Chordoma Foundation Research Funding Opportunity

Published:

Key Points

  • The Chordoma Foundation is inviting letters of intent from researchers interested in using its new humanized mouse model to test specific immunotherapeutic hypotheses.
  • Interested researchers should submit a letter of intent by May 31, 2022.
  • Accepted concepts will move to the formal proposal phase.

Chordomas are a rare type of sarcoma (cancer) that occurs in the base of the skull and spine. These complicated tumors are difficult to treat because they are near the brainstem, spinal cord, and blood vessels. Chordomas often recur and can spread to other parts of the body.

The Chordoma Foundation is inviting letters of intent from researchers interested in using its new humanized mouse model to test specific immunotherapeutic hypotheses. The mouse model was developed in collaboration with the Jackson Laboratory using the chordoma xenograft model. The Chordoma Foundation’s Drug Screening Program provides in-kind drug testing opportunities to the chordoma research community.

Interested researchers who would like to nominate an immunotherapeutic concept for the first testing cycle should submit a short, 1-2 paragraph letter of intent outlining the proposed concept to grants@chordoma.org by May 31, 2022, along with a brief summary of preliminary data and rationale. Investigators with high-impact, experimentally feasible, and well-justified concepts will be invited to submit a formal preclinical concept proposal for confidential peer review. Accepted concepts will be tested in the humanized U-CH1 xenograft model, and all treatment arms will include two human PBMC donors (N=5 mice per donor). Appropriate control arms will also be included.

After the first round of testing in the humanized model, the Chordoma Foundation will continue to accept concept nominations for future studies on a rolling basis.