Limited Submission Opportunity 

Award for early – career faculty 

St. Baldrick’s Foundation Scholar (Career Development) Awards (Spring Cycle) 

Number of SLU slots: 1 

SLU Internal Deadline: September 30, 2025 5PM CT 

LOI due to Funder: December 8, 2025 5PM ET 

Full Proposal Deadline: February 27, 2026 5PM ET 

The Award & Eligibility Criteria 

The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a volunteer and donor powered charity committed to supporting the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives. 

The three (3) year Scholar (Career Development) Award, with an option for two (2) additional years based on progress, is meant to help develop the independent research of highly qualified individuals still early in their careers. Up to $110,000/year, three-year minimum. 

Current funding priorities are divided into four categories: (1) New discovery research; (2) Translational research and early phase clinical trials; (3) Phase III clinical trials & infrastructure support of participating institutions; (4) Education of new pediatric oncology researchers. 

Please see the full list of topics of interest here. Applicants must hold at least an M.D./D.O. or Ph.D. by the date the award becomes effective. Applicants must currently hold (for no longer than 7 years at the time the award begins), or will hold by start of the award a full-time, faculty position. The Scholar award is intended to develop the independent pediatric cancer research careers of highly qualified investigators, not to support well established or senior investigators.

Your 1-page proposal should briefly describe: (1) Area of focus of the research project (2) Relevance of the proposed research project to the mission of St. Baldrick’s (3) Brief rationale for the proposed research project and (4) Brief timeline of the progression of research. Plese see the full list of requirements for LOI here. In addition to the proposal, please include: Project title; a general audience/lay abstract; PI Biosketch (current NIH template). 

Guidance for the Nomination Process 

An internal competition will be held to assign the single slot. Interested PIs should submit proposal materials in OpenWater by 5pm CT on September 30, 2025 here: https://slu.secure-platform.com/a/solicitations/220/home.  A SLU faculty selection committee will review and select the most suitable applicant and notify all applicants of the outcome by October 10, 2025 barring any unforeseen circumstances. Detailed information, including application process and guidelines, can be found here.  

Please contact Christine Luebbert at christine.luebbert@slu.edu with questions about the SLU nomination process.