Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Foundation (PhRMA Foundation)

The PhRMA Foundation Faculty Starter Grant in Drug Discovery Targets and Pathways offers financial support to individuals beginning independent careers in drug discovery research at the faculty level at an accredited U.S. university.

Successful drug discovery involves the innovative application and integration of multiple scientific disciplines to create efficacious, safe, and differentiated treatment options for patients. The PhRMA Foundation seeks to fund novel early-stage, exploratory drug discovery research with the potential for translation to humans, including biological validation of potential drug targets, signaling pathways, or mechanisms of disease. 

Research topics could include, but are not limited to:  
Genomics and Proteomics 
Cellular and Molecular Biology 
Design and Generation of Pharmacological Tools  
In Vitro and/or In Vivo Pharmacology 
Protein Biochemistry 
Molecular Modelling 
Structural Biology 
Cell Imaging 
Single Cell Analysis 
Artificial Intelligence and Computational Approaches 
Projects that focus exclusively on single aspects such as identification of and development of assays for single targets, chemical probes, biomarkers, chemical library screening, or diagnostics will not be considered for review. Project aims should have a high likelihood of