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All Priorities Call 2024

underwritten by EB Resnet member DEBRA Austria

 

Application process

This is a one-stage process of application and opens on 24 June, 2024.

 

Submission

The submission deadline for applications is 09 September 2024 at 15:00 hrs GMT. 

  • Research proposals must be submitted via our online system.
  • If you are experiencing any technical problems or your query can not be answered based on the information provided by the system, please contact office@eb-researchnetwork.org.
  • Please carefully read the Terms and Conditions before completing an application form.
  • If you are applying for an extension (one year maximum) to an existing EB Resnet/DEBRA research grant, please contact us.

Review process

  • Research Proposals will be reviewed by external reviewers and members of our  Expert Panel (the EB MSAP - Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel) in December 2024. 
  • Applicants will be provided with the peer-review feedback and will be invited to provide a rebuttal should they wish (invitation to do so will be provided via our Grant Management System) prior to the grant review meeting.
  • Recommendations for funding made by the Expert Panel at a grant review meeting will then be considered by EB Resnet members' Boards of Trustees.
  • Subject to funding availability, the four research areas detailed under the ‚Scope section‘ will be prioritized while adhering to the core principle of funding the best research, identified by the Expert Panel as meeting the criteria of scientific quality, feasibility, and patient benefit.
  • The final funding decision will be at the discretion of EB Resnet members. It is anticipated that funding decisions will be made in January / February 2025 (date TBC).

Scope

Applications should help advance new therapeutic concepts or significantly contribute to solving technological bottlenecks in therapeutic development for EB. Research proposals addressing mechanistic understanding of the fundamental biology of EB, to identify new or improved therapeutic targets, are eligible, as are proof-of-concept studies, through to advanced preclinical work.  

Through this AP Call 2024 funding scheme,  research proposals in any of EB Resnet’s priority areas are eligible for support.

 

Current Research Priorities

  • Improving understanding of EB biology to create new concepts for diagnosis and treatment.
  • Developing disease-modifying and curative therapies.
  • Preventing and curing severe disease consequences: chronic wounds, fibrosis, and cancer.
  • Improving clinical care and symptom relief through research.

We would particularly welcome proposals in the following areas:

  • Cutting-edge approaches addressing current hurdles in the creation and clinical development of reproducible stem cell therapies for EB (safety, potency, genetic stability, immunogenicity, tumorgenicity, cell reproducibility and scalability)
  • Sophisticated models of EB capable of realistically mimicking complex cell-to-cell interactions, including epithelial-immune cell crosstalk (organoids, complex skin-equivalents, organ-on-a-chip, bioprinting).
  • Predictive, high-throughput, data-driven bioinformatic approaches supported by robust analytics enabling interrogation of EB multimodal data (genetic, molecular, clinical) followed, where possible, by confirmatory, functional validation assays. These approaches should aim to identify possible points of therapeutic intervention based on specific biomarkers and relevant signaling pathways.
  • Breakthrough approaches tackling current problems in delivering repair molecules to internal mucosae of EB patients.

All applicants are strongly encouraged to provide compelling preliminary evidence that their proposals have a solid rationale for application to EB.

 

Formal Criteria

  • One of the defined priority research areas.
  • Between 12 months and 3 years' duration.
  • It is expected that funding requests would not exceed €90K per annum; however, funding in excess of these amounts may be allowed if considered by EB Resnet members to be adequately justified in the grant application, and subject to funding availability.
  • Currency may be USD, EUR, or GBP; contracts will be issued in USD, EUR, or GBP for a binding amount.

Co-Funding

  • We members welcome proposals for co-funding with other organizations, including government, academia, industry, or other charities.
  • We will not, however, fund generic technology development costs not closely related to a specific EB therapeutic approach.
  • If in doubt about whether your application would be eligible, please contact Dr. Gaston Sendin, office@eb-researchnetwork.org or gaston.sendin@debra-austria.org, before submitting a full application.

Through our close collaboration with the dedicated team of experts at DEBRA Research - a non-profit organization set up by DEBRA Austria – we aim to push forward all translational projects developing new treatment options for all EB subtypes. In case your project does not fit into this call, e.g. as it is already in the clinical development phase or exceeds the size of the fund here, support and funding by DEBRA Research might be an option. Dr Gaston Sendin (gaston.sendin@debra-austria.org) will be able to advise on this possibility. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with him.

 

Click here to submit your project proposal  


If you are experiencing any technical problems or your query is not answered in the information provided in the online system, please contact us: office@eb-researchnetwork.org

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