The Kenneth Rainin Foundation is now accepting proposals for its Synergy Awards program, which provides up to $300,000 to teams collaborating across disciplines to advance the study and understanding of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Worldwide, interdisciplinary teams of up to three investigators — who need not have collaborate before but must work together on projects for this program — can submit applications now through Sept.17. Awards of a maximum of $100,000 per team member, or $300,000 maximum in total, will be given.
“The Rainin Foundation invests in groundbreaking and unconventional methodologies that prioritize patient impact,” Laura Wilson, PhD, director of health strategy and ventures for the Rainin Foundation, said in a press release. “Our Synergy Awards encourage partnerships between researchers, clinicians and industry that are aimed at improving the prediction and prevention of IBD and encouraging innovative approaches.”
A program goal is for “researchers to forge unprecedented collaborations and pursue novel ideas in IBD research,” Wilson added.
Proposals for projects from any scientific discipline at non-profit and for-profit institutions can be submitted through the foundation’s online application system. Projects that demonstrate significant advances toward their goal after one year may be eligible for additional funding.
Program information, eligibility requirements and proposal guidelines are available here.
The Rainin Foundation supports projects that fall into one of three areas: basic, clinical and translational research. According to a foundation webpage on guidelines, these awards “forge partnerships in the field of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Collaboration is a key requirement of our Synergy Award. Throughout the application, it is essential to demonstrate that the end product of the proposed research could not be achieved without collaboration.”
Since 2010, the foundation has awarded million $19 million to scientists working in IBD treatment and prevention. For the Synergy Awards’ first year, two teams of researchers were awarded $400,000.
Kenneth Rainin, a native of Ohio, was a businessman who build his fortune establishing scientific and medical products companies, and later set up the foundation that bears his name to support his philanthropic interests. Upon his death in 2007, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation was named them majority beneficiary of his estate.