NEW CANAAN, Conn., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), the world’s largest private funder of myeloma-specific research, today announced that it would fund $5 million toward research in 2004.
As part of its mission to accelerate a cure for multiple myeloma, the MMRF supports cutting-edge myeloma research worldwide by funding a Collaborative Program Grant, Senior Research Awards, and Fellows Awards.
The MMRF Collaborative Program Grant provides $1.5 million to researchers over three years. The objective of this grant is to foster synergistic, cohesive, multi-disciplinary research projects across one or more scientific core laboratories to help expedite drug development. Preliminary applications are due June 15, 2004. Top-rated applicants will be asked to complete a final grant submission, which is due September 15, 2004.
MMRF Senior Research Awards provide $100,000 for one year to investigators with an interest in myeloma who have been working in blood cancer research for a minimum of five years. Top-rated MMRF Senior Research Award recipients will qualify for an automatic second year of funding at $100,000. Applications for MMRF Senior Research Awards are due May 1, 2004.
MMRF Fellows Awards provide $50,000 for one year to new researchers just entering the field of multiple myeloma and working under the supervision of a research sponsor. Applications for MMRF Fellows Awards are due March 1, 2004.
All award winners are selected following a rigorous peer-review process, which was approved by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 2003. The MMRF is part of an exclusive group of organizations whose research grants issuance process meets the same rigorous scientific standards the NCI applies to its own research grant review process. It was only the seventh private, charitable research organization in the United States to receive approval since the NCI started the program nearly 10 years ago.
In 2003, the MMRF funded $4.5 million for myeloma research, including targeted therapeutics, immune therapy, pathogenesis, and gene array technology, to researchers and institutions worldwide. In the past, this funding has brought scientific breakthroughs from the laboratory to the clinic and has often led to early clinical trials in multiple myeloma.
To download MMRF grant applications go to http://www.multiplemyeloma.org/research/.
About the MMRF
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) was established in 1998 and founded by twin sisters Karen Andrews and Kathy Giusti after Kathy was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Today, the MMRF is the largest non-profit foundation dedicated to the single mission of accelerating the search for a cure for multiple myeloma.
Since its inception, the MMRF has quickly become the world’s number-one private funder of myeloma-specific research, supporting innovative efforts in the most promising areas of cancer research, including targeted therapies, immune therapy and gene array technology. To date, the MMRF has raised more than $27 million and has funded more than 45 research institutions around the globe, bringing scientific breakthroughs from the laboratory to the clinic and laying the groundwork for promising, new treatments. As a volunteer-driven organization, 87 percent of funds raised by the MMRF are channeled directly into supporting pivotal multiple myeloma research and related programming. The MMRF is dedicated to building interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers, pharmaceutical companies and biotech firms, and the National Cancer Institute to improve therapeutic treatments for multiple myeloma patients. In addition, The MMRF is committed to educating and informing patients, caregivers and physicians of the latest therapeutic approaches in multiple myeloma through symposia, teleconferences, and its cutting-edge website.
To learn more about the MMRF and its programs, call 203-972-1250 or visit http://www.multiplemyeloma.org/ .
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
CONTACT: Anne Quinn Young, +1-203-972-1250, quinnyounga@themmrf.org, forthe MMRF
Web site: http://www.multiplemyeloma.org/