External Deadline: February 13, 2026 Internal Deadline: January 19, 2026
Instructions for electronic submission:
- To apply for the Scholar Hope Grant or Young Investigator Grant, please submit the materials requested below to this link
Please note that the internal application deadline for both programs is January 19, 2025
Foundation Focus:
The intent of the HHOW pediatric cancer research grants is to provide funding for principal investigators, whose research projects are likely to have a significant impact on improving the understanding of the biology of childhood cancer and/or developing novel diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic approaches for pediatric malignancies. Projects eligible to be funded by this program will be those that pursue innovative research that is translational in nature, that is, has the potential to impact childhood cancer diagnosis and treatment. Proposals requesting support for clinical trials are not eligible for consideration.
Research proposals will be evaluated based on:
- Relevance to pediatric cancer
- Quality of science
- Innovation
- Potential for success
- Potential impact on the field
- Quality of applicant
- Quality of institutional environment
- Demonstrated need for funding
See the Foundation website for details.
Description of Programs:
Nomination Limit: An individual institution may apply for up to 2 awards – either one Young Investigator award and one Hope Scholar award, or two Young Investigator awards; an institution may not apply for two Hope Scholar awards
Budget:
- Scholar Hope Grant Budget: $400,000 (two-year award)
- Young Investigator Grant Budget: $300,000 (two-year award)
Eligibility
Hyundai Scholar Hope Grant
- PI must be an MD/DO or MD/DO/PhD pediatric oncologist whose research is focused on pediatric oncology
- PI must hold the rank of Assistant Professor or higher, and no less than 7 years may have elapsed from the start of their pediatric oncology fellowship training
- A PhD is not eligible to be a PI, for the purposes of the award, but may participate as a member of a research team
- Individuals who are not pediatric oncologists (including but not limited to pediatric surgeons, pediatric pathologists, pediatric radiation oncologists) are not eligible to apply for the Hope Scholar Grant
- PI may have no more than 1 R01 or R01-equivalent grant at the time of application
- There should be no overlap of the current Hope Scholar proposal with concurrent funding
- Applicant must be based in and research focused on projects within the United States
- Proposals requesting support for clinical trials are not eligible for consideration. However, projects may propose to utilize specimens/data that have already been obtained as a correlative aim of a clinical trial, i.e., specimens and/or data must already be in hand and not dependent on ongoing patient accrual to a clinical trial. In addition to basic and translational pediatric cancer research projects, proposals may also address issues related to pediatric cancer outcomes, survivorship and disparities.
- Applicant may not have concurrent HHOW funding, but may apply during the second year of funding for a second HHOW grant (i.e. consecutive funding)
Hyundai Young Investigator Award
- PI may be an MD/DO or MD/DO/PhD who is currently in the 3rd or 4th year of an ACGME-accredited pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship training program and conducting pediatric cancer research
OR
PI may be a pediatric oncologist holding a rank no higher than Assistant Professor
- No more than 7 years may have elapsed since the start of pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship training
- A PhD is not eligible to be a PI, for the purposes of the award, but may participate as a member of a research team
- Individuals who are not pediatric oncologists (including but not limited to pediatric surgeons, pediatric pathologists, pediatric radiation oncologists) are not eligible to apply for the Young Investigator Grant
- Applicant must be based in and research focused on projects within the United States
- There should be no overlap of the current Young Investigator proposal with concurrent funding
- Proposals requesting support for clinical trials are not eligible for consideration. However, projects may propose to utilize specimens/data that have already been obtained as a correlative aim of a clinical trial, i.e., specimens and/or data must already be in hand and not dependent on ongoing patient accrual to a clinical trial. In addition to basic and translational pediatric cancer research projects, proposals may also address issues related to pediatric cancer outcomes, survivorship and disparities.
- Applicant may not have concurrent HHOW funding, but may apply during the second year of funding for a second HHOW grant (i.e. consecutive funding)
Application Requirements
WCM is limited to submitting 1 nominee per program. Due to this limitation an internal selection process will be coordinated. Chairpersons/Institute Directors/Division Heads may submit no more than two nominations from their department/division.
Chairs/Inst Dir/Division Heads submitting more than one nomination must send a statement to researchdean@med.cornell.edu commenting on the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two nominees.
Margins should be at least one inch and font size no less than 11 point.
Upload the following items in the order listed in one PDF file using this naming convention: PI last name-first initial_ScholarGrant2025.pdf or PI last name-first initial_YIA2025.pdf (see example below).
Example: Smith-J_ScholarGrant2025.pdf
Example: Smith-J_YIA2025.pdf
Materials for Scholar Hope Grant:
- Letter of Nomination by the Department Chair/Inst Dir/Division Head detailing why the candidate should be considered (1-2 pages)
- Summary of research proposal (not to exceed 2 pages, excluding references):
- Specific Project Aims
- Research Design
- Expected outcomes
- Research findings
- Budget (1pg) - Reflect projected expenditures allocated by category in total and by year.
- Biosketch in NIH format (no more than 4 pages)
Materials for Young Investigator Grant:
- Letter of Nomination by the Department Chair/Inst Dir/Division Head detailing why the candidate should be considered (1-2 pages)
- Summary of research proposal (not to exceed 2 pages, excluding references):
- Background and Rationale
- Specific Project Aims
- Research Approach/Methods
- Expected Results/Pitfalls
- Significance to the Field of Pediatric Cancer
- Biosketch in NIH format (no more than 4 pages)
- Budget (1pg) - Reflect projected expenditures allocated by category in total and by year.
To apply for the Scholar Hope Grant or Young Investigator Grant, please submit the materials requested above to this link.
Please note that the application deadline for both programs is January 19, 2026, at 11:59 PM EST.
Past Recipients
- Cancer
- Pediatrics
- Faculty
- New Investigator