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Our highly trained specialists are available 24/7 via phone and on weekdays can assist through online chat. We connect patients, caregivers, and family members with essential services and resources at every step of their cancer journey. Ask us how you can get involved and support the fight against cancer. Some of the topics we can assist with include:
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- Cancer Information
For medical questions, we encourage you to review our information with your doctor.
Research We Fund: Extramural Discovery Science
- Discovery Boost Grants (DBG)
- Arizona (AZ) Discovery Boost Grants (DBG)
- Mission Boost Grants (MBG)
- Research Scholar Grants
- Postdoctoral Fellowships
- Clinician Scientist Development Grant (CSDG)
- ASTRO-ACS Clinician Scientist Development Grant (CSDG)
- Institutional Research Grants
- RFA: Extramural Discovery Science Accelerator Award
- RFA: Cancer Health Equity Research Centers
- RFA: Real-World Data Impact Award (RWIA)
- RFA: The Role of Health Policy and Health Insurance in Improving Access to and Performance of Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment Services
- ACS Professor Award
- RFA: Metastasis in Melanoma and Other Cancers
- TheoryLab Collaborative (TLC) Grant
- IMPACT RFA to Support Research to Reduce Prostate Cancer Mortality
- RFA: Leukemia Exploration and Prevention Grant Program (LEAP)
- RFA: ACS IMPACT - Expanding Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials in the Community
- Extramural Grants Department Staff Contacts
- Definition of Research Areas
- FAQs: ACS Extramural Discovery Science and Grant Application Submissions
- Extramural Priority Research Areas
- Our Grant Process
- American Cancer Society Research Events
- Peer Review Committee for Experimental Therapeutics (ET)
- Peer Review Committee for DNA Mechanisms in Cancer (DMC)
- Peer Review Committee for Institutional Research Grants (IRG)
- Peer Review Committee for RNA Mechanisms in Cancer (RMC)
- Peer Review Committee for Tumor Biochemistry and Endocrinology (TBE)
- Peer Review Committee for Cancer Cell Biology (CCB)
- Peer Review Committee for Cancer Detection and Progression (CDP)
- Peer Review Committee for Healthcare Outcomes, Policy, and Systems Research (HOPS)
- Peer Review Committee for Mission Boost Grants
- Peer Review Committee for Immunology and Blood Cell Development (IBCD)
- Peer Review Committee for Treatment, Palliative Care, and Survivorship Research
- Discovery Scientific Council
- Peer Review Committee for Metastasis and Microenvironment (MM)
- Peer Review Committee for Etiology, Screening, and Early Detection (ESED)
- Peer Review Committee for Cancer Prevention and Health Promotion (CPHP)
- ACS Professor Peer Review Committee
- Community Research Partner Participation on Grant Peer Review Committees
- American Cancer Society Professors
- Nobel Laureates and the American Cancer Society
Community Research Partners Participation on Grant Peer Review Committees
Background
Since its beginning in 1946, the American Cancer Society (ACS) Research and Training Program has invested more than $5 billion in the fight against cancer, and we remain the largest private, nonprofit source of cancer research funds in the United States. The ACS has played a role in most major cancer research breakthroughs in recent history, as exemplified by the 50 ACS-funded investigators who went on to become Nobel Laureates. The ACS Extramural Discovery Science team has more than 700 multi-year grants in effect, totaling an investment of more than $450 million.
The peer review process is at the core of ensuring that these funds are invested in the very best opportunities to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. Cancer researchers and trainees at biomedical institutions throughout the US submit approximately 1,200 grant applications each year to the ACS, competing for funding across a wide variety of scientific research areas.
Each grant application is evaluated for scientific merit and relevance to cancer by a discipline-specific Peer Review Committee (PRC) composed of volunteer scientific reviewers (peers) who are experts in their fields. Each PRC contains one or more Community Research Partners who serve as full voting members to represent the patient/caregiver perspective. The role of the PRC is to identify the most outstanding applications for funding.
The Role of Community Research Partners in Peer Review
In general, Community Research Partners are individuals without formal scientific or oncology training who possess a strong interest in advancing cancer research. Community Research Partners bring with them intimate experience with the disease which could include, but is not limited to, being a cancer survivor, having a family member with cancer, or serving as a caregiver for a person with cancer or cancer advocate or thought leader.
The two main goals of Community Research Partner participation on PRCs are to:
- Represent the cancer patient and caregiver perspectives in the peer review process
- Cultivate advocates who will return to their communities with a unique story to tell about the value of our ACS Extramural Discovery Science program
Desirable Characteristics of a Community Research Partner
A potential Community Research Partner should:
- Possess a willingness to embrace the broad perspective of cancer research used by the ACS in its grant funding process
- Participate in required trainings for serving as a peer reviewer
- Have demonstrated effectiveness in interacting with groups in a professional or educational capacity
Community Research Partners Time Commitment Requirements
Potential Community Research Partners should be able to commit to participating in ACS-sponsored training for newly selected Community Research Partners and serve as members of a PRC.
Applications for Participation
Those interested in becoming Community Research Partners in the ACS Extramural Discovery Science peer review process should email nominations to Sabrina Times.