Apply for SPORE in Leukemia Grants

SPORE programs are key to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute’s effort to promote collaborative, interdisciplinary translational cancer research.

SPORE programs are key to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute’s effort to promote collaborative, interdisciplinary translational cancer research.

Awards of up to $50,000 to $75,000 are available and applications are due by Friday, May 1, 2026 at 5 p.m CST. The funds are available through one Career Enhancement Program (CEP) and two Developmental Research Programs (DRP):

  • SPORE in Leukemia Career Enhancement Program (CEP), which focuses on supporting new investigators in the field of translational leukemia/MDS research. A human endpoint is required for each project.
    • Award: $75,000 for 1 year
    • View the full CEP RFA.
    • View the application template.
    • For questions, please contact Michelle Callahan at [email protected].
    • The NIH defines a human endpoint as one of the following:
      • Early phase clinical trials of new investigational drugs, biologics, experimental procedures, medical devices, or combinations;
      • Early phase clinical trials of new combinations or new uses of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved agents and devices;
      • Discovery and development of biomarkers, only when measurements are made in human specimens, or directly in human subjects;
      • Laboratory studies that begin with an observation in the clinic and use human specimens to generate new clinical hypotheses;
      • Population, behavioral, or psychosocial studies, when these studies address and measure mechanistic aspects of the biology of the disease;
      • Investigational new drug (IND)-directed toxicology studies conducted following a pre-IND meeting with the FDA in which the plan proposed by the investigators is acceptable to the FDA.
  • SPORE in Leukemia Developmental Research Program (DRP), which focuses on supporting innovative and translational leukemia research. Proposed projects will be reviewed with the intent that they will develop sufficiently, within one to two years, to be submitted for external peer-reviewed funding. For projects with a clinical trial, they must be ready for study activation within six months of the award.
  • Edward P. Evans Center for Myelodysplastic Syndromes Development Research Program (DRP), which focuses on supporting the innovative clonal hematopoiesis and myelodysplastic syndrome research. The following topics are of specific interest for the Evans DRP: 1) Investigation of how environmental stresses, including inflammation, influence disease progression. 2) Cooperation of gene mutations for disease progression. 3) Novel immunotherapies for MDS. Please note that these are only suggestions. Proposed projects will be reviewed with the intent that they will develop sufficiently, within one totwo years, to be submitted for external peer-reviewed funding. For projects, with a clinical trial, they must be ready for study activation within six months of the award.
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