identification of new biomarkers
- Machine learning and digital pathology
- Development of more effective and less toxic therapies including but not limited to targeted and immune-therapies
- Genetic and gene-environment interactions
- Interactions and contributions of multiple factors (e.g. smoking, genetics, environment, societal factors) to disparities in lung cancer outcomes
- Mechanism of Antibody Drug Conjugates
- Novel approaches to immunotherapy such as bispecific antibodies, vaccines, cellular therapies, etc.
- Bioengineering approaches to understanding and/or treating lung cancer (i.e., theranostics, biomaterials, nanotechnology, controlled-drug release, and gene therapy)
- Supportive measures for people with lung cancer and their families, such as palliative care and telemedicine
- Identification of metabolic vulnerabilities in lung cancer
These awards provide a maximum of $150,000 in funding over a period of two years. Investigators must be affiliated with a non-profit academic or research institution and must be post-doctoral researchers, clinical fellows, or early-career and mid-career investigators with less than ten years’ experience since their initial faculty appointment. For full details, eligibility criteria, and application instructions, please refer to the request for proposals.
Applications will be submitted through a two-step process consisting of a Letter of Intent (LOI) and full proposal. Applicants whose LOI submission is reviewed favorably will be invited to complete a full proposal. Applicants may only apply for one LCRF grant per grant cycle.
LOI submission deadline is March 3, 2025. Applicants will be notified of their status on April 18, 2025, and the full proposal submission deadline is June 2, 2025.
2025 LCRF Research Grant on Prevention and Early Detection in Lung Cancer
Given the significance and need for early detection of lung cancer and advancements in molecular screening, LCRF continues to offer a funding mechanism to support research projects that facilitate or advance the understanding and characterization of approaches for early detection of lung cancer. Work supported through this mechanism addresses important questions in non-small cell and small cell lung cancer.
This funding mechanism is focused on identifying, characterizing, and developing approaches and techniques that will allow early detection and/or risk reduction of lung cancer and gaining insight into pre-neoplastic processes in the lungs. The ultimate goal is to detect lung cancer at the earliest stages and subsequently increase survival and survivorship. The program is designed to support early-stage researchers and faculty within the first 10 years of their faculty appointment. While this list is not exclusive, general areas of interest include:
- Improvements in risk stratification of patients and uptake for screening
- Identification and characterization of new biomarkers for NSCLC and SCLC
- Development of predictive, diagnostic, or prognostic biomarkers
- Liquid biopsy assays and related techniques
- Genomic and histological approaches to improve early detection in tissue samples
- Novel imaging and computational modalities to identify and risk stratify pre-neoplastic lesions
- Implementation science with systematic uptake of evidence-based research findings into routine practices to improve quality and effectiveness of health services for early detection
- Studies of pre-neoplasia and progression to lung neoplasia to inform prevention strategies
- Development of pathways to increase uptake and utilization of lung cancer screening
- Epidemiology studies to identify risk factors and implementation of prevention measures
- Development of any new technologies that will aid in identifying early-stage lung cancers
These awards provide a maximum of $150,000 in funding over a period of two years. Investigators must be affiliated with a non-profit academic or research institution and must be post-doctoral researchers, clinical fellows, or early-career and mid-career investigators with less than ten years’ experience since their initial faculty appointment. For full details, eligibility criteria, and application instructions, please refer to the request for proposals.
Applications will be submitted through a two-step process consisting of a Letter of Intent (LOI) and full proposal. Applicants whose LOI submission is reviewed favorably will be invited to complete a full proposal. Applicants may only apply for one LCRF grant per grant cycle.
LOI submission deadline is March 3, 2025. Applicants will be notified of their status on April 18, 2025, and the full proposal submission deadline is June 2, 2025.
2025 LCRF Research Grant on Overcoming Resistance in Lung Cancer
In 2025, in partnership with leading patient advocacy organizations, this grant mechanism will focus on furthering the understanding of the development, prevention, and therapy of resistance by supporting projects that seek to identify, characterize, treat or prevent resistance to lung cancer therapies. Work supported through this mechanism will address important mechanistic questions and developmental therapeutics across histological subtypes of lung cancer (including lung adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and small cell lung cancer) and across the care continuum including newly designed targeted therapies and immunotherapies. These studies will enhance the momentum of improving lung cancer outcomes and have the potential to increase survivorship.
We encourage applications on a wide variety of topics related to understanding and/or overcoming resistance including but not limited to:
- Mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies for oncogene-driven lung cancers. Proposals are encouraged in the areas of histological transformation, oligometastatic disease, oligo-remnant disease, uncommon mutations and non-genomic mechanisms of resistance.
- Biology and mechanisms of drug resistance to lung cancer therapies including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, and antibody drug conjugates.
- Novel treatment approaches and new therapies to overcome and/or prevent resistance to lung cancer therapies.
- Novel diagnostic approaches (i.e. biomarkers) to monitor treatment response and relapse.
- Overcoming resistance in difficult to treat sites of metastases such as leptomeningeal and brain metastases.
These awards provide a maximum of $150,000 in funding over a period of two years. Investigators must be affiliated with a non-profit academic or research institution and must be post-doctoral researchers, clinical fellows, or early-career and mid-career investigators with less than ten years’ experience since their initial faculty appointment. For full details, eligibility criteria, and application instructions, please refer to the request for proposals.
