The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) is pleased to announce a Request for Proposals (RFP) to support studies to identify new therapeutic modalities including small molecules, antibodies, protein degraders, and cell therapies against validated melanoma targets specifically in acral and/or uveal melanoma. This RFP is the fourth Priority Area Announcement to be released as part of MRA's Next Steps Program, a separate and distinct grant mechanism from the MRA’s annual RFP.
MRA’s Next Steps program intends to help advance translation of discoveries into the clinic by supporting: 1) needed preclinical resources and tools for the research community to identify and begin to develop new therapies and 2) infrastructural support to analyze and build large datasets and/or develop associated technologies for better detection, diagnosis, treatment, and management of melanoma.
Treatment of advanced melanoma has dramatically improved over the past decade, with 17 new therapies approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Even with these treatment advances, 50% of patients with advanced melanoma will either not respond to any of these treatments or their disease will progress. Furthermore, the approved therapies do not appear to be as effective in patients with acral and uveal melanomas, two rare melanoma subtypes. Therefore, there is a critical need to find new therapeutics. Through extensive genomic analyses of the different subtypes of melanoma, new targets have been identified and validated that have the potential to lead to novel therapeutic entities. Much of this discovery research was funded, in part, through prior MRA grant awards. Furthermore, in the last decade drug discovery has significantly advanced using new technologies and approaches showing promising results for targets that have previously been considered “undruggable”, several of which have been identified in melanoma. The goal of this RFP is to provide initial support to identify new therapeutic modalities including small molecules, antibodies, protein degraders, and cell therapies against validated melanoma targets specifically in acral and/or uveal melanoma. Support from this RFP will be geared towards early stages of the drug discovery continuum that could result in an optimized lead compound or biologic showing activity in acral and/or uveal melanoma preclinical models. It is anticipated that achieving the aims of the proposal may require the expertise from different departments at a given institution or collaborations across multiple institutions and core facilities.
Step 1: Letter of Intent
A letter of intent (LOI) must be emailed to Sara DiNapoli (sdinapoli@curemelanoma.org) no later than June 30, 2025 at 11:59 PM ET. The LOI is a maximum of one page that includes 1) a description of the scientific aims; and 2) the members of the study team and the specific role of each participant.
LOIs are used for reviewer recruitment and will not be reviewed. An invitation to submit a full application will NOT be provided after LOI submission. Applicants are encouraged to develop LOI and full application concurrently and submit a full application AFTER successful submission of the LOI.
Step 2: Full applications
Full applications must be submitted through Proposal Central and are due on July 25, 2025 at 11:59 PM ET. Late applications WILL NOT be accepted under any circumstances. More detailed instructions on how to submit the LOI and full application are listed in the RFP.
Award Duration:
1-2 years.
Funding Level and Additional Support:
Up to $250,000, with potential for follow-on funding.
Additional information is available in the program RFP—including details about eligibility, funding priorities, and instructions for LOI and full application submission.
MRA accepts proposals from researchers worldwide and encourages applications from a diverse pool of investigators with respect to race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, country of residence, and disability. MRA recognizes that diversity in the biomedical research workforce is critical for ensuring that the most creative minds have the opportunity to contribute to realizing our research goals and to ensuring more equitable health outcomes for all.
If there are any questions about the application process or eligibility, please contact Sara DiNapoli, PhD, MRA's Director, Scientific Programs at sdinapoli@curemelanoma.org before submitting the LOI and/or full application.
