The Michael J. Fox Foundation today announced the launch of its new Rapid Response Innovation Awards. Designed to ensure that researchers have what they need to pursue good ideas without delay, this initiative will accept proposals on a rolling basis and speed up to $75,000 to one-year ‘high-risk, high-reward’ basic or preclinical research projects in any Parkinson’s-relevant arena. Funding decisions will be made within six weeks of application.

“The Rapid Response Innovation Awards are intended to bring ‘out of the box’ ideas to the surface and quickly determine their scientific potential,” said Gene Johnson, PhD, the Foundation’s chief scientific advisor. “We are encouraging applicants to flesh out their ‘flashes of insight’ that, if successful, can help tackle critical research roadblocks and open new avenues for PD therapy development.”

The program targets projects that, while they may have little to no preliminary data, hold potential to significantly impact understanding or treatment of Parkinson’s disease. It replaces the annual Community Fast Track initiative in the Foundation’s portfolio, taking the Community Fast Track concept — fast funding to vet the scientific merit of new and novel concepts — to the next level.

“Community Fast Track offered a relatively short funding period with an emphasis on quick turnaround and predetermined deliverables,” said Deborah W. Brooks, the Foundation’s president and CEO. “The Rapid Response Innovation Awards will take this model a step further. They represent a natural evolution toward our goal of identifying and advancing the new and novel ideas that hold the greatest promise to get us closer to better treatments and a cure.”

Both the program and its application process are designed with novelty and speed in mind. Unlike other Foundation initiatives, the Rapid Response Innovation Awards will have no deadline, allowing instead for the submission of applications at any time of year. There will be no pre-proposal stage, and the standard application will be shortened to three pages. Additionally, postdoctoral researchers will be permitted to apply as principal investigators under this initiative provided the head of their lab serves as Administrative PI to assist with the provision of institutional documents and sign the award contract.

The Foundation has committed a total of up to $2 million annually to the Rapid Response Innovation Awards. Those applicants interested in proposing clinical research projects are encouraged to consider submitting instead to the Foundation’s annual Clinical Discovery Program, a funding mechanism specifically for such efforts. The next Clinical Discovery Program will be launched in spring with funding anticipated late this year.

Founded in 2000, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research is dedicated to ensuring the development of a cure for Parkinson’s disease within this decade through an aggressively funded research agenda. The Foundation has funded over $86 million in research to date, either directly or through partnerships.

More information on applying for a Rapid Response Innovation Award is available here.