Accelerating Hope: Clinical Trials for Hard-to-Treat Cancers Award

About this program

Children’s Cancer Research Fund is soliciting applications for the Accelerating Hope: Clinical Trials for Hard-to-Treat Cancers Award to support Phase 0–Phase 2 clinical trials targeting pediatric cancers or molecular/demographic subgroups with <70% five‑year survival, funding up to $1,000,000 total costs for projects of up to 36 months. A required Letter of Intent is due August 7, 2026 (invited full proposals due November 16, 2026) and full applications must include a detailed clinical protocol, a FAIR-compliant data sharing plan, and human subjects/IACUC approvals. Eligible principal investigators must hold a paid appointment at a U.S.-based nonprofit research, medical, or academic institution (U.S. citizenship not required), commit a minimum of 10% effort to the project, and may submit only one LOI per calendar year; the award is made to a single institution. CCRF will not fund research using human embryonic stem cells or fetal tissue.