ASPIRE Awards
ASPIRE Awards support cancer researchers pursuing high-risk feasibility and proof-of-concept studies to address challenging questions and advance innovative ideas from basic science to early clinical research.
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Funder: The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research
Due Dates: May 28, 2024 (Upper GI LOI) | September 12, 2024 (Upper GI full application) | December 10, 2026 (Chordoma concept letter) | March 1, 2027 (Chordoma full application)
Funding Amounts: Standard ASPIRE I: up to $250,000 for 12 months; ASPIRE II: up to $750,000 for 36 months; Chordoma RFP: up to $500,000 for 24 months
Summary: Supports high-risk cancer research that establishes feasibility or proof of concept, from basic science to early clinical studies.
Key Information: Principal investigators must be independent researchers; applications are solicited through focused RFPs or considered by invitation.
Description
The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research’s ASPIRE Awards support innovative ideas addressing high-impact cancer research problems, including projects with little or no preliminary data. The program funds accelerated feasibility and proof-of-concept work, giving special consideration to previously unaddressed questions and challenging concepts. Its scope spans cancer mechanisms and pathophysiology, novel therapeutics and translational science, innovative technologies integrated with cancer biology, and biomarker-rich early clinical research.
The Expanding the Chordoma Surfaceome RFP, offered with the Chordoma Foundation, supports basic, translational, and preclinical research enabling therapies against TBXT peptide–MHC complexes or other tumor-specific surface targets. It seeks broadly enabling datasets, tools, technologies, and mechanistic insights. A separate 2024 RFP addressed gastric and esophageal cancers through preclinical research, early detection and prevention, and technology development.
