REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Description of the Funding Opportunity

The HDF Transformative Research Award program developed by the Hereditary Disease Foundation will make funds available to advance transformational collaborative projects that will provide new insights into disease mechanisms or create or implement tools and technologies not previously applied to Huntington's disease (HD) research for the advancement of therapeutics.

Description of this request for proposals

The program seeks to fund collaborative research teams to create innovative ways to study new pathogenic disease mechanisms and treatment modalities in Huntington’s disease. Funded projects will “significantly move the needle” and provide transformational new insights to the HD field. General areas include but are not limited to: whether modulation of somatic repeat instability is disease modifying, whether and how cellular, biochemical or molecular insights in HD systems are predictive of disease, or how to apply unexplored therapeutics for clinical application (inclusive of biomarkers). Projects that discover disease modifying targets and incorporate novel tools or technologies are encouraged. Projects must justify how results could ultimately connect to therapies.

Objectives: Stimulating Revolutionary Advances

The HDF Transformative Research Award program is intended to stimulate revolutionary advances in discovering fundamental new disease mechanisms or conceptually novel therapeutic approaches. Exceptional novelty with a credible research path toward the envisioned outcome that will impact HD research or HD therapies will be the most important factor in funding decisions. Incremental advances on research already described in the literature are excluded. This funding opportunity is exclusively to develop and test new ideas.

Proposers are expected to establish their own metrics and milestones to measure success and to provide justification for their choice of metrics. Progress metrics must be delineated.

Eligibility: Partnerships Strongly Encouraged

Investigators from academic institutions, companies, national laboratories, nonprofit institutes, and multi-institutional teams are welcome to apply. Partnerships between academia and industry and those bringing scientific expertise from outside the HD field are strongly encouraged.

Funding Level: $300,000-500,000

Annual funding can range from $300,000-500,000 per award per year with appropriate justification for up to a two-year period. Funding can be used for principal investigator, co-investigator, staff scientists, postdoctoral researchers and, where applicable, graduate students’ salaries. The HDF follows NIH guidelines for salary and allowable costs. Also allowed are costs for relevant laboratory supplies, open access publication fees, small laboratory equipment, and vivarium expenses. Institutional indirect support will be capped at 15% of direct costs.

Development of collaborative teams from the same or multiple institutions is encouraged as it is anticipated that responsive applications will require integration of expertise from diverse disciplines. Funding will be contracted, managed, and reviewed as a team; nonetheless, teams with PIs from multiple institutions should select one individual to serve as lead PI.

Intellectual Property

The awardees will retain ownership of intellectual property created during performance of the program.

Overview of Application Process

A Letter of Intent (LOI) describing the project and team is required (Max 500 words/3500 characters. Text only. No special characters or formatting). LOIs should be submitted through ProposalCentral in line with the key dates below. HDF provides funding to researchers to advance the discovery and development of treatments for Huntington’s disease and other brain diseases. LOIs should have a direct application to Huntington's disease. All LOIs related to Huntington’s disease are reviewed by a committee comprised of members of the SAB, who independently review and score each LOI. Only the LOIs that the SAB review committee consider the most impactful will have a full application requested.

Submission of full proposals is by invitation only following review of the LOIs and a template for preparation and submission of a full proposal will be made available upon selection.

Key dates

Letters of Intent open: January 15, 2024
Letters of Intent due: March 15, 2024
Invitation for Full Proposals: April 17, 2024
Full Proposals due: June 14, 2024
Award Announcements: Early Fall, 2024
Project start date: Awardees should plan to start their projects by mid-November, 2024

LOIs must be submitted through ProposalCentral between January 15 and March 15, 2024.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Transformative Research Awards

Before You Apply

DOES THE HEREDITARY DISEASE FOUNDATION SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL RESEARCHERS?
Yes! The HDF funds applications for researchers working in laboratories around the world.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDING?
The contact PI must have an institutional commitment to carry out the work proposed in the application as indicated by institutional signature on full applications.

IS THERE A MAXIMUM NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS THAT CAN BE SUBMITTED BY ONE PERSON?
Only one application can be submitted by an individual listed as the contact PI. However, that person can serve in other roles, such as an MPI, co-I, or collaborator, on additional awards without limitation.

AM I ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDING IF I HAVE CURRENT TRA FUNDING?
If you are currently funded by a Transformative Research Award as a co-I or collaborator, you may serve as a contact PI. If you currently have funding through HDF’s Transformative Research Award program as a contact PI or MPI, you may act as a co-I or collaborator on a new application, but not submit another application as a contact PI or MPI until funding for the current application has ended.

IS THERE A MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT CAN BE INCLUDED ON A SINGLE PROPOSAL?
The HDF sees the value that diverse expertise can bring to a proposal, thus there is no maximum for the number of people that can be included on a single application. However, contributions should be feasible and reasonable within the scope of the project and budget.

HOW ARE APPLICATIONS REVIEWED?
The Hereditary Disease Foundation Scientific Advisory Board sets the scientific priorities of the Foundation, reviews applications, and selects the most impactful research projects for funding. The SAB is comprised of over thirty of the world’s leaders in basic science and clinical research, and includes clinicians specialized in Huntington's disease, and leading scientists from the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Former and current members of our SAB include Nobel Prize recipients, National Academy of Science members, Royal Society members, American Academy of Arts and Sciences members, President’s National Medal of Science recipients, MacArthur Foundation Genius Prize recipients, National Institutes of Health Directors, National Genome Research Institute, NIH Directors, and Society for Neuroscience Presidents.

