Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation and Pfizer Global Medical Grants are collaborating to offer a Quality Improvement grant funding opportunity to improve the quality of care and to help build capacity to address the needs of metastatic breast cancer (mBC) patients in South East Asia. This grant program will support innovative approaches to diagnose inequities and improve the quality mBC patient care in the select geographies in the region (please review the eligibility section below).

This grant awards program was purposefully developed with the Asia Pacific Regional Council of ASCO expressly for the patients of the Asia Pacific region.

Successful applicants to this Request for Proposals (RFP) will be expected to share the initial results of their project with ASCO’s Asia Pacific Regional Council at a future grantee meeting to be convened by Conquer Cancer in 2025.

Conquer Cancer is the lead organization for the review and evaluation of applications. Grant funding will be provided directly from Pfizer. 

Purpose

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Asia Pacific. Despite significant advances in the detection, management, and treatment of breast cancer, patients in Asia face significant challenges. These challenges include a shortage of oncologists, insufficient training of health care providers, and lack of access to the latest therapies. Moreover, there are significant disparities in access to care in Asia, including between those utilizing public and private health care. These factors are particularly critical for stage IV, or metastatic breast cancer (mBC) patients.  

The goal of this program is to improve the quality of mBC patient care by understanding and addressing gaps in the care that contribute to disparities in mBC patient outcomes in Southeast Asia. These may include

  • Gaps in clinical practice, such as the ability or competencies of the health care professionals themselves, the abilities, or competencies of the systems in which they work to promote or allow proper management, or other factors related to the external environment or patient population.
  • Gaps in the local literature and treatment guidelines.
  • Gaps in patient education, including factors that contribute to delays in seeking care and impediments to shared decision making.
  • Gaps in the coordination of mBC patient care across the healthcare system, including primary care, appropriate referral of patients at early stage and the utilization of patient navigation.
  • Gaps in real-world evidence needed to diagnose the contributors to disparities in care and treat metastatic breast cancer patients.

This grant seeks to provide funding to projects that are aimed at addressing these and other relevant gaps, ultimately helping health care providers deliver the best treatment to each patient at the optimal time. It is not our intent to support clinical research projects. Projects evaluating the efficacy of therapeutic or diagnostic agents will not be considered.

Funding Available

Collectively, up to $750,000 USD is available to fund approximately 9 Quality Improvement projects under this RFP. Individual projects requesting up to $80,000 USD over 18 months will be considered.

Eligibility

  • The institution, principal investigator (PI) and focus of the submission must be based in the following geographies: Burma (Myanmar), Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
  • While applications must be submitted from the geographies noted above, collaborations with institutions outside of the region are permitted. Please note all partners must have a relevant role and the requesting organization must have a key role in the project.
  • Only organizations are eligible to receive grants, not individuals or physician-owned medical group practices.
  • The applicant must be the Project Lead/Principal Investigator (PI) or an authorized designee of such individual (e.g., Project Lead/PI’s grant/research coordinator).
  • The Project Lead/PI must be an employee or independent contractor of the requesting organization.
  • The requesting organization must be legally able to receive award funding directly from Pfizer Inc. We strongly recommend that applicants confirm this with their organization or institution prior to submitting an application. Grants awarded to organizations that are subsequently found to be unable to accept funding directly from Pfizer Inc. may be subject to rescission.
  • Eligible institutions include Academic Cancer Centers, Healthcare Delivery Networks, large and small hospitals, academic medical centers, community hospitals, ambulatory care settings, and other healthcare facilities.
  • The applicant (PI) must have a medical or postdoctoral degree (MD, PhD, or equivalent), an advanced nursing degree (BSN with a MS/PhD), or a degree in Pharmacy, Pathology, Physiotherapy, Psychology, or Social Work.

Application Instructions

The application must be submitted in accordance with the requirements and instructions of the RFP by the application deadline.

This application requires a two-step application process and a Letter of Intent (LOI) is required. All application materials must be in English and must be submitted through the Pfizer Application Portal under Competitive Grant Program Name: 2024 ONC APAC ASCO CCF mBC QI. If you have questions regarding this RFP, please direct them in writing to Conquer Cancer Scientific Review Officer, Andrew L. Smith, PhD.

Key Dates

  • RFP release date: September 6, 2023
  • Letter of Intent due date: November 6, 2023, 11:59 EST
  • Invitations for Full Application: January 5, 2024
  • Full Application due date:  March 4, 2024, 11:59 EST
  • Anticipated Full Proposal Notification Date: July 1, 2024
  • Anticipated Project Start and End Dates: August 1, 2024 to January 31, 2025

EveryGrant®

This grant is administered in collaboration with EveryGrant®, Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation’s, end-to-end, white label solution. EveryGrant®  helps organizations develop and deliver grants programs that attract the brightest researchers and make a difference for people with cancer everywhere.