Beyond Celiac 2022 Research Accelerator Grants and 2022 Established Investigator Awards

[These grants have been awarded]

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Beyond Celiac, in partnership with the Janssen World Without Disease Accelerator (WWDA), is seeking up to two principal investigators at qualified institutions to address key gaps and challenges and advance celiac disease research. Each grant consists of a two-year award of up to $175,000 annually to fund a project specific to one of the following Topics for Application.

Topics for Application

• Non-invasive/minimally invasive biomarkers of celiac disease
  • Biomarkers to diagnose celiac disease in absence of a small intestine biopsy
  • Biomarkers to assess improvement or remission of gastrointestinal damage in the absence of a small intestine biopsy
  • Biomarkers to detect risk of and/or rate of progression to celiac disease in genetically predisposed people
• Restoring/inducing immune tolerance to gluten antigens
  • Development of preclinical models (e.g., organoids, etc.) of celiac disease to advance novel
    therapeutics for gluten-specific tolerance
  • Novel approaches to induce tolerance to gluten antigens (including drug delivery and formulation methods)
  • Deepen understanding of key mechanisms of tolerance to gluten antigens (e.g., newly defined KIR+ regulatory CD8 T cells)
• Microbiome
  
  • Role of gut microbiome in the pathogenesis of celiac disease, including refractory celiac disease
  • Role of gut microbiome in the progression and/or remission of celiac disease
  • Role of gut microbiome in response to gluten-free diet

Eligibility

• Interested applicants must submit an LOI. Only those that successfully respond to this public
  notice are eligible to participate in the Request for Applications (RFA).
• Principal Investigator must possess a PhD or MD (or equivalent) at the time of application.
• Proposed project must be ready for operations by December 1, 2022.
• Responses from both individual and collaborating institutions (i.e., institutions in partnership)
  will be accepted. However, a single institution must be identified as the financial lead.
• International applicants are welcome to apply.

Submission Requirements

Candidates must submit an LOI to: https://proposalcentral.com/GrantOpportunities.asp?GMID=193

The uploaded proposal must be no more than two pages in length (excluding references). Proposals should be single-spaced and typed no smaller than 10-point font with 1⁄2-inch margins. Include brief details of research project, including hypothesis, scientific rationale and references to published or preliminary data (preliminary data need not be presented in detail). Also describe the potential for translation.

Selection Criteria

LOIs are not binding. However, only applicants that successfully submit an LOI will be considered for participation in the RFA for these grant awards.

LOIs will be selected to advance primarily on the scientific merit of the proposal. Incomplete LOIs and those that do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be considered for participation in the RFA. Applicants should note that Janssen will be named third-party beneficiary of the RFA, and any grant award is subject to acceptance of terms of the RFA and subsequent Grant Award Agreement. Such RFA draft will be provided following the submission of LOIs and once selected applicants enter into CDAs.

Award Details

Duration of funding: Two years. Unexpended funds must be returned to Beyond Celiac at the end of the research period.

Interim progress reports must be submitted to Beyond Celiac after six months, one year, and 18 months of support. A final progress report must be submitted to Beyond Celiac after the conclusion of the project and must include a financial statement from the institutional grants or accounting office.

All publications arising from this award must include the following statement: “This research was supported by a 2022 Beyond Celiac Research Accelerator Grant Award.”

Submission Deadline

The LOI deadline is 6:00 PM ET on September 30, 2022. The proposal and additional materials must be submitted electronically in the requested format to https://proposalcentral.com/GrantOpportunities.asp?GMID=193

Technical questions about the grant submission process can be addressed online by Proposal Central Customer Service. Other questions can be directed to Amy Ratner at [email protected].