The Kenneth Rainin Foundation (KRF) supports “out-of-the-box” innovative research projects that are potentially transformative to our efforts to diagnose, treat and/or cure Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Through our Innovator Awards Program for IBD Research, we aim to reach out to all scientific disciplines from any non-profit research institution worldwide as a means to attract innovative researchers and encourage integrative cooperation across all disciplines in an effort to accomplish the Foundation’s mission of no one suffering from IBD.

Giving Guidelines for Health:

The Foundation supports research projects that are in close alignment with its Awards Program criteria, which includes:

• Innovation
• Scientific merit
• Strong evidence of collaboration
• High potential for success
• Funding projects that, due to their innovative nature, may not be eligible for funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other more traditional sources.

Process for the 2013 Innovator Awards Program for IBD Research

The Letter of Inquiry (LOI) window is now closed. The Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board will determine which applicants will be invited to submit a full application. Those applicants will be notified by March 31. Applicant selection will primarily be based on the project’s close alignment with the Innovator Awards Program’s criteria. Full applications, which will consist of an expanded LOI (up to three pages), two pages of science and a budget, will be due by May 1.

The Innovator Awards Program is open to tenure track professors (or the equivalent) at all levels from any scientific discipline and from any non-profit research institutions worldwide. Interdisciplinary collaboration is strongly encouraged.

Breakthrough Awards Program for IBD Research

The Breakthrough Awards Program is designed to provide longer term support to existing KRF-funded Innovator Award recipients that have demonstrated significant “proof of principle” research progress validating their original innovative hypotheses. KRF Innovator Awardees are evaluated for potential Breakthrough Awards at the end of their initial year of funding at the KRF’s Annual SAB meeting.

2013 Innovations Symposium: Stress Responses, Inflammation and Disease

The 2013 Kenneth Rainin Foundation Innovations Symposium entitled, “Stress Responses, Inflammation and Disease” will take place in Chicago on July 12, 2013. The goal of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation Innovations Symposium is to bring together leading authorities in a variety of fields to initiate and encourage scientific dialogues that will expand our horizons, promote the development of new ideas and insights, and foster collaborations to speed innovations in our knowledge and in patient care for IBD and other chronic diseases. By bringing together noted experts in fields with diverse insights, we believe that this unique Symposium will have a powerful and lasting impact on all participants and the research and patient care in which we are all invested.

Please check here for details and to register on-line. Early registration is recommended as seating is limited.

Please sign up here for updates.

For more information about the Kenneth Rainin Foundation’s inaugural 2012 Innovations Symposium please check here.

For inquiries, contact Kimberly Krivacic Program Officer, Health at health@krfoundation.org.