Funding Opportunities
Penn Institute for Immunology & Immune Health (I3H) -- 2025 Roberts Family-Katalin Karikó Fellowship Program in Vaccine Development
The Aileen K. and Brian L. Roberts Family Foundation along with the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation, has provided funds in support of the Roberts Family-Katalin Karikó Fellowship in Vaccine Development. Dr. Katalin Karikó, with Dr. Drew Weissman, is a pioneer in mRNA vaccine technology whose work helped define the role of nucleoside modifications to suppress the immunogenicity of therapeutic mRNAs. This work is the foundation for mRNA vaccines being used against SARS-CoV-2 and being developed for other infectious diseases and cancer.
This fellowship is intended to provide financial support for a researcher or young investigator working on basic and/or translational vaccine research, with a preference toward scientists or physician-scientists who are transitioning to independence or in the early part of their independent career. The ideal candidate will be well positioned to make a major impact on the field of vaccine research.
Eligibility: Candidates should be PhD, MD, or MD/PhD at a late stage of their training (i.e., within ~1 year of applying for independent positions), Instructors or Assistant Professors.
Support available: Up to $120,000 to be used towards salary, or if salary is otherwise supported, the funds can be used for research costs.
Application Instructions:
A single pdf should include the following:
- Candidate’s Bio sketch
- Current list of funding (If applicable)
- 1-page scientific proposal including brief background, aims or goals of the studies proposed, and expected impact or outcomes
Specific technical details are not required, but if human or translational studies are proposed, please define the source of samples or cohort.
- Brief paragraph (1/2 page each) on career goals and laboratory / mentoring environment as it relates to the proposed project
- Mentor’s or Department Chair’s letter of support/introduction
- *If you are resubmitting a proposal, please list what you have accomplished since last year
Important Dates:
Submission deadline for full applications: November 3, 2025
Awards made by: December 17, 2025
Full applications must be submitted by email to Tara Duer duert@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Award Terms: The Roberts Family-Katalin Karikó Fellowship in Vaccine Development Awardee will be expected to present at the Institute for Immunology ‘Year in Review’ Symposia taking place on June 3, 2026.
Application deadline: November 03, 2025
King Center for Lynch Syndrome - Penn Institute for Immunology & Immune Health - 2025 Borrelli Family Pilot Grant in Lynch Syndrome
The King Center for Lynch Syndrome at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center and the Penn Institute for Immunology & Immune Health is announcing a Pilot Grant Program for research focused on Lynch syndrome. Lynch syndrome affects approximately 1 in 300 individuals, and significantly increases risk for multiple cancers, including colorectal cancer and endometrial cancer. The aim of this pilot award is to further advance basic science, translational, or clinical research in Lynchsyndrome that has potential to make a significant contribution to the Lynch syndrome field.
Applicants are encouraged, but not required, to propose utilizing existing Lynch syndrome resources at Penn, including a comprehensive database of Lynch syndrome patients followed at Penn Medicine as well as a growing Lynch syndrome biobank including serum, plasma, PBMCs, colonic mucosal tissue, stool and both gastric- and colonic-derived organoids (please contact Dr. Bryson Katona (bryson.katona@pennmedicine.upenn.edu) for more information about these resources). Applicants may also consider using existing resources to explore some of these topics relevant to Lynch syndrome patients, including:
- Clonal cell population dynamics and migration pattern tracking
- Epithelial-immune cell interactions
- Spatial tissue analysis of hereditary cancer development
- Immune surveillance mechanisms
Importantly, pilot grants that introduce new collaborations and are responsive to an upcoming RFA, future NIH Concept or other future funding mechanism will be given priority. It will also be important to describe how these studies will position the investigator(s) to compete more effectively for a future application and/or translated into potential future clinical opportunities regarding Lynch syndrome. The science remains a priority; however, it is important to emphasize how the proposed studies will develop a new line of investigation for the PI and how the results of these studies will be capitalized on in the future.
Important Dates
- Submission deadline for full applications: November 3, 2025
- Awards announced by: December 3, 2025
- It is anticipated that one pilot will be awarded. Applications may request up to $100,000 in support for one year.
Eligibility
- All Penn faculty members (including Instructors) are invited to submit proposals.
- Full applications must be submitted by email to Samantha Halter (shalter@pennmedicine.upenn.edu) by November 3, 2025.
Full Application Instructions
A single PDF should include the following:
- Cover page includes abstract of up to 250 words (and list of approved or pending IACUC/IRB protocols [see attached cover page that should be included in each application]).
- Application (Aims, Significance and Innovation, Preliminary Results and Experimental Design). Limited to two pages including all preliminary data (excluding references; references can be on additional pages).
- Applicants should include an additional half page section devoted to explaining how pilot funds will enable a strong, competitive application to a larger funding mechanism (e.g., NIH application).
- NIH biographical sketch for each investigator.
- NIH other support for each investigator.
- Budget and justification: one year, up to a maximum of $100,000; one page only.
Award Terms
- Awardees are required to inform the Institute for Immunology & Immune Health if the Pilot/Feasibility Project receives external funding during the project period.
- A final progress report is due one month after the close of the project period. The report will contain a one-page synopsis of scientific progress and a list of resulting collaborations, publications, and grants.
- Awardees will also be required to present their proposed work in some capacity at the 2026 Lynch Syndrome Symposium taking place on March 2026. For additional information, please contact Samantha Halter.
Application deadline: November 03, 2025