Ohio Ag Connection - Lyme Foundation Calls for Emerging Leader Grant Entries

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Lyme Foundation Calls for Emerging Leader Grant Entries
Ohio Ag Connection - 01/16/2019

Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, is announcing a call for entries for their 2019 Emerging Leader Awards (ELA), which are designed to encourage promising scientists who embody the future of Lyme disease research leadership in the US. This year, two $100,000 grants will be awarded in May. Recipients will be researchers from academia or the private sector who are currently at the post-doctoral level through the assistant professor level, or equivalent, and who have demonstrated professional and scientific leadership in the biomedical sciences. They should have a defined approach that offers scientific rationale for a research project that can advance diagnostics or treatments for Lyme disease. Proof of concept for the $100,000 awards should be feasible in 12--18 months.

These awards, along with other Bay Area Lyme Foundation efforts, aim to fill a gap as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for Lyme disease research is insufficient. While there are nearly 10 times as many people diagnosed each year with Lyme than HIV in the U.S., Lyme disease receives approximately 1% of the public funding that is allocated for HIV/AIDS.

"While Lyme is one of the fastest-growing infectious diseases in the country, with 427,430 new cases reported in the US alone in 2017, Lyme research is dramatically underfunded," said Bonnie Crater, chairperson, science committee, Bay Area Lyme Foundation. "Our hope is that these awards will aid in transforming the research landscape by providing the funds necessary to spur incentive for researchers to consider novel approaches to produce reliable diagnostics, and treatments that work."

The Emerging Leader Award grant is designed to be a catalyst for future research. Many of the ELA winners have gone on to receive grants from other groups including the NIH, as well as continued support from Bay Area Lyme Foundation and its research partners.

Past ELA recipients have come from institutions including Brandeis University, Harvard University/Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Infectious Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory at Boston Children's Hospital, Louisiana State University, North Carolina State University, Stanford University School of Medicine, and University of California, San Francisco, Wyss Institute.

Most of these projects were in the early stages of research upon submission for consideration, and the Emerging Leader Award offered a springboard for scientists to explore the concepts that were later recognized with grants from the government and other established entities, increasing the scope of investigation in Lyme disease.

Applications will be accepted from researchers throughout the United States through March 1. Applicants must submit an application, research proposal, and at least one supporting letter from their supervising manager or Principal Investigator. Announcements of Awards will be made during Bay Area Lyme Foundation's annual LymeAid fundraising event in May 2019. The full criteria and application for this award can be found at www.bayarealyme.org/our-research/emerging-leader-award.

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