The CRI Technology Impact Award supports bold, early-stage technological concepts that have not yet been built or tested but could transform cancer immunotherapy research and patient care.
The program bridges conceptual innovation and clinical application by supporting proof-of-principle development of new tools, platforms, devices, algorithms, and systems. Projects should address major technological barriers in understanding, detecting, or treating cancer through the immune system.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Applicants must hold a tenure-track position at a nonprofit research centre or institution.
- Co-Principal Investigators are eligible and encouraged to apply.
- Applications that simply use established technologies, such as single-cell or spatial sequencing, without substantial device, instrumentation, platform, or algorithm development will generally not be considered responsive.
- Projects should demonstrate novelty, creativity, technical sophistication, and transformative potential.
- Clinical trials are not supported through this award.
- Samples collected through independently funded clinical trials may be used when relevant to the proposed technology-development project.
Funding Details:
- The award provides up to USD 600,000 in research funding.
- The funding period may range from two to four years.
- Institutional indirect costs of up to 10% of the awarded amount may be provided in addition to the research funding.
- A project receiving the full USD 600,000 may therefore receive up to an additional USD 60,000 in indirect costs.
- The maximum potential institutional support is approximately USD 660,000, including allowable indirect costs.
- The earliest possible award activation date is July 1, 2027.
Deadline:
- Letter of Intent deadline: November 16, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
- Invitation decisions: By mid-February 2027.
- Invited full proposal deadline: March 12, 2027, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
- Earliest award activation: July 1, 2027.
Further Information:
- Priority technologies may include computational systems-biology platforms, advanced molecular profiling tools, real-time immune-response visualization, complex multicellular culture systems, and novel therapeutic technologies.
- Letters of Intent must include a research concept of no more than three pages, a description of the applicant’s current research, a curriculum vitae, a recent or relevant bibliography, and applicable materials for additional team members.
- Attached documents must be submitted individually as PDFs, use single spacing and a font size of at least 12 points, and comply with all stated page limits.
- Questions or technical problems involving application attachments may be directed to the CRI grants team through the contact information provided on the program page.
- Official program information and application details: See the official CRI Technology Impact Award page for the application portal, eligibility rules, supporting documents, deadlines, and application resources.