Funding opportunity 2026
Clinical Acceleration Team Awards
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OICR Clinical Translation (CT) advances cancer research toward meaningful clinical impact. It supports preclinical and early clinical studies that develop and validate new approaches to detect, treat and monitor cancer at its earliest and most actionable stages. Through close partnership with patients, clinicians and researchers, CT helps ensure that clinically relevant, high-potential innovations are positioned for patient and health care impact.
OICR is inviting applications for CT’s Clinical Acceleration Team Award (CATA) funding stream to support prospective clinical trials in which Molecular (Minimal) Residual Disease (MRD) assessment is a prespecified and integral component of the study design, and in which MRD results are explicitly linked to defined clinical decision points, management strategies or treatment adaptations. The intent of this funding opportunity is to support well-designed, decision-relevant studies that meaningfully advance MRD as a clinically actionable biomarker and contribute to the cumulative evidence required for future definitive evaluation and broader clinical adoption.
OICR invites applications from investigators at Ontario academic centres, hospital research institutes or other government research institutions. Submissions must include a multi-centre team, including a patient partner. OICR funding is only tenable in Ontario.
Funding available: The total funding envelope is approximately $6M which is anticipated to support up to four clinical trials. While no minimum or maximum amount is defined per trial, all budgets must be sufficiently justified
Information session (optional): June 3, 2026, 2-3 p.m. ET (Register here)
Concept submission deadline: July 30, 2026, by 5 p.m. ET
Concept feedback to teams: Week of September 14, 2026
Prioritized concept meetings: September 30, 2026
Full application deadline: October 29, 2026, by 5 p.m. ET
Notification of results: December 2026
Funding start date: January 1, 2027
Visit the FAQ page before contacting the OICR Scientific Secretariat office at ScientificSecretariat@oicr.on.ca.
To access funding opportunity resources, including: data sharing, open access and retention, eligible expenses, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion tactics in research, Ontario First mandate, patient partner payment policy and ReportNet instructions, please visit the bottom of the Funding Opportunities page.