Pilot Award for Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer

Project Award Amount $100,000

Description

This funding mechanism is intended to support projects focused on advancing the understanding, prevention, diagnosis, clinical care, and survivorship of colorectal cancer diagnosed in individuals younger than age 50. Research proposals may focus on disease biology, risk factors, prevention or early detection strategies, and/or clinical care. Applications in any aspect of clinical, basic/translational, or population health research that is relevant to the rising burden of young-onset colorectal cancer will be considered. 

Applications are encouraged from investigators pursuing innovative basic, translational, clinical, population science, implementation science, or health services research related to young-onset colorectal cancer. Priority areas include, but are not limited to:

• Biology and molecular mechanisms 
• Early detection, diagnosis, and prevention strategies
• Risk factors, including environmental, dietary, microbiome, and genetic contributors 
• Precision medicine and novel therapeutic strategies 
• Survivorship, fertility preservation, sexual health, and quality of life 
• Patient navigation, supportive care, and psychosocial interventions 
• Health equity, disparities, and access to care 
• Implementation of community engagement strategies to reduce delays in diagnosis 

Eligibility

Eligibility requirements need to be met as of date of submission; no waivers will be accepted.

Each pilot project will have a maximum budget of $100,000. Timelines of 12-24 months will be considered. Awards will not be renewable. A progress report will be required at the end of the funding period or annually for projects that exceed 12 months.  Reports should identify resulting meeting presentations, publications, and subsequent funding obtained to support the expanded/extended projects. Any resulting publication must directly acknowledge support from the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Program at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC).

Who's Eligible:
UCSF Faculty in any series (Ladder Rank, In Residence, Clinical X, Health Science Clinical, Adjunct) at all ranks (Instructors, Assistant, Associate, Full Professors) may apply. Appointees to the Professional Research Series and Librarian Series may also apply. Residents, Doctoral (PhD) Students, Post-Doctoral Fellows, and Clinical Fellows with protected research time are also eligible. If the Primary applicant is a trainee, a UCSF faculty mentor should be named.

Who's Not Eligible:
Masters-level graduate students, and Specialists.

Submission Rules

Criteria for Review/Evaluation of Applications

We encourage the submission of innovative projects focused on improving the diagnosis and treatments for young-onset colorectal cancer. Proposals will be evaluated based on: 

• Quality of the proposed scientific investigation 

• Significance and potential impact of the proposed research on improving outcomes for young-onset colorectal cancer 

• Potential of the proposal to lead to future successful grant applications

• Feasibility of completing the proposed work within the stated timeline 

• Promise of the applicant and the research team; mentoring of trainees is encouraged

• Alignment with the mission of the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Program to advance equitable, outstanding care for people with or at risk for young-onset colorectal cancer through research innovation, clinical excellence, and advocacy. 

Pilot projects that involve human subjects will require HDFCCC Peer Review Committee and Institutional Review Board approvals before funding is released.

Selection of Awardees

Funding decisions are made independently by each funding agency based on several factors – scientific review score, alignment of proposal to funder’s strategic goals, proposal research area of focus, and specifically called out eligibility or other requirements like membership in a center, affiliation with a specific school or relevance to a stated auxiliary topic.

TO APPLY:

STEP 1) Complete the electronic application form.  Please note there are several pieces of information that need to be provided directly via the electronic application form (selecting the appropriate grant mechanism, providing demographic information, uploading an abstract, etc.).
Click here to preview an inactive template of the electronic application form.

STEP 2) Upload your proposal as a SINGLE PDF that includes all the things listed in numeric order in the instructions below.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPOSAL PDF

Please write your proposal following the instructions listed below and create one single PDF file. Do not include form fields in your PDF document.

Proposal Length: Maximum 6 pages, including figures and tables, excluding table of contents and literature cited.
Format Requirements: Arial font; 11 pt; minimum 0.5 inch for all margins; no appendices; include page numbers and table of contents.

Resubmissions
Definition: Same research topic with an amended application or research plan rather than a new research topic and new research plan.
Requirements: Please use up to one extra page to introduce your revised proposal, addressing the issues raised in the review, and any additional changes to your proposal. Make sure the new edits are highlighted in bold or italic font so the reviewers can easily see where and how the proposal has changed. Do not use "track changes". A new letter of support from the Department Chair or other Unit Head is required in all cases.

1. P.I. Name(s) - Optionally, you may apply with two PIs. If funded, PI1 will be the primary contact for the award set up and management. If the proposal has multiple PIs, both PI1 and PI2 need to meet the eligibility criteria listed for this grant mechanism. Only ONE application as PI (PI1 or PI2) is permitted per cycle.

2. Project Title

3. Proposal (maximum 6 pages, including figures and tables, excluding literature cited)

• Aims. Do not submit an application that describes an idea that is the same or similar to one used in a previously funded RAP grant. If it is a similar idea, describe how the new proposed research is uniquely different.

• Feasibility: Describe what steps you are taking to ensure the proposed project can be completed within the one-year project period for this grant (approximately 300 word max).

• Background and Significance

• Preliminary studies

• Experimental Design and Methods (include timetable)

• Explain how this pilot project is important for your career goals (e.g., lead to major funding, etc.)

• Mentoring Plan: (required for fellows and junior faculty)
  Please describe the plan for oversight of this project by your mentor(s), including the specific role of your primary mentor named in this application.

• Literature cited (not included in page limit)

4. Detailed Budget $100,000 maximum per proposal; round up to the nearest thousand (i.e. instead of $99,985 list $100,000).
Use the following form: PHS 398 Form Page 4, "Detailed Budget for the Initial Period": http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html
 

 Budget Preparation Resources:

 OSR: Develop a Budgetexternal site (opens in a new window) 
Standard Budget Components, including information on personnel costs (salary     and benefits)external site (opens in a new window)
NIH: Develop Your Budget

General guidelines: 
*The NIH base salary cap applies.  PIs are required to list their effort whether it is paid or in kind.

PI partial salary support should be well-justified with respect to project activities. Due to their small size, RAP grants are designed for project support and are not intended to provide PI salary support unrelated to the project.  PI salary amounts greater than ~10% of the requested award amount (e.g., $5,000 of a $50K award proposal, not 10% FTE) must be well justified and it should reflect work done by the PI to conduct specific scientific tasks on the project (e.g. data collection, computation) and not merely general supervision of project goals and personnel.  

Multiple PIs can decide how to distribute the 10% salary support among themselves (e.g., 5%/5% or 6%/4%).

•   The 10% limit on salary support is a guideline and includes SALARY & FRINGE BENEFITS.

•   Update: General Automobile and Employee Liability (GAEL) are NOT allowable costs.

•   The award amount is DIRECT COST ONLY.
  
     5. Budget Justification: Clearly and fully justify all costs.  Budget Overlap - If the proposed study is        closely related or a sub-study of existing funded research listed in the applicant’s bio sketch, clarify the      relationship between the two projects and confirm that there is no overlap in funding.

For all personnel, clearly identify any discrepancies between the actual effort (i.e. real percent time) the individual will contribute to the project, versus the amount of salary effort they are requesting.  This is particularly important for personnel/PI's who expect to contribute project effort with little or no salary, such as those whose salary is above the NIH base salary cap.
 

Recall: PI salary amounts greater than ~10% of the requested award amount must be well justified.

6. NIH BioSketch of Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator(s) and UCSF Faculty Mentor(s) (if applicable). Include bio-sketches for all PIs of a multi-PI application.

• Applicants may submit a PDF using either the old manually-generated NIH Biographical Sketch format or the new NIH Biographical Sketch generated through SciENcv, effective on January 25, 2026.
• See NIH website to find the instructions: https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/forms-directory/biosketchexternal site (opens in a new window)

7. Other support pages required for Principal Investigator(s). If the Principal Investigator (PI) is not faculty, Other Support is also required for Co-Investigator(s) and UCSF Faculty Mentor(s). 

• Applicants may submit either the old version of Other Support or the new NIH Other Support common form generated through SciENcv, effective on January 25, 2026.
• Include information for all active grants.
• See NIH website to find the instructions: https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/forms-directory/other-supportexternal site (opens in a new window)

8. Letter(s) of support: Provide a letter of support from the department chair or other unit head. In addition, for early career investigators, department chairs/unit heads should comment on the independence of the applicant and availability of research space and other resources for the proposed research. Include the letter of support at the end of your PDF proposal and address it to the RAP Committee. If there are multiple (two) PIs, a letter of support is required for both PIs. If PIs are in the same department, the chair can vouch for both PIs in a single letter.