DoW Melanoma Research Program Focused Program Award – Rare Melanomas

<p><strong>Summary: </strong>The fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Melanoma Research Program (MRP) Focused Program Award – Rare Melanomas, supports a multidisciplinary research program of at least two, but not more than three, distinct but complementary research projects addressing an overarching question relevant to rare melanomas.</p> <p><strong>Distinctive Features:</strong></p> <p><span style="color: black;">·          </span><strong><em>*Updated for FY26* </em></strong>Investigators <strong><em><u>must</u> </em></strong>include at least one <u style="color: blue;">rare melanoma survivor or</u><span style="color: blue;"> </span><u style="color: blue;">patient advocate</u><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span style="color: black;">as part of the project team who will provide advice and consultation throughout planning, implementation, and results dissemination to maximize research impact.</span></p> <p><span style="color: black;">·        </span>This is a partnering mechanism, requiring an Initiating Principal Investigator (PI) and at least one, but not more than two, Partnering PIs, see <u style="color: blue;">Figure 1</u><span style="color: black;">.</span></p> <ul> <li><strong>                   Each named PI is expected to be a Project Leader for one of the proposed research projects. If recommended for funding, each PI will be named on separate awards to the recipient organization(s).</strong></li> </ul> <p><strong>·        After submitting the required pre-application, <em>investigators must receive an invitation to submit a full application</em></strong>.</p> <ul> <li><span style="color: black;">                   </span>Only the Initiating PI will submit a pre-application. All PIs <strong><em>must </em></strong>submit full applications. The <u style="color: blue;">Partnering PI(s)’s application</u><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span style="color: black;">is an abbreviated package specific to their proposed research project.</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>·        Clinical trials <em>are </em></strong>allowed.</p>