ASCO recently announced that it is seeking applications for research grants for projects that use data from CancerLinQ Discovery®—an offering of ASCO’s CancerLinQ® initiative—as a source. CancerLinQ Discovery provides curated sets of deidentified data from patients with cancer to academic researchers, government agencies, and others in the oncology community to generate practical knowledge that will improve cancer care.
“These research support grants provide investigators with a unique opportunity to explore unseen patterns in patient characteristics and outcomes using real-world data from CancerLinQ Discovery,” said ASCO Chief Medical Officer Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO. “The findings from their research have the potential to inform clinical practice and improve the quality of patient care.”
Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO
CancerLinQ collects and analyzes data from patients at practices nationwide, drawing from electronic health records. The CancerLinQ Discovery deidentified custom data sets are derived from the vast pool of data contributed by participating practices.
With grants of $32,500 each, ASCO will provide early- and mid-career clinical oncology and health service investigators with real-world evidence that can inform their research. The grants—as many meritorious awards as funds permit—are being funded by the Mission Endowment of ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation. Each 1-year grant covers the cost of the CancerLinQ Discovery data set and a kickoff meeting at ASCO headquarters, and also contributes to personnel and/or research expenses.
Applicants are invited to submit research proposals consistent with ASCO’s mission to conquer cancer through research, education, and promotion of the highest quality patient care that can be addressed using CancerLinQ Discovery data. Research topics may include adoption of treatment guidelines across the United States; development of quality measures with the highest impact for clinical care; measuring the impact of educational programs on clinical practice; supportive evidence for informing ASCO policy priorities; or novel research on other topics.
The top proposals will be selected for funding by a review panel. The grant recipients will be invited to ASCO headquarters for an initial training session on CancerLinQ Discovery, and will have ongoing mentoring on the use of the database. All recipients will be expected to publish their work in medical journals.
Eligibility Criteria
APPLICANTS MUST meet the following criteria:
• Hold a doctoral degree (including but not limited to MD, DO, PharmD, or PhD)
• Have completed final subspecialty training after 2009 for a PhD or PharmD or 2014 for an MD or DO
• Be planning an investigative career in clinical oncology or health services research with a focus in oncology
• Have a mentor in the proposed research field at their respective institutions
• Not hold another active grant from Conquer Cancer
• Be an active ASCO member
• Be based in a U.S. practice or institution
• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
The Request for Proposals document is now available. Applications are due by April 30, 2019.
The Conquer Cancer Mission Endowment provides a long-term base of support to advance the Foundation’s critical mission to improve the care and treatment of people living with cancer. The endowment is the cornerstone of its efforts to extend the reach and impact of its work, and allows Conquer Cancer to continue to support the very best opportunities for scientific research, professional development, and patient education well into the future. The Mission Endowment provides a stable flow of funds to increase grant funding, sustain existing programs, develop new initiatives, and reach new audiences around the world.
CancerLinQ and CancerLinQ Discovery are projects of CancerLinQ LLC. For more information about either initiative, please go to CancerLinQ.org. ■
© 2019. American Society of Clinical Oncology. All rights reserved.