Reviewers are selected from both the SAB and the wider scientific community for appropriate scientific expertise. Applications submitted by members of HDF’s SAB members are reviewed by external reviewers in addition to one HDF-associated reviewer. Conflicts of interested are taken into account when assigning reviewers for both LOIs and full proposals.

WHAT IS THE REVIEW PROCESS?
The Hereditary Disease Foundation is nationally and globally renowned and recognized by leaders in the fields of medicine and science. The HDF is dedicated to finding a cure for HD. LOIs should have a direct relevance to Huntington's disease research. Only the most meritorious applications are funded.

HDF grants are among the most competitive and prestigious in the field. After initial review of LOIs, short-listed applicants are invited to submit full applications. All LOIs related to HD are reviewed by a committee comprised of members of the SAB, who independently review and score each LOI. LOIs that the review committee deems unlikely to produce a competitive and impactful proposal will not be invited to submit a full application. Feedback on LOIs is not provided, but reviewer comments for full applications will be provided to the applicants. These applications undergo thorough review. Each application is scored based on the criteria below, and a composite score is determined for each application. The committee’s review process is strictly confidential. Incomplete applications will be reviewed as they are submitted.

WHAT CRITERIA ARE USED TO JUDGE AND SCORE APPLICATIONS?
The HDF Transformative Research Awards provides funds to advance transformational collaborative projects that will contribute new insights into disease mechanisms or will create or implement tools and technologies not previously applied to HD research to advance new therapeutics.

The program seeks to fund collaborative research teams to create innovative ways to study new pathogenic disease mechanisms and treatment modalities in HD. Funded projects will “significantly move the needle” and provide transformational new insights to the HD field. Projects that discover disease modifying targets and incorporate novel tools or technologies are encouraged. Projects must justify how results could ultimately connect to therapies.

Awards are intended to stimulate revolutionary advances in discovering fundamental new disease mechanisms or conceptually novel therapeutic approaches. Exceptional novelty with a credible research path toward the envisioned outcome that will impact HD research or HD therapies will be the most important factor in funding decisions. Incremental advances on research already described in the literature are excluded. This funding opportunity is exclusively to develop and test new ideas.

Proposals are expected to establish their own metrics and milestones to measure success and to provide justification for their choice of metrics. Progress metrics must be delineated.

Reviewers will critique the impact of the proposed project that reflects the likelihood for the project to transform the field of HD research. Our aim is to move highly transformative research on HD forward fast. We want to fund applications that 1) have strong, established collaborations with academic institutions and/or industry, 2) will lead to approaches for novel therapeutics with disease-modifying potential, and 3) are not high risk. Funding the most transformational proposals is our primary goal.

Exceptional novelty of the concept and quality of the experimental design should be the primary factors considered in scoring proposals in addition to metrics of investigator and team qualifications, relevant experience, research settings, and milestones.

Hyperlinks cannot be included in applications.

WHAT ARE THE BUDGET RESTRICTIONS?
Annual funding can range from $300,000-500,000 per award per year with appropriate justification for up to a two-year period. Funding can be used for principal investigator, co-investigator, staff scientists, postdoctoral researchers and, where applicable, graduate students’ salaries. The HDF follows NIH guidelines for salary and allowable costs. Also allowed are costs for relevant laboratory supplies, open access publication fees, small laboratory equipment, and vivarium expenses. Institutional indirect support will be capped at 15% of direct costs.

Development of collaborative teams from the same or multiple institutions is encouraged as it is anticipated that responsive applications will require integration of expertise from diverse disciplines. Funding will be contracted, managed and reviewed as a team; nonetheless, teams with PIs from multiple institutions should select one individual to serve as lead PI. Extenuating circumstances that prevent funds from being distributed through institutional subcontracts may be considered.

Matching funds will not be accepted as part of the budget proposal.

Post-Award

HOW DO I REPORT MY PROGRESS?
Each grantee or postdoctoral fellows must submit a progress report every six months and a final report at the completion of the project that is satisfactory to the HDF’s Scientific Advisory Board Leadership.

All reports, both interim and final, are due biannually in the Fall and Spring. Interim and final reports should be submitted through ProposalCentral. Each report should include a 150-word non-technical, lay summary of your current progress. Reports need to be submitted in order to initiate all payments. Payments are made based on approval of this progress report.

If the Grantee becomes aware that a progress report cannot be submitted on a timely basis the Grantee must promptly notify the HDF by contacting Sarah Hernandez, PhD, Director of Research Programs.

WHAT ARE MY BUDGET REQUIREMENTS?
The Grantee and/or the Research Institution must maintain records of expenditures of the grant or fellowship, including out-of-pocket costs, and provide expenditure reports to HDF upon request. Budgets should be submitted through ProposalCentral.

The proceeds of the grant must be used exclusively for the research project identified in the grant award letter.

WHEN DOES MY GRANT BEGIN?
Once your grant has been approved for funding, you will receive a Funding Award Letter where you will be requested to select a start date for your project. Awarded Grants can be initiated between mid-November of the awarding year.

CAN I EXTEND MY PROJECT DATE PAST MY PROJECT END DATE?
Yes, if no additional funds are required from the Hereditary Disease Foundation and the project's originally approved scope will not change, the Grantee may extend the final completion date one time for a period of up to 12 months beyond the original approved completion date.

Such an action affirms that additional work remains to be completed on the project and that resources are available to continue to support the project, or that additional time is needed to provide for an orderly closeout. Please submit No Cost Extension requests through ProposalCentral no later than 3 months prior to your project completion date.

HDF will notify you of the acceptance of your extension upon approval by our Scientific Advisory Board.