A newly established Ruesch Center/ GI Working Group grant mechanism is currently soliciting research proposals for consideration. Funding will be available to LCCC and MedStar Health scientists and clinicians with a GI cancer-relevant research focus—basic, clinical, population, and translational. This set of pilot grants is intended to foster translational collaborations and generate new hypotheses and results to prove them, leading to jointly authored publications. This collaborative work will lay the groundwork for future multi-investigator grant applications and funding focused on GI cancers to the NIH and other large funding bodies. To this end, the Ruesch Center is offering between 2-5 one-year collaborative project awards, ranging from $25,000 to 50,000 each, with at least 2 investigators each. Projects will be reviewed by an internal committee of the GI research working group leaders—Drs. Robbins, Avantaggiati, Marshall, Rozek, and Dash. These reviewers will consider both emerging and existing collaborations across GI oncology-focused disciplines. This program aims to advance research and discovery efforts in GI oncology across LCCC and MedStar and leverage expertise across various fields. This process should result in diverse and potentially fundable projects that produce practice-changing results and promise to build a more robust program. Moreover, creating synergies among investigators will enable laboratories to transform individual projects into multiPI programs with increased impact and visibility.
While not Limited to these topics, areas of particular interest include the following:
Pancreatic cancer
Liver metastasis
Liver and biliary cancers
CRC (early onset)
Pilot funding will be for one year, and work leading to joint publications with future intent to submit a larger application to the NIH or other funding body will be prioritized.
