The Kenneth Rainin Foundation Seeks Applicants for 2014 Innovator Awards in Health

Grants will Provide $100,000 for Collaborative and Innovative Projects in any Scientific Discipline to advance Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research

OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --  As part of its mission to find a cure for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), the Kenneth Rainin Foundation invites Letters of Inquiry for its Innovator Awards program. Submissions will be accepted online from January 15 through February 15, 2014. 

The program awards $100,000 grants for one-year proof of principle cutting edge research projects that are potentially transformative to diagnosing, treating and curing IBD. This includes projects that may not be eligible for funding from traditional sources due to their innovative nature. The Foundation's criteria for funding include scientific merit, collaboration, innovation and capability to execute the project. The Program is open to tenure track professors (or the equivalent) at all levels in any scientific discipline from non-profit research institutions worldwide.

One-page Letters of Inquiry must describe the basic idea and central experiment. Applicants selected by the Foundation's review panel of Scientific Advisors will be invited to submit a full proposal by May 1, 2014. For complete program information, eligibility requirements and application guidelines, visit the Foundation's website at krfoundation.org.

To complement its Innovator Awards grant program, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation has announced that it will host its third annual Innovations Symposium in San Francisco on July 15-16, 2014. The symposium brings together the most influential and collaborative researchers and institutions and the most innovative and creative thinking to work toward the common goal of finding a cure for IBD. The symposium provides attendees with the opportunity to network with the IBD research community as well as researchers in complementary fields, bridge the gap among divergent areas of research, and discover grant opportunities offered by the Kenneth Rainin Foundation.

The symposium features a distinguished group of keynote speakers and current Innovator Award grantees who will share their research progress. To encourage collaboration among researchers and fuel ideas, the Foundation is excited to introduce its new Synergy Award, a grant opportunity available only to Innovations Symposium attendees. The award will provide $100,000 in research support for one year to each investigator on the team, up to a total of $300,000.  To encourage students and post-doctoral fellows to participate in the symposium, the Foundation is offering travel awards to help offset the costs associated with the conference. The symposium Call for Abstracts closes on March 3, 2014. Early registration, which includes a $75 discount, ends on March 31, 2014.

About the Kenneth Rainin Foundation
The Kenneth Rainin Foundation believes that people working to affect change need an early champion to further their ideas. Like our founder, we listen and invest in collaborative and innovative projects that advance the arts, education and health, because with our support, real breakthroughs can make life better for us all.

The Foundation funds groundbreaking research projects that transform diagnosing, treating, and curing Inflammatory Bowel Disease for an estimated 5 million people worldwide currently afflicted with these devastating diseases. Learn more at krfoundation.org.

SOURCE The Kenneth Rainin Foundation