Applications will be submitted through a two-step process consisting of a Letter of Intent (LOI) and full proposal. Applicants whose LOI submission is reviewed favorably will be invited to complete a full proposal. Applicants may only apply for one LCRF grant per grant cycle.
LOI submission deadline is March 3, 2025. Applicants will be notified of their status on April 18, 2025, and the full proposal submission deadline is June 2, 2025.
2025 LCRF Minority Career Development Award (CDA) in Lung Cancer
National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding is considered a prerequisite for establishing independence, academic promotion, recognition as an expert, serving on grant review panels, and leadership roles. Minority applicants are less likely to receive grants, to have the R phases of K01 or K99 awards activated, need more submissions to obtain funding, and often will not resubmit proposals. As minority applicants must overcome systemic and structural barriers due to race, ethnicity, country of origin, socioeconomic status, and/or language, many leave academia which further exacerbates the lack of diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and medical fields. To provide protected time and mentoring to these trainees, we continue to offer the LCRF Minority Career Development Award (CDA) for Lung Cancer for minority postdoctoral/clinical fellows and assistant professors within 10 years of completing their MD and/or PhD degrees to submit proposals.
We encourage applications on a wide variety of topics including but not limited to the following:
- Lung cancer biology
- Risk reduction and screening for early detection
- Identification of new biomarkers
- Development of more effective and less toxic therapies including but not limited to targeted and immune-therapies
- Genetic and gene-environment interactions
- Interactions and contributions of multiple factors (e.g. smoking, genetics, environment, societal factors) to disparities in lung cancer outcomes
- Mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance to lung cancer therapies
- Bioengineering approaches to understanding and/or treating lung cancer (i.e., theranostics, biomaterials, nanotechnology, controlled-drug release, and gene-therapy)
- Supportive measures for people with lung cancer and their families
- Identification of metabolic vulnerabilities in lung cancer
- Real world data to discover where and why disparities exist, to fill gaps for new drugs’ approval, or to create eligibility criteria that reflect patient community that will use the drugs
- Access to reliable and affordable biomarker testing, quality care, appropriate treatment options
These awards provide a maximum of $150,000 in funding over a period of two years to 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. This includes Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. Individuals from racial or ethnic groups that can demonstrate convincingly that they are underrepresented by the host institution will also be eligible. For complete details, eligibility criteria, and application instructions, please refer to the request for proposals.
Applications will be submitted through a two-step process consisting of a Letter of Intent (LOI) and full proposal. Applicants whose LOI submission is reviewed favorably will be invited to complete a full proposal. Applicants may only apply for one LCRF grant per grant cycle.
LOI submission deadline is March 3, 2025. Applicants will be notified of their status on April 18, 2025, and the full proposal submission deadline is June 2, 2025.
2025 LCRF | Bayer Research Award on Innovative Therapeutic Strategies to Treat Lung Cancers Harboring HER2 Mutations and/or Other HER2 Alterations
The last 10-15 years have seen accelerated clinical trials and FDA approvals of targeted therapies for non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) in part due to advances in molecular profiling of tumors. Many of these targeted therapies are directed against oncogenic drivers. The HER family of tyrosine kinases include HER1 (epidermal growth factor receptor [EGFR] or ERBB1), HER2 (HER2/neu or ERBB2), HER3, and HER4. This grant mechanism will focus on the science behind HER2 alterations as oncogenic drivers of malignancy and/or the development of novel therapeutic approaches for patients with tumors harboring HER2 mutations and/or other HER2 alterations.
We encourage applications on a wide variety of topics related to HER2 alterations and lung cancer, including but not limited to the following:
- The proposal must be associated with a clinical trial, either ongoing or planned as a result of the project. The trial can investigate novel treatment approaches, new therapies (i.e. next generation drugs or agents with novel mechanisms of action), and novel combinations. Therapy can include targeted agents (TKIs), antibody-drug conjugates, immunotherapies, cell therapies etc. if there is a reasonably strong rationale supporting the investigation.
- The proposal must have a program of basic and/or translational work associated with the clinical trial. Topics of interest can include but are not limited to mechanisms of primary or secondary resistance, studies on the immune landscape and tumor microenvironment, biology and mechanisms of tumor progression, identification of biomarkers to predict sensitivity to specific therapies, methods for optimizing treatment (efficacy and/or tolerability), etc.
- The proposal must include studies in patients with lung cancer harboring HER2-mutations and /or other HER2 alterations.
- A patient/patient advocate needs to be part of the research team applying for the grant and that this individual should have a role in the design of the research.
These awards provide a maximum of $500,000 in funding over a period of two years. Investigators must be affiliated with a non-profit, academic or research institution. An applicant must have a postdoctoral or clinical research fellow appointment and/or a faculty position and may have any level of research experience. For full details, eligibility criteria, and application instructions, please refer to the request for proposals.
Applications will be submitted through a two-step process consisting of a Letter of Intent (LOI) and full proposal. Applicants whose LOI submission is reviewed favorably will be invited to complete a full proposal. Applicants may only apply for one LCRF grant per grant cycle.
LOI submission deadline is March 3, 2025. Applicants will be notified of their status on April 18, 2025, and the full proposal submission deadline is June 2, 2025.