CCF Research Fellowship Program

In 2015, CCF established a Research Fellowship Program to support early-career, innovative researchers worldwide who are focused on studying cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). The program intends to help these high-quality researchers better understand the complexity of the disease and accelerate the pace of finding a cure. CCF has invested more than $2.1 million in seed funding for basic, translational, and clinical research to 43 awardees from 41 institutions in 12 countries.

CCF chooses grant recipients carefully to ensure they build collaborations between researchers, institutions, and industry and share information, samples, and expertise with others in the field. Prior experience in the field of cholangiocarcinoma is not required. Learn more about the program’s research philosophy

Research Focus:

• Basic Science: Research using laboratory-based models without clinical data from patients
• Translational Science: Research studying human samples or data obtained from human samples, annotated with clinical outcome data
• Clinical Science: Studies of outcomes in human patients; including population and epidemiology research

Degree

• Doctor of Medicine
• Doctor of Philosophy
• Doctor of Pharmacy
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

Academic Level

• Postdoctoral Fellows and Clinical Fellows
• Junior Faculty within first three years of appointment at the time of application; includes Instructors and Assistant Professors

Institutional Requirements

• Academic or medical, or research institutions based anywhere worldwide
• Sponsoring institutions must assign a mentor in the proposed research field who assumes responsibility and provides guidance for the research

Other Eligibility Requirements

• Prior award recipients are eligible to apply
• Prior experience in the field of CCA is not required
• There are no restrictions for applicants regarding age, gender, race, disability, or national origin/residence

Funding

• One year of grant support up to $50,000
• Funding for expenses related to the research project, which may include the salary and benefits of the grant recipient, may be used
• CCF will not fund indirect costs or institutional overhead

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Topic of Interest:

CCF gives priority to funding impactful cholangiocarcinoma-associated projects related to:

• Early detection and prevention approaches, including PSC, IBD, and hepatitis-related CCA
• Radiomics and radiogenomics
• Drug discovery using various types of model systems
• Improvements in immuno-therapy for CCA
• Correlative studies related to clinical trial data or samples
• Real-world data research focused on population health and quality-related measures and outcomes

Key Components of a Letter of Intent

• Research that can impact cholangiocarcinoma patient outcomes
• Hypothesis-driven specific aims with well-designed analyses
• A feasible project completed within the period of the grant
• An identified mentor who will be able to support the project aims and the applicant
• Statistical rigor

Evaluation of Letters of Intent

• The Letters of Intent (LOI) will be reviewed by the CCF Scientific Review Committee, comprised of established clinical, translational, and basic science researchers Applicants whose LOI is deemed most worthy are invited to submit complete applications

Letters of Intent Narrative

• The LOI should provide a summary of the proposed research project, specific aims and rationale, scientific approach, significance, and innovation (One-page limit)
• References (One-page limit)
• NIH Biosketch (preferred) or CV (Three-page limit)
• Prior awardee only should also provide a progress report and a statement of how the second year of CCF funding would lead to additional support from NIH or other sustained funding (One-page limit)

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FAQs

Answers to our most frequently asked questions about the grant application process.