Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance - Research Grants

TS Alliance Research Grants Program

The TS Alliance endeavors to stimulate, support and coordinate research that will lead to a cure for tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) while improving the lives of those affected. Most TS Alliance research grants support small, focused projects that allow investigators to develop preliminary data to compete for funding from larger organizations such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Other TS Alliance research grants support postdoctoral fellowships to encourage young investigators to engage in TSC research.  Many of these investigators will continue to pursue TSC research when they establish their own independent laboratories.

Researchers funded by the TS Alliance have a strong history of obtaining additional funding: between 1984 and 2017, principal investigators who received a total of $20.3 million from the TS Alliance subsequently garnered an additional $15.6 million from the Department of Defense’s Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Research Program and $326 million from the NIH.

2018 Grant Cycle

Key Dates

• The Letter of Intent stage will reopen on February 16, 2018.
• Letters of Intent must be submitted no later than May 7, 2018, at 11:59 p.m. US EDT.

Key Documents

• Program Guidelines
• Letter of Intent Instructions

Application Process

• Applications will only be accepted through the online submission system (opening February 16, 2018).
• Applicants submit a brief Letter of Intent describing their specific aims and the relevance of their proposed work to TSC, and generally describing the rationale and any preliminary data supporting the approach.
• Letters of Intent will be evaluated by reviewers identified by the TS Alliance, including experts selected from the International Scientific Advisory Board or ad hoc reviewers.
• The TS Alliance will invite a subset of applicants to submit more detailed full proposals.

This process is intended to reduce workload on applicants and reviewers by triaging applications based on a brief Letter of Intent. Those invited to submit full proposals will have a higher probability of funding and will be invited to engage in a dialog with the TS Alliance Chief Scientific Officer during the preparation of the full proposals to optimize alignment of the scientific proposal with the goals and areas of emphasis of the TS Alliance.

Types of Grants

Postdoctoral Fellowships

• Postdoctoral Fellowship awards may support any type of basic or translational research relevant to TSC that provides an outstanding opportunity for the trainee’s professional growth.
• Postdoctoral Fellowship awards are intended to provide funding for an individual who has recently earned a PhD or MD degree and is working with a Sponsor to do research relevant to TSC.
• The Sponsor must be tenure-track faculty or an equivalent level at a research institution or company. The award is intended to fund the applicant’s salary and some of the laboratory supplies or tools necessary to conduct the proposed research. The award is not intended to fund technical support for the project or to purchase equipment in the Sponsor’s laboratory. The trainee applicant is considered to be the “Principal Investigator” for the purpose of postdoctoral fellowship awards.

Research Grants

• Research Grant proposals should address one of the following four high-priority areas:
  • Understanding phenotypic heterogeneity in TSC, i.e., research on genetic, biologic, or environmental factors that might explain why TSC is so different from person to person
  • Gaining a deeper knowledge of TSC signaling pathways and the cellular consequences of TSC deficiency
  • Improving TSC disease models, whether cell-based, tissue-based, or animal models
  • Developing clinical biomarkers or patient-reported outcome measures for TSC, particularly those that assess disease burden or stratify an individual’s risk of progression or developing specific manifestations of TSC
• Research Grant awards are intended to provide funding for an independent researcher, whether tenure-track faculty, non-tenure-track faculty or staff, or an equivalent level at a research institution or company. The award may support laboratory supplies, personnel costs, services, or equipment necessary to conduct the proposed research.
• The TS Alliance fully supports collaborative projects between co-investigators, but only one investigator may be considered the “Principal Investigator” for the purpose of applying through the online system.

For more information, please visit: http://www.tsalliance.org/researchers/grants-and-funding/