Apply for a Grant

The MPN Research Foundation (MPNRF) and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) are proud to announce The MF Challenge, a new grant program whose objective is to change the trajectory and ultimate diagnosis for patients with Myelofibrosis. This program represents a new and important partnership between MPNRF and LLS, who share a mission to advance the scientific understanding of MF and the other Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPNs) and bring new treatments and the hope for a cure to patients with these rare diseases.  

The goal of The MF Challenge is to discover the factor(s) that induce(s) fibrosis in bone marrow, and to identify opportunities to arrest and reverse this fibrosis. We believe that such a campaign will be a game-changing opportunity for MF science and a life-changing opportunity for MF patients. 

Click here to download the RFP

Important Dates
Call for proposals: January 2012
Proposal due date: April 1, 2012
Scientific Advisory Committee Review: June 1, 2012 (final review)
Notification of Awards: July 1, 2012
Anticipated funding start date: October 1, 2012 

Why this approach now
MPNRF and LLS believe that a focus on MF and fibrosis is particularly appropriate now. New high throughput techniques for screening molecules have been developed in recent years that have been successful in identifying secreted proteins; these techniques have not yet been applied to research in MF. MPNRF and LLS believe that ‘paradigm-shifting’ strategies that would use these technologies and bring a multi-disciplinary approach to identifying the cause of fibrosis could attack this riddle from an entirely new direction. Identification of the agent which causes fibrosis could provide completely new targets for drug development. Agents that inhibit these targets may alone, or in combination with currently emerging MF drugs, could truly change the course of this disease. 

Questions should be directed to Michelle Woehrle at mwoehrle@MPNResearchFoundation.org or 312-683-7243.