ROCKVILLE, MD – The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) is accepting applications through February 28, 2021, from academic laboratories and very early stage start-up companies for its third Salisbury Award Competition for Entrepreneurial Translational Cancer Research. The Salisbury Award Competition encourages, promotes and supports innovative scientists translating their discoveries into technologies that can improve the lives of cancer patients.
The program was established in 2019 and is named after the founding Salisbury family, whose shared vision and legacy have defined NFCR’s mission and continue to guide the organization’s commitment to funding “high-risk, high-impact and high-reward” cancer research. The Salisbury Award Competition is designed to identify and promote the development of highly promising therapeutic, diagnostic and preventive technologies made in the lab to be commercialized, with the ultimate goal of benefiting cancer patients.
Applications will be reviewed by a selection committee comprised of world-class cancer research, oncology and biomedical industry professionals. Finalists for the event will make pitch presentations in spring 2021 to a judging committee consisting of prominent cancer research scientists, clinicians, early-stage investors and business leaders. Top projects will be selected and announced based on their assessed feasibility, novelty and cancer patient impact.
Competitors will benefit from increased visibility and insightful feedback from the key opinion leaders comprising the judging committee. First, second and third place finishers will receive prize checks of $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000, respectively. They will also have access to NFCR’s extensive translational cancer research network in the U.S. and around the world.
Additionally, the top-ranked technologies will be introduced to the AIM-HI Accelerator Fund, which was spun out of NFCR in 2019 and is focused on catalyzing company formation with seed investment for early stage oncology companies.
“The Salisbury Award Competition is a unique platform, energizing and elevating translational-stage research projects that are still well under development—and, therefore, risky—yet that hold promise as potentially groundbreaking technologies for cancer patients and their families,” said National Foundation for Cancer Research President and CEO Sujuan Ba, Ph.D. “Supporting such initiatives has long differentiated NFCR within the cancer research field.”
Learn more about the spring 2021 Salisbury Award Competition and apply before February 28 at https://www.nfcr.org/salisbury-award.
About the National Foundation for Cancer Research:
The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides scientists in the lab the funding they need to make and apply game-changing discoveries in cancer treatments, detection, prevention and, ultimately, a cure. NFCR has distinguished itself by emphasizing long-term, transformative research often overlooked by other major funding sources and/or deemed too risky. Since its establishment in 1973, NFCR has provided more than $385 million for cancer research and public education. For more information, visit https://www.nfcr.org.