Research Accelerator for Follicular Lymphoma I (RAFL-I)

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and The Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation (IFLI) have joined forces in a strategic partnership called the Research Accelerator for Follicular Lymphoma. Together, IFLI and LLS will invest at least $20 million US dollars over seven (7) years to encourage innovative research and to address some of the most challenging problems in Follicular Lymphoma.

Program Description

LLS and IFLI are jointly funding creative and ambitious research and development proposals under the RAFL program. Research will be aimed to understand the fundamental biology of FL progression, to develop new targets and therapies, and to launch clinical programs that can address the unmet FL patient needs. Ultimately, the overarching goal is to achieve a cure in which FL is eradicated, and therapy can be discontinued.

Innovative projects that have the potential for high impact in the field of FL may cover discovery, translational and clinical research. Successful candidates will be established investigators in FL or related fields with demonstrated track-records of significant contributions. Cross-disciplinary collaboration including industry partnership is encouraged. Teams may be strengthened with investigators who bring special expertise in epigenetic or apoptotic control, computational skills, data science/AI, animal model development, neoantigen discovery and antibody treatment to the project in FL.

Research Focus Areas

The development of new therapeutic options and monitoring strategies will address key unmet needs in FL. Potential areas of interest are described below.

1) New Therapeutic Development – Development of new chemical entities and other therapeutic approaches is needed to address disease heterogeneity and resistance/relapse.

2)Target Identification – Leveraging innovation in genomics, computational biology, and data science for identification of novel therapeutic targets.

3) Follicular Lymphoma Biology – Research programs to identify and understand the cellular and molecular determinants of tumor heterogeneity driving FL progression, treatment resistance, and transformation.

4) Biomarker Discovery and Development – Identifying and validating biomarkers for use in therapeutic development and treatment.

5) Monitoring and Diagnostics – Leveraging innovation in next-generation sequencing to diagnose relapse before clinical or radiological evidence, optimize treatment response and inform treatment selection. Plasma-based methods have the potential to improve monitoring and enhance patient quality of life.

6) Translational tools and technologies – Using innovative new technologies to address key unmet needs in follicular lymphoma research and treatment.

Funding Mechanisms:

Synergistic Team Awards (STA) will support a coordinated, focused and significant effort to understand central disease mechanisms and develop effective novel therapies in treating FL. Key features of the STA grant include:

• Research program led by a single program director (PD).
• Research program must consist of 2-4 distinct but synergistic projects, each with a Project Lead.
• One of the Project Leads may be the PD. Project Leads may be at the same or different institutions.
• A demonstration of prior collaboration is desirable.
• $6.5 M total award; $1.3M/yr for up to 5 years of funding.
• Annual site visit by LLS-IFLI required for the next year of funding.
• A single STA will be awarded in RAFL-I.

Translational Awards (TRL) will support translational research that moves potential therapeutic candidates toward clinical trials within 2-3 years. Key features of the TRL awards include:

• A clearly outlined translational aspect toward clinical trials is the focus, but outstanding biological research proposals without an immediate translational element will be considered.
• Project led by a single PI, but may have a Co-PI, if appropriate.
• Substantial preliminary data are expected.
• Up to $1.75M total award; $350,000/yr for up to 5 years of funding.
• Major Go/No Go decision will occur after 2 years.
• Indirect costs capped at 10% of total award amount.
• Up to 2 Translational Grants (TRLs) will be awarded in RAFL-I.

How to apply

• Please refer to the Guidelines & Instructions documents above.
• Is this your first time applying for an LLS Research grant? You can get started by requesting a new account in the LLS Research Portal by clicking here.
• See the table below for all the key dates and deadlines:

2024-2025 Application Key Dates

Do you have any questions?

Please refer to the downloadable Guidelines and Instructions document above for answers and for contact information.

Alternatively, please contact researchprograms@lls.org for any questions not answered in the Guidelines and Instructions