JANUARY 2021

QBI/UCSF in collaboration with the Edmond J. Safra Center for Bioinformatics and the Blavatnik Center for Drug Discovery at TAU have announced a call for joint grants between QBI/UCSF and TAU scientists. A total of $300K was secured by both institutions for the initiative. The collaborative grants are aimed to effectively connect the computational biology and drug discovery communities at UCSF and TAU.

WINNERS:

William DeGrado (QBI-UCSF) and Ehud Gazit (TAU): "The interplay between metabolites and proteins in Parkinson’s disease"

Nevan Krogan (QBI-UCSF) and Roded Sharan (TAU): "Network-based identification of novel drug targets for COVID-19"

Tanja Kortemme (QBI-UCSF), Noam Ben-Eliezer (TAU), and Maayan Gal (TAU): "Design of hyperstable de novo proteins as non-antibody biologics, and specific quantitative MRI biomarkers"

Raul Andino (QBI-UCSF) and Tzachi Hagai (TAU): "Deciphering the unique properties of bat antiviral immunity"

Tejal Desai (QBI-UCSF) and Noam Shomron (TAU): "Ultra-low dose THC treatment leads to precision Nano-mRNA delivery for augmented cognition"

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CALL FOR JOINT QBI/UCSF-TAU RESEARCH PROPOSALS IN COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND DRUG DISCOVERY

BACKGROUND

The highly successful first annual collaborative symposium between the Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) of UCSF and Tel Aviv University (TAU), held in Tel Aviv in December 2019, has shown a high level of synergism and complementarity between the two institutes, with great potential for collaboration. Towards fulfilling this potential, we are soliciting proposals for joint research grants in computational biology and drug discovery. We seek high quality, groundbreaking research that has a strong innovative computational biology and/or drug discovery component. Projects must involve strong collaborations between researchers at QBI and TAU that will form the basis for attracting external funding later on.

QBI-TAU CALL FOR RESEARCH PROPOSALS:

QBI in collaboration with the Edmond J. Safra Center for Bioinformatics (EJSCB) at TAU, and the Blavatnik Center for Drug Discovery (BCDD) at TAU are announcing an RFA aimed to effectively connect the computational biology and drug discovery communities at UCSF and TAU through the RFA. We encourage original, bold studies that would be unlikely to be supported through conventional grants. We have secured a total of $300K for the initiative and anticipate awarding 3-5 grants.

ELIGIBILITY:

The call is open to PIs holding primary appointments at UCSF or TAU. Proposals must include at least one PI from each institution. Applying UCSF PIs must be members of QBI. Applying TAU PIs must have computational biology and/or drug discovery as their lab's main research activity. A researcher cannot submit more than one proposal.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Submission should include the following items in one pdf file:

1. Application – up to two pages (11-pt Arial font, 1⁄2-in margins, single-spaced), including figures and legends and one page for supporting references. Preliminary data is not required.

2. Details on the mode of cooperation (up to one page)

3. Itemized budget and a brief justification for each side (up to half a page each). The budget for each institute should be the same.

4. Bio-sketch for each PI (NIH format).

Proposals should be sent to both admin-qbi@ucsf.edu and safrabio@tauex.tau.ac.il.

IDEAS WILL BE JUDGED ON THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:

• Computational biology and drug discovery relevance

• The boldness of approach and idea

• Will affect or influence a new direction in computational biology and drug discovery

• Strong collaborations between researchers at QBI and TAU.

• Potential to develop into a larger collaboration and attract additional funding

REVIEW PROCESS AND TIMELINE:

All applications are due by November 1, 2020. They will be judged by a panel; no interview process will take place. The winners will be highlighted on the QBI and TAU websites and are expected to present their work in the next joint QBI-TAU symposium.

Awards will be announced in January of 2021.