The deadline for the call for ideas for Stand Up To Cancer "Dream Team" translational cancer research projects has passed. The AACR thanks all those who have sent in ideas.
AACR invited members of the cancer community to contribute to a groundbreaking effort to accelerate progress against cancer and directly impact patient care.
The AACR's role is to provide scientific leadership, expert peer review, and grants administration to Stand Up To Cancer, an unprecedented collaboration among the major television networks, entertainment industry executives, celebrities, and prominent leaders in cancer research and patient advocacy. This exciting new initiative seeks to raise significant philanthropic dollars to fund research that will positively impact cancer patient care and prevention and to increase public awareness about the value of cancer research.
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is founded on the belief that the last thirty years have brought about a revolution in our understanding of the origins and causes of cancer. SU2C believes this knowledge and new technologies should be fully utilized and applied cooperatively, rapidly, and efficiently to patient care and prevention. SU2C is committed to identifying the most promising opportunities and leveraging its fiscal and management resources to achieve a paradigm shift in cancer research.
Therefore, SU2C will establish and support a focused and intense effort to affect advances in cancer research as rapidly as possible through the creation of collaborative, translational research "Dream Teams." The most talented and promising researchers across institutions will be assembled into Dream Teams, forming an optimal configuration of expertise needed to solve key problems in cancer and positively impact patients in the near future. These Dream Teams will span multiple disciplines and utilize the new tools of molecular biology and systems biology to attack research questions in a coordinated way. SU2C will employ mechanisms to foster collaboration within and among the Dream Teams — an approach that promotes the sharing of information and a goal-oriented focus on measurable milestones of progress. SU2C believes that this unique Dream Team model will advance scientific research in the interests of both today's cancer patients and those who may develop cancer in the future.
Expert scientific review of the Dream Team projects will be conducted by AACR via a rigorous, yet nimble, rapid, and transparent process led by a "Blue Ribbon" Scientific Advisory Committee. The Committee is led by Nobel Laureate, Dr. Phillip A. Sharp, Chairperson, along with distinguished scientists, Drs. Arnold J. Levine and Brian J. Druker, Vice-Chairpersons, and includes an additional fifteen highly accomplished senior laboratory researchers and physician-scientists and two advocates.
The number of Dream Teams to be formed will depend upon the total amount of funds raised through SU2C. Based upon the scope of each Dream Team project, total support for each Team may reach up to $20 million.
The AACR called upon members of the cancer community to join this collaborative effort and contribute their ideas to the groundbreaking SU2C Dream Team translational research model. We invited submission of ideas for translational cancer research projects that would address critical problems in patient care, including prevention strategies for those at risk, and deliver near-term patient benefit through investigation by a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional Dream Team of expert investigators. The ideas could focus on particular organ sites or on specialized research areas and were to be based on perceived opportunities for success as well as high-priority areas with a critical need for rapid progress beyond current medical care. The collective ideas for Dream Team translational research projects suggested by the cancer community will assist the SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee in its deliberations and selection of SU2C Dream Teams.
*Please note that in this call for ideas, AACR was not accepting research proposals for grant funding. Rather AACR was inviting ideas for SU2C Dream Team translational research projects.
Submission of Ideas
The following elements needed to be included:
- Project Summary Statement - Briefly describe the idea for a translational research project and provide justification for the suggestions with background information.
- Clinical Impact - Describe how forming an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional Dream Team would result in more rapid advances in the treatment of patients or the prevention of cancer in those individuals who are at risk.
- Provide a timeline toward realizing the clinical impact.
- Expertise and key personnel - Describe the expertise needed to undertake the translational cancer research project and identify key personnel. Each Team will consist of one or two Dream Team Leaders who are expert in translational research, no more than about eight Dream Team Principals including the leaders, and at least two advocates. All key personnel must be from different institutions.
- Key Literature References - References to publications supporting the suggestion may be included.
By submitting an idea, the submitter gave permission for the AACR to use the idea in any manner related to the Stand Up To Cancer initiative. However, this permission did not preclude the submitter from using the idea for other purposes.
For more information....
Learn more about the Dream Team model.
Inquiries about this call for ideas should be sent to SU2C@aacr.org or a voice message may be left at (267) 646-0653.