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CANCER RESEARCH
Frequently Asked Questions
Eligibility & Investigator Requirements
Individuals applying as PIs must hold an MD, PhD, or equivalent and be independent researchers at any cancer research institute based in San Diego.
Eligible institutions include but are not limited to:
- UC San Diego (including UCSD Health and Moores Cancer Center)
- The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
- Sanford Burnham Prebys
- Rady Children’s Health
- La Jolla Institute for Immunology
- Scripps Research
- Scripps Health
- San Diego Biomedical Research Institute
- San Diego State University
No. Postdoctoral researchers are not eligible to apply, as they are not yet independent investigators.
Yes. Current Curebound awardees are encouraged to submit new applications, provided they meet all eligibility requirements.
No. Curebound does not require a minimum FTE commitment for any grant mechanism. Effort and salary allocation should reflect the needs of the proposed project.
The 51% requirement applies to the Team Leader's employment at the early-stage biotech company.
Application Policies & Requirements
An investigator may serve as Principal Investigator (Team Leader) on only one application per grant type, and no more than two applications in total across all Curebound funding mechanisms in a given grant cycle.
There is no limit to the number of applications on which an investigator may participate as a Partner or Co–Principal Investigator.
These limitations apply to LOIs as well as full proposal submission stage.
No. The PI (Team Leader) must submit the LOI.
No. A new LOI must be submitted for each grant cycle. Applicants should submit a new LOI with updated project details for the current cycle.
Yes. Applicants are welcomed to collaborate with researchers located anywhere in the United States if this is necessary. However, there's a strong preference for San Diego-based collaboration.
Targeted Grand and Cure Prize proposals must name an independent interdisciplinary Partner investigator in the LOI phase. The Partner PI can be from the same institution as the lead PI, provided they represent a distinct discipline and meet the definition of an independent investigator.
An independent investigator is defined as a PI-level researcher (typically faculty or equivalent), not a postdoctoral fellow or trainee.
A Partner PI refers to another independent, interdisciplinary investigator who collaborates on the project with the lead PI, In essence, the Partner PI serves as the Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) working alongside the lead PI. Unless stated within the RFA, there is no institute-based restriction on who can serve as Partner PI or Co-PI on an application.
Yes. A pre-award manager can be listed as an authorized institution representative in Proposal Central.
An investigator with a dual appointment can apply under either institution that will serve as the submitting organization, given that it satisfies all grant eligibility requirements. A dual appointment may satisfy the inter-institutional collaboration requirement if applicable.
If selected for funding, grant funds will be issued to the submitting organization listed in the application.
Yes. Figures and references need to be included within the three-page limit for the Research Strategy and cannot be uploaded separately.
Yes. Allowable expenses include the salary and benefits for students, fellows, and other personnel working directly on the project. Tuition and travel costs are not allowable. The portion of stipend or salary that supports effort on the project should be included as a personnel expense.
There is no formal mechanism to extend Discovery Grant funding. However, investigators can apply for a new Discovery or a Targeted Grant to continue their research. Applicants should indicate in their proposal that they previously received a Discovery Grant, summarize the progress achieved, and that they would like to continue this research in a new grant.
No. Cure Prizes are not strictly limited to interventional approaches. However, these awards are intended to fund research focused on typically fatal cancers, with the expectation that the work will have a direct patient impact within 3–5 years.
Yes, provided the PI meets all Cure Prize eligibility criteria.
Yes. Curebound will be launching our first pediatric-specific RFA in late Spring 2026. This opportunity will require collaboration with a PI from Rady Children’s Health. It is designed to provide investigators who are not selected to advance to the full proposal stage with a second opportunity to partner with Rady Children’s.
Yes. Under Curebound’s governance and conflict of interest policies, serving as a SAB Member or Pillar Committee Chair/member does not preclude an individual from applying for Curebound grant funding. To participate, SAB members/pillar members must fully recuse themselves from any discussions, reviews, scoring, or recommendations related to applications in which they are an applicant or have a direct conflict of interest. Please contact research@curebound.org with any additional questions or concerns.
For 2025, Curebound intends to release the Equity RFA this summer in conjunction with our Childhood Award. Both RFAs will be outcome driven and aligned with our five year research roadmap released last month.
All Curebound research programs and RFA’s are reviewed annually for effectiveness and alignment to our strategic plan goals. Curebound reserves the right to change, modify or discontinue a program offering at any time with Scientific Advisory Board approval. Specialty RFA’s will be offered a maximum of three consecutive years, and all funding is discretionary and based on availability of Curebound fund
All applications are evaluated through a structured peer review. A peer review committee provides an objective critique of each application and assigns a score to assess scientific merit. Three reviewers are assigned per application, and the average score is used to determine funding eligibility.
Following peer review, the Scientific Advisory Board makes final funding recommendations based on Curebound priorities and budget availability. The full list of 2025 peer reviewers are available here.
Post-Award Management
All progress reports must be submitted through Proposal Central, which is Curebound’s grant management system. Grantees should complete and submit the required reporting questionnaire in alignment with designated deadlines.
Curebound processes all no-cost extensions through Proposal Central. To request a no-cost extension, grantees should contact research@curebound.org for further instructions.
Grants must commence within 60 days of the originally approved start date. If a revised start date is needed due to regulatory or administrative delays, grantees should contact research@curebound.org for next steps.
Curebound distributes funds directly to each participating institution. Funds are distributed in accordance with the approved budget allocations submitted in Proposal Central.
Curebound grants are cost reimbursement grants, and all unspent funds, whether the project is completed or terminated, must be returned to Curebound within a reasonable timeframe. To reinforce this requirement, we ask grantees in their final year progress report to indicate whether there are any unspent funds so that we can begin the refund process.
