The Kenneth Rainin Foundation is encouraging researchers from around the world to submit ideas that might revolutionize inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment. The potential reward: a $100,000 grant from the foundation’s Innovator Award program.
Since 2010, the foundation has awarded more than $11 million in funding for research on IBD treatments.
“The Rainin Foundation understands that our support plays a critical role in advancing the early stages of scientific research. We welcome projects from researchers outside of the traditional IBD circles. Our funding comes when researchers need it most — when they have an idea or a question and they need a partner to begin working toward a solution,” Jennifer Rainin, PhD, chief executive officer of the foundation, said in a press release.
Through the Innovator Award program, grants of $100,000 are provided to one-year, proof-of-concept projects that have the potential to transform treatment for IBDs. Projects must be innovative, have scientific merit, include collaboration and be feasible. Researchers from any discipline may apply, as can nonprofit research institutions worldwide.
“We believe that providing early support to innovative researchers with potentially transformative projects can lead to improvements in predicting, preventing, and curing IBD,” said Averil Ma, chair of the foundation’s scientific advisory board.
The foundation will accept letters of inquiry from Jan. 15 to Feb. 15. Submissions must include a description of the basic idea of the project and its central experiment. Applicants selected by the panel of scientific advisers will be invited to submit a full proposal by May 15.
In other news, the foundation will host its sixth annual Innovations Symposium July 24-25 in San Francisco. The event will bring together stakeholders, scientific leaders and researchers from around the world to encourage dialogue and increase understanding of IBDs.
This year’s event will be dedicated to early onset IBD, and the foundation’s grantees will be able to present their work. The application deadline for travel awards and the call for abstracts is March 31. Early bird registration (through May 1) is $125.
“We are committed to funding promising research and creating opportunities for early-career and seasoned investigators to build bridges and brainstorm together,” Rainin said. “Our annual Innovations Symposium facilitates discussion and collaboration among innovative researchers and clinicians to enhance discoveries.”
The foundation is a family organization that collaborates with creative thinkers in the arts, education and health, according to the release, and it supports “visionary artists” in California’s Bay Area and works with youths in Oakland.