The Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF) continues its mission to reduce lung cancer mortality by offering the 2025 LCRF Leading Edge Research Grant Program, a funding mechanism dedicated to supporting innovative research in early detection and prevention of lung cancer. Lung cancer remains the deadliest cancer worldwide, yet remains significantly underfunded in research. LCRF aims to close this gap by funding high-impact projects that advance understanding and intervention in both non-small cell and small cell lung cancers.

The 2025 program prioritizes research that improves early detection and risk reduction. Specifically, it focuses on identifying, characterizing, and developing methods to detect lung cancer at its earliest stages to improve patient survival and long-term outcomes. Areas of interest include improvements in risk stratification, new biomarkers, predictive and diagnostic tools, liquid biopsies, genomic and histological methods, and novel imaging and computational technologies. The program also supports studies in implementation science, pre-neoplasia, and epidemiology, as well as development of technologies to improve screening uptake and outcomes.

The grant provides $150,000 in total funding over a two-year period, disbursed at $75,000 per year. Applicants must be affiliated with a non-profit academic or research institution and be early- to mid-career investigators within ten years of their first faculty appointment. Eligible roles include post-doctoral researchers and clinical fellows. International applicants and those of any residency status are welcome, though applicants may not have received LCRF funding in the past four years or be applying to more than one LCRF program within the same cycle. Investigators with over ten years’ experience may be considered under special circumstances with prior approval.

Applications are submitted through Proposal Central using a two-stage process. The first step is a Letter of Intent (LOI), which must be submitted by March 3, 2025. Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal, due June 2, 2025. Notifications of funding decisions will be sent in November 2025, and projects will begin December 1, 2025. The LOI must include specific aims and a biosketch. Full proposals must contain a detailed narrative, timeline, budget, and letters of support. All applicants must adhere to strict formatting guidelines.

Projects are reviewed in a multi-stage process that includes administrative review, expert evaluation by the LCRF Scientific Advisory Board, and input from patient advocates. Evaluation criteria include rationale, feasibility, scientific merit, innovation, and potential impact. Each submission receives an impact score, similar to the NIH R21 review process. Awardees must comply with LCRF’s data sharing policy, which requires peer-reviewed articles funded by LCRF to be made publicly accessible via PubMed Central within twelve months of publication.

Grantees are also required to submit an interim scientific progress report at the end of year one, a final report at the end of the two-year term, and lay audience updates every six months. For inquiries, applicants can contact the LCRF Grants Office at grants@lcrf.org. Technical support for Proposal Central is available at 800-875-2562 (U.S./Canada) or +1-703-964-5840 (International).