Challenge Grants

Requests for proposals (RFP) for MPD Foundation's 2010 Challenge Grant program left the office in May, making their way into the hands of researchers actively involved with or thinking about getting into the world of myeloproliferative disorders. MPD Foundation grant programs have gone through several incarnations that illustrate how our priorities have changed as we learn more.

The MPD Research Alliance was our collaborative program aimed at accelerating development of new treatments following the 2005 discovery of the JAK2 mutation associated with MPDs. In 2008 a category of grant was added that recognized the need for funding of researchers new to MPDs. We are proud that the New Investigator grant program has been enormously successful.

In 2011 the MPD Foundation will award a new set of grants through our 2010 Challenge Grant program. The goal is to focus on both basic and translational research. This grant program is following up on the new and intriguing discoveries upon which we hope new treatments can be discovered.

This new grant program is consistent with our role as a patient-driven organization.  Our intention is to explore all options that could lead to discoveries that benefit patients with myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia.  In that sense we are ourselves constantly challenging the idea that a motivated group of individuals can't make a difference. We can't wait to see how the new group of MPD researchers will challenge themselves with these new grant proposals.