Therapeutics Alliances (TA) is sponsoring up to twelve (12) one-year translational grants aimed at supporting projects focused on advancing innovative preclinical research through early-stage (1) drug target selection, (2) drug target validation, or (3) hit-to-lead compound screening. Clinical potential, target druggability, and therapeutic modality will be considered during assessment, with funding decisions based on helping accelerate new therapeutics to the clinic. TA will not consider funding basic science within the scope of this RFP.
Projects will be evaluated for funding by the TA team and external industry experts with confidentiality maintained during review and assessment.
Application Timeline
Application Due Date: March 31, 2024
Announcement of Awards: July 1, 2024
Funding Start Date: September 1, 2024
Informational Webinar
Watch the informational webinar to learn more about the Therapeutics Alliances program and how to apply!
Applicant Eligibility
All NYU Langone researchers are eligible to submit proposals. Trainees must obtain a letter of support from their PIs. Applications with multiple principal investigators, including those from teams of interdisciplinary investigators, are acceptable and encouraged. Collaborations across institutions must clearly describe the intellectual property landscape, policies, and expectations of collaborators from institutions other than NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Award Categories
We are seeking proposals that focus on target selection, target validation, and hit-to-lead screening. Investigators from diverse fields, including those who have not previously conducted translational research, are eligible to apply.
If you have any questions, please email us at therapeuticsalliances@nyulangone.org.
Target Selection Proposals: Target selection proposals should focus on in vitro or in vivo genetic screening to discover novel therapeutic targets for a particular disease or clinically relevant cellular pathway. Innovative high-throughput systems or pooled screening approaches using gene editing technologies are encouraged.
Maximum award amount: $65,000
Target Validation Proposals: Target validation proposals should focus on gathering evidence to assess the therapeutic relevance and tractability of a target. Examples include but are not limited to, gene deletion in a disease model or studies using available tool compounds or biologics to test for preclinical proof of concept. The study of human patient samples, including relevant iPS lines, and/or translational studies in preclinical human and animal models are encouraged. Examples include but are not limited to, inducible deletion of a gene target after disease onset in a mouse model, gene-editing in iPSC models of disease, and whole animal or cell-specific gene deletion in a relevant disease model.
Maximum award amount: $125,000
Hit-to-Lead Screening Proposals (incl, Assay Development): Hit-to-lead screening proposals should focus on the design and execution of high-throughput screens, including any necessary assay development, for the discovery of target modulators. Small molecule or biologics discovery approaches are encouraged. Principal investigators are not expected to have expertise in assay development and are not expected to execute high-throughput screening in their own labs. Therapeutics Alliances will coordinate industry assay development consultants and contract research labs to execute high-throughput screening. High-throughput screening will be conducted externally at contract research facilities coordinated by the Therapeutics Alliances team.
Maximum award amount: $250,000
Guidelines for Proposals
An investigator may submit only one proposal as principal investigator.
Please package the following application materials into a single PDF document and email it to therapeuticsalliances@nyulangone.org. Please title the document “Last name_First Name_TARFP25 date submitted” and include “TARFP25” in the email subject line. You should expect to receive a confirmation of receipt within one business day. Please, reach out to Gaspar Taroncher-Oldenburg if you don’t receive a confirmation.
The Cover Page must include (1) name, faculty title, and department (section or division, if applicable) of all principal investigators, (2) the title of the proposal, and (3) a nonconfidential description of the project (max. 250 words)
Each proposal must include the following sections (max. length: two pages [single-spaced, 11-point font, 0.5-inch margins]):
- Abstract (max. 200 words)
- Background (highlight relevance to human disease(s))
- Innovation (provide relevant context on therapeutic need, novelty of MOA, improvement over SOC, if existent, etc…)
- Specific Aims (list a max. of three (3) questions the proposed research will address)
- Research Strategy (describe the experimental approaches to be used to address each of the Specific Aims)
- Milestones/Deliverables (lay out expected results and potential caveats and alternatives)
- Translational Development Plan (highlight how the results will help advance your program closer to the therapeutic agent discovery stage and eventual licensing to a commercial partner or startup company)
Proposals must also include the following information, not included in the two-page limit:
- Figures (max. one page, 0.5-inch margins)
- References (max. 15)
- Commercialization Plan [if applicable] (Provide insight into any ongoing or expected conversations with potential industry partners or other relevant contacts [VCs, foundations, etc…], or any plans to create an NYU Langone–backed startup company)
On a separate page, please provide a budget, including allocation for salaries, supplies, and other necessary items, with budget justification. Principal investigator salaries are not permitted under this request for proposals. Salaries for other personnel are permitted.
Append a National Institutes of Health (NIH) biosketch (five pages) for each principal investigator and other key personnel.
Terms and Conditions
Time and Effort: During the term of the project, all personnel must commit time and effort appropriate to their roles on the project. Funding will not be subject to NYU Langone indirect expense charges. Funding may only be used for the research approved by TA and may not be used for any other purpose. Budget items may not include equipment, computers, or travel.
Research Plan and Milestones: TA awards are made upon approval of research plan and research milestones. The achievement of milestones is important in assessment of progress, and continuation of funding, if requested. Projects may be terminated at TA’s sole discretion if agreed-upon research goals and milestones are not met. It may be possible to revise the research plan and/or budget upon request during the project period, subject to approval from TA.
Research Compliance: TA grants are internal funding and do not require approval of NYU Langone’s Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA). The principal investigator and department are responsible for meeting all compliance requirements with the award, including approval for animal and/or human subjects research, if applicable.
Overlapping Funding: Awardees must inform TA if other internal or external funding is obtained to support any of the specific aims of the TA proposal. Overlapping funds provided by TA may be reallocated provided those activities are directly related to the funded project and approved in writing by TA.
Expenditure of Funds: All funds are expected to be expended within the grant term of the current award. If a carryover of funding is needed, the total amount shall not be more than 25 percent of the grant, and the timeline shall not be longer than 1 year (maximum) of the original grant term.
Reporting Requirements: An Interim Progress Report, including an expense report, is required every six months after initiation of the award date. A Final Progress Report, with expense report, is required within 30 days of funding completion.
Inventions and Intellectual Property: There is no requirement for any background or pre-existing inventions, nor any prior intellectual property (IP). All applicants should disclose any relevant background IP of which they are aware to Technology Opportunities and Ventures before the submission of the application, whether or not the IP is owned by NYU, and for NYU IP, if such background IP is subject to any third-party obligations through existing contracts such as a material transfer agreement (MTA), any sponsored research agreements (SRAs), licenses, options or foundation awards. Preference is given to projects with no encumbrances beyond federal funding.
Applicants must also disclose if the proposed project will use any proprietary third-party materials that are subject to an MTA (e.g., vectors, cell lines, or others). New inventions that are conceived or implemented as a consequence of Therapeutics Alliances funding must be disclosed to Technology Opportunities and Ventures and assigned to NYU. The principal investigator must report all new inventions identified as a consequence of TA support to Technology Opportunities and Ventures at least 45 days in advance of any public disclosure (oral presentations [including by students or postdocs], posters, manuscripts, bioRxiv etc.) to allow Technology Opportunities and Ventures staff to determine if such public disclosure contains new, potentially patentable subject matter. Failure to report innovations to Technology Opportunities and Ventures for IP protection before any public disclosure could result in immediate termination of the project at the sole discretion of the VP of Technology Opportunities and Ventures.
Publications: “Therapeutics Alliances at NYU Langone Health” must be acknowledged in all publications resulting from research supported all or in part by this funding, and such publications forwarded to the TA Director.