• General Research Grants are accepted on a rolling basis through the year – 24 x 7 x 365.

• Letter of intent is only required for proposals exceeding $150,000 per year. Letters of intent can be submitted via email to FARA’s Executive Director, jen.farmer@curefa.org

  • A Letter of Intent must include a brief description of the proposed project objectives with the relevance to FA and the hypothesis or hypotheses, key preliminary data or research findings that support the rationale for the proposal, and brief summary of the Principal Investigator’s background and contact information.

• All grants should be submitted using FARA’s Research Portfolio Management Program – www.curefa.org/rpmp

• FARA only funds direct costs. No indirect costs will be awarded.

• Grant proposals should not exceed 24 months in duration.

• Grant awards are made in one year allocations. All subsequent payments are contingent upon receipt and satisfactory review of a progress report. FARA reserves the right terminate any grant award for inadequate progress, failure to submit reports, deviation in scope of the original research, and/or changes in funding priority.

• A detailed budget must be submitted with all proposals, including a justification to support reported expenses. Allowable expenses include: personnel costs/salary, laboratory reagents and supplies, equipment, animal expenses, patient expenses directly related to study and not reimbursable by third party insurers, and patient travel. Expenses not awarded: indirect costs/overhead,  travel to meetings and conferences, membership to scientific societies

• If human subjects are used in the proposed study, the study must be approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Full funding will not be provided until proof of IRB approval is demonstrated to FARA. Human subjects studied in the course of research conducted under a grant are under no circumstances a responsibility of FARA.

• If animals are used in the proposed study, the study must be approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (or equivalent) indicating that appropriate precautions have been taken to assure that proper treatment, care and humane conditions have been provided.

We believe in welcoming, mentoring and supporting new scientists in the FA research community. This award is to support young investigators who are beginning their independent research careers and have a strong interest in pursuing research that advances knowledge and insights of FA. This award is also intended to support investigators from related fields of research who want to apply their knowledge and experience to a specific area of FA research. Proposals for basic, translational and clinical research will be considered responsive to this RFA.

All applications must be received by March 1st or September 1st 2011. All applications should be submitted through FARA’s grant website – www.curefa.org/rpmp. On the Main Grant Page of the application please indicate “NIA Award” in the RFP field.

Grant proposals should not exceed 24 months in duration.

Applications will be accepted from for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, public or private institutions, and foreign institutions. Budget must be for direct costs only and must not exceed $100,000 per year. Allowable costs under this award: Laboratory supplies, reagents, purchase and care of laboratory animals; small pieces of laboratory equipment; salary for the principal investigator. Costs not allowed under this award include: support for travel to scientific and professional meetings usually attended by the investigators, computer hardware or software and indirect costs.

• A letter of support should be provided by the applicant’s supervisor/advisor/mentor
• A personal statement from the applicant should also be included that addresses the applicant’s current interests, career goals and interest in Friedreich’s ataxia research.

Grant awards are made in one year allocations. All subsequent payments are contingent upon receipt and satisfactory review of a progress report. FARA reserves the right terminate any grant award for inadequate progress, failure to submit reports, deviation in scope of the original research, and/or changes in funding priority.

All applications will be peer-reviewed and scored based on significance of proposal, approach/methods of the research plan, the support of supervisor and personal statement, environment/resources and budget. The proposal with the best score will be awarded. Scientific advisors from FARA will oversee the review, decision and notification process.

The Bronya J. Keats Award for International Collaboration in Research on Friedreich’s Ataxia will be given on an annual basis to investigators performing high-quality, promising Friedreich’s ataxia research that relies on international collaboration among scientists. All awards will be to grant proposals that feature key contributions from investigators in at least two countries. Special consideration will be given to grants that:

• Bring new scientists to the FA community – either new investigators or experienced scientists from related disciplines that bring new insights or technologies to FA
• Focus on genetic basis of, or mitochondrial dysfunction in FA
• Address needs of special FA populations (such as individuals with point mutations, Acadian population, etc.).

All applications must be received by July 1st, 2011. All applications should be submitted through FARA’s grant website – www.CureFA.org/rpmp. On the Main Grant Page of the application please indicate “Keats Award” in the RFP field.

