Internal funding opportunity
FY27 UMGCCC Pilot Award Program
Applications are now open for pilot funding opportunities supporting innovative cancer research, clinical trainees, community engagement, grant resubmissions, and research infrastructure.
Eligibility: Applicants must be eligible Program in Oncology members whose UMGCCC membership is in good standing.
Fall Call for Proposals
Applications due September 30, 2026
- 5K Half Marathon (5KHM) Innovation Pilot Award — The Maryland 5K Half Marathon (5KHM) Innovation Pilot Award seeks to support innovative, high-impact cancer research aligned with the mission of the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC). Funded through proceeds from the Maryland 5K Half Marathon, this pilot funding mechanism is designed to accelerate promising research projects that address priority Areas of Interest within UMGCCC’s four Research Programs: Cancer Biology, Cancer Therapeutics, Population Science, and Tumor Immunology and Immuno-engineering.
Projects should align with the goals and objectives outlined in the UMGCCC Strategic Plan and demonstrate strong potential to generate preliminary data that will lead to future extramural funding, scientific advancement, and meaningful impact on cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or survivorship. The 5KHM Innovation Pilot Award seeks to fund the most compelling science with the greatest potential for a rapid return on investment. - Clinical Trainee Research Award — supports oncology trainees in completing focused research projects leading to publications, grant submissions, or initiation of Investigator-Initiated Trials.
- Community-Informed Research Award — promotes bidirectional integration of community engagement (COE) into basic, translational, or clinical cancer research, addressing UMGCCC catchment area priorities.
- Payline Program Award — provides targeted pilot funding to strengthen cancer-related grant applications that were reviewed favorably but not funded. This mechanism provides funding to support additional pilots, data analysis or experimentation requested during peer-review that, will ultimately support resubmission and funding of the application.
- Shared Resource & Research Infrastructure Development Award — supports the expansion, enhancement, or creation of UMGCCC Shared Resources or cancer-relevant research infrastructure that broadly benefits investigators.
Rolling Opportunities
Applications accepted on an ongoing basis
- CRTEC NIH Support Award — supports trainees and junior investigators conducting innovative cancer research with a strong likelihood of leading to NIH F-, K-, or R-series funding.
- Drug Discovery and Validation Pilot Award (DDVPA) – Sub-Category 1: Career Development in Target Discovery and Validation Pilot Award (CDPA) — supports researchers in conducting early-stage, lead identification and/or target validation projects via a partnership between the Center for Biomolecular Therapeutics (CBT) and UMGCCC.
- Drug Discovery and Validation Pilot Award (DDVPA) – Sub-Category 2: Advancing Drug Development — supports researchers in the advancement of their drug development translational pipeline. Awards can be used to obtain services offered by any shared resource facility at UMB as well as UMGCCC consortium shared resource facilities or qualified CRO within the USA.
Coming Later in FY27
September 2026:
- The UMGCCC CRTEC Department Trainee Travel Award - These awards cover up to $500 each, towards the cost of attending and presenting UMGCCC cancer research at a national or local meeting. Eligible Applicants: Postbaccalaureate Trainees, Pre-Doctoral Students (PhD, MD, MD/PhD); Post-Doctoral Trainees (MD & PhD); Early-Stage Investigators, Junior Faculty (Instructor or Assistant Professor); Research Associates; Residents; and Research Fellows. Applications will open in September 2026.
March 2027:
- Note that we will be releasing a call for applications in the Spring with a March 31, 2027 deadline. These will be open for application starting in mid-January, so please be on the lookout for updates.
- Translational Research Award: The Translational Research Award supports the advancement of UMGCCC discoveries from the laboratory to proof-of-concept studies or clinical trials, including pragmatic clinical trials.
- Multi-Year Collaborative Program Award: The Multi-Year Collaborative Program Award supports team-based, multidisciplinary research projects that will form the foundation for a competitive multi-PI NIH grant application (e.g., R01, U01, P01, SPORE).