Innovator Awards

About this program

The Kenneth Rainin Foundation’s Innovator Awards support innovative individual and collaborative research worldwide to advance the prevention, prediction, diagnosis, and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Awards provide up to $150,000 for individual projects or $300,000 for collaborative projects, with potential for up to two additional years of support; Letters of Inquiry are due September 30, 2026, at 5 p.m. PDT. Researchers from any scientific discipline are eligible, typically through a nonprofit university, medical center, or research institution, but postdoctoral researchers may not serve as Principal Investigators. Applications must have one Principal Investigator, demonstrate innovation and scientific merit, and include investigators capable of executing the project; collaboration with IBD experts is encouraged for applicants new to IBD research.