Applications will be accepted from for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, public or private institutions, and foreign institutions. Budget must be for direct costs only and must not exceed $50,000. Allowable costs under this award: Laboratory supplies, reagents, purchase and care of laboratory animals; small pieces of laboratory equipment; salary for the principal investigator, scientific (including postdoctoral fellows) and technical staff (including laboratory technicians). Costs not allowed under this award include: support for travel to scientific and professional meetings usually attended by the investigators, computer hardware or software and indirect costs.

Selection Criteria: All applications will be peer-reviewed and scored based on significance of proposal, approach/methods of the research plan, the collaboration between the investigative teams, environment/resources and budget. The proposal with the best score will be awarded. Scientific advisors from FARA will oversee the review, decision and notification process.

Proposals should be for pre-clinical/translational or clinical research focused on Friedreich’s ataxia with aims targeting one or more of the following:

• Identification of biomarkers for FA that will elucidate disease variability, severity, and prognosis; facilitate drug screening, and/or optimize selection of patients and clinical endpoints for clinical trials.  Could center on various approaches such as:

  • Genetic-based studies

  • Protein-based studies

  • Imaging studies

  • Metabolomics

• Development of animal or cellular models that permit further evaluation of candidate therapeutics.

• Development of tools and technologies that can be directly used for therapy development. Examples include novel gene therapy vectors, genetically-modified cells, drug delivery devices, etc. These tools or technologies should overcome existing obstacles to treatment and be capable of being directly applied to, or adapted for, delivery of potential therapeutics.

• Pre-clinical development and testing of potential targets, biologics, and devices in cells and animals.

• Clinical studies of patient outcome measures, potential interventions, or devices.

All applications must be received by August 1st, 2011. A letter of intent should be submitted with your title and a few sentences describing the focus of your proposal by July 1st, 2011 – jen.farmer@curefa.org. All applications should be submitted through FARA’s grant website – www.CureFA.org/rpmp. On the Main Grant Page of the application please indicate “Kyle Bryant Translational Award” in the RFP field.

Applications will be accepted from for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, public or private institutions, and foreign institutions. Budget must be for direct costs only and must not exceed $120,000. Allowable costs under this award: Laboratory supplies, reagents, purchase and care of laboratory animals; small pieces of laboratory equipment; salary for the principal investigator, scientific (including postdoctoral fellows) and technical staff (including laboratory technicians). Costs not allowed under this award include: support for travel to scientific and professional meetings usually attended by the investigators, computer hardware or software and indirect costs.

Selection Criteria: All applications will be peer-reviewed and scored based on significance of proposal, approach/methods of the research plan, innovation, investigator/experience, environment/resources and budget. The proposal with the best score will be awarded. Scientific advisors from FARA will oversee the review, decision and notification process.

All applications must be received by September 1, 2011. All applications should be submitted through FARA’s grant website – www.curefa.org/rpmp. On the Main Grant Page of the application please indicate “KMA Award” in the RFP field.

Applications will be accepted from for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations, public or private institutions, and foreign institutions. Budget must be for direct costs only and must not exceed $75,000. Allowable costs under this award: Laboratory supplies, reagents, purchase and care of laboratory animals; small pieces of laboratory equipment; salary for the principal investigator, scientific (including postdoctoral fellows) and technical staff (including laboratory technicians). Costs not allowed under this award include: support for travel to scientific and professional meetings usually attended by the investigators, computer hardware or software and indirect costs.

The award will be to a grant proposal that features key contributions toward understanding and/or treating the cardiac complications associated with FA. Proposals for basic. translational and clinical research will be considered responsive to this RFA. For example:

• Exploring the underlying mechanisms of cardiac disease; e.g., testing hypotheses of mitochondrial dysfunction in FA that might lead to cardiac phenotype in patients;
• Clinical studies that further elucidate the cardiac phenotype, natural history and biomarkers, or
• Prospective treatment trials that will allow for the establishment of informed treatment recommendations.

Selection Criteria: All applications will be peer-reviewed and scored based on significance of proposal, approach/methods of the research plan, the collaboration between the investigative teams, environment/ resources and budget. The proposal with the best score will be awarded. Scientific advisors from FARA will oversee the review, decision and notification process.