RFAs: CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR Program

Deadline: 15-Jan-2027

The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) Lloyd J.Old STAR Program provides long-term, flexible funding to mid-career scientists pursuing bold and high-risk research in cancer immunotherapy and cancer immunology. Each selected investigator receives $1.25 million over five years, plus up to 10% in additional indirect costs for the host institution, enabling researchers to pursue unconventional ideas with potential for transformative discoveries. What Is the Lloyd J. Old STAR Program? The Lloyd J. Old STAR Program is a major research funding initiative of the Cancer Research Institute designed to support exceptional mid-career scientists working in cancer immunology. The programme honors Lloyd J.Old, a pioneer in tumor immunology whose work helped establish the scientific foundations of modern cancer immunotherapy. Rather than focusing only on conventional, lower-risk research, the STAR Program is designed to give established investigators the freedom to pursue ambitious, unconventional, and potentially paradigm-shifting research questions. What Does the STAR Program Support? The programme supports research that could significantly advance understanding or treatment of cancer through the immune system.

The research may focus on:

Cancer immunology. Cancer immunotherapy. Tumor immunology. Immune-based cancer therapies. Fundamental immunological discoveries. Translational cancer research. Novel hypotheses in cancer biology. Cross-disciplinary approaches. High-risk, high-reward research. The programme particularly seeks investigators who can identify important but non-obvious scientific questions and develop innovative approaches to answering them. Why Does the Program Matter? Cancer immunotherapy has transformed treatment for some cancers, but many fundamental questions about the immune system and tumor biology remain unanswered. The STAR Program is designed to give researchers the flexibility to explore ideas that may be difficult to fund through conventional research mechanisms because they involve substantial uncertainty or unconventional hypotheses. The programme can therefore support scientists who are: Challenging established scientific assumptions. Connecting ideas across different disciplines. Developing novel research hypotheses. Exploring high-risk scientific questions. Pursuing potentially transformative discoveries. Translating fundamental findings into new cancer therapies. How Much Funding Is Available?

Each STAR award provides:

$1,250,000 total funding. Five years of support. Up to 10% additional indirect costs for the recipient institution. The long funding period allows investigators to develop ambitious research programmes rather than limiting their work to short-term experiments. The flexible structure is particularly relevant to high-risk research, where meaningful discoveries may require researchers to follow unexpected findings or change experimental directions. Who Is Eligible? Applicants must meet specific career-stage, academic appointment, and research commitment requirements.

Eligible investigators must:

Hold an M.D., Ph.D., M.D./Ph.D., or equivalent degree. Be in an eligible tenure-track academic position. Be committed substantially to research. Conduct eligible cancer immunology or immunotherapy research. Be affiliated with an eligible nonprofit research institution. Applicants must fall into one of two specified academic appointment categories. Tenure-Track Assistant Professors Applicants must have held a tenure-track assistant professor position for at least three years. The appointment must have been made on or before July 1, 2024. Tenure-Track Associate Professors Applicants may also be tenure-track associate professors who have held that position for no more than three years. The associate professor appointment must have been made on or after July 1, 2024. This structure is intended to identify researchers who have established an independent research record but are still at a stage where substantial flexible funding can significantly influence the direction of their careers. Research Commitment Requirement Eligible investigators must commit at least 80% of their professional time to research. This requirement reflects the programme’s emphasis on investigators who are deeply engaged in scientific research and able to dedicate substantial effort to ambitious cancer immunology projects. Where Can Research Be Conducted? Research can be conducted at eligible institutions in: Connections between disciplines or research areas. Potential to advance cancer immunotherapy or cancer immunology. The programme is not simply intended to fund incremental extensions of established research. How to Approach an Application

Step 1: Confirm Career Eligibility

Check your academic degree, faculty rank, appointment date, tenure-track status, and research commitment. This is particularly important because the programme has specific career-stage windows.

Step 2: Confirm Institutional Eligibility

Ensure that the host institution is eligible and is not a for-profit organisation. International institutions may be eligible because the programme does not impose citizenship restrictions.

Step 3: Define the Transformative Question

Identify the major scientific question that your research seeks to answer. The strongest approach is to explain why the question matters and why conventional approaches may not be sufficient.

Step 4: Demonstrate Your Scientific Vision

Explain how your previous body of work has positioned you to pursue the proposed research.

Connect your:

Research record → expertise → scientific question → innovative hypothesis → potential breakthrough.

Step 5: Explain the High-Risk Element

Clearly identify what makes the research unconventional or risky. More importantly, explain why taking that risk could produce an important scientific advance.

Step 6: Describe the Potential Impact

Explain how successful research could influence: Fundamental cancer biology. Unders