Request for Applications

Due to the recent Rogers internet outage, the Notice of Intent and Letter of Intent deadline for the OICR Cancer Therapeutics Innovation Pipeline (CTIP) funding opportunity will be extended by one day to July 14, 2022 by 5 p.m. ET. All other deadlines will remain unchanged.

The Cancer Therapeutics Innovation Pipeline (CTIP) Program was established to capitalize on Ontario’s expertise in cancer biology and drug discovery. Its aim is to create a pipeline of validated cancer targets and first-in-class or best-in-class, novel, selective lead molecules (small molecules or biologics) that will attract partnerships and/or investment for further preclinical and clinical development. To generate a sustainable pipeline, CTIP will support projects that aim to provide increasing evidence of target validation and disease association using data from knowledge bases, functional assays, and drug screening in relevant in vitro and in vivo models of the cancer type of interest.

CTIP funds projects in four stages of preclinical drug discovery and is currently inviting applications for the following two funding streams:

(NEW) Early Validation projects: Deliver robust translational evidence that a Target-of-Interest (TOI) is associated with a specific cancer type(s) based on data from knowledge bases and from studies demonstrating that perturbation of the TOI in relevant cell-based models produces anti-cancer effects sufficient to trigger a drug discovery campaign.

Funding available: Up to $150,000 per year for a maximum of two years.

Early Accelerator projects: Deliver a validated primary assay to enable initial screening of molecules against a defined target.

Funding available: Up to $150,000 for a maximum of one year.

OICR invites applications from investigators at Ontario academic centres, hospital research institutes, or other government research institutions. CTIP funding is only tenable in Ontario. For-profit entities are not eligible to apply. 

Deadlines:

RFA information session: June 30, 2022, 2-3 p.m. ET (Watch the recording)
Notice of Intent submission: No later than July 14, 2022 by 5 p.m. ET
Letter of Intent deadline: July 14, 2022 by 5 p.m. ET
Full application deadline: October 5, 2022 by 5 p.m. ET
Funding start date: December 1, 2022

Questions?

Please refer to the FAQ page before contacting the OICR Scientific Secretariat office at ScientificSecretariat@oicr.on.ca.

How to apply:

If you have not used ReportNet (OICR’s online system for managing grants and awards) before, register by visiting https://oicr.factorial.ca/s_Login.jsp. Once an account has been created, applicants can login to view OICR funding opportunities and the associated RFAs (at the bottom of the screen under ‘Funding Opportunities’).

If you have used ReportNet before (from OICR’s Key Performance Indicator reporting process), your profile has been updated to provide access to the Applicant portal. Login to your account at https://oicr.factorial.ca/s_Login.jsp and toggle to the Applicant portal by clicking the ‘list’ icon on the menu at the top right hand side of your screen, and selecting ‘Applicant’ from the drop down menu (refer to the figure below). If you do not see this option, please contact the OICR Scientific Secretariat office at ScientificSecretariat@oicr.on.ca.

How to toggle from the Researcher portal (for KPI Reporting) to the Applicant portal (to apply for funding opportunities)