Currently, The Tisch Cancer Institute (TCI) offers annual funding to support pilot projects that focus on translational and collaborative research between the TCI cancer research programs through the TCI Developmental Fund Awards. 

The TCI Developmental Fund Awards specifically support translational and/or epidemiological projects that are intra- and inter-collaborations between TCI members, with a requirement that the co-Principal Investigators of the projects are TCI members. An independent and dedicated TCI Developmental Fund Award Committee oversees the review and selection process for each Request for Application (RFA). The RFA is created by the TCI Developmental Fund Award Committee Chair, Dr. Stuart Aaronson and emailed to current TCI members. 

All TCI projects must comply with all internal and regulatory approval processes before a project account is established. Scientific progress is monitored through a mid-year progress report, which is reviewed by the Committee Chair, and a final report is required. No-cost extensions can be requested, but a justification is required. 

2023 TCI Developmental Fund Awardees:

Thomas Marron, MD, PhD (Cancer Clinical Investigation) and Alice Kamphorst, PhD (Cancer Immunology): Dissecting CD4 T Cell Differentiation and Association With Response to Immunotherapy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Robert Samstein, MD, PhD (Cancer Immunology) and Aimee Lucas, MD (Cancer Prevention and Control): Immune Determinants of Colon Cancer Development in Lynch Syndrome.

Deborah Marshall, MD (Cancer Prevention and Control) and Bachir Taouli, MD (Cancer Clinical Investigation): Magnetic Resonance Imaging Biomarkers of Female Sexual Organ Dysfunction After Pelvic Radiotherapy.

Alexander Tsankov, PhD (Cancer Mechanisms): Data-driven, therapeutically relevant patient stratification of lung cancer adenocarcinoma.