Funder: Children's Tumor Foundation
Due Dates: November 2, 2026, 9:00 a.m. ET (LOI opens) | December 1, 2026, 4:00 p.m. ET (LOI deadline) | July 1, 2027 (Award starts)
Funding Amounts: Two years of salary support: $29,364/year predoctoral or $63,480–$77,076/year postdoctoral, plus fringe benefits, indirect costs, and travel support
Summary: Supports early-career researchers conducting basic and translational NF research while developing independent research careers.
Key Information: Salary support only, not research expenses; applicants must have a senior research sponsor and cannot hold independent faculty positions.
Description
The Children's Tumor Foundation (CTF) Young Investigator Award is part of its Discovery Fund and its longest-running competitive award program. It provides salary support to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows pursuing neurofibromatosis (NF) research, helping them establish independent careers and generate data for larger grants, including NIH and CDMRP Neurofibromatosis Research Program funding.
The program supports basic and translational research into cellular, genetic, and molecular mechanisms of NF1 and all forms of schwannomatosis, therapeutic targets and candidate treatments, and NF natural history. Relevant manifestations include nervous system tumors, bone and cardiovascular abnormalities, cognitive manifestations, and pain. Researchers outside the NF field are welcome when their work advances NF understanding. Proposals focused mainly on validating or testing therapeutic targets and agents are directed toward CTF's Drug Discovery Initiative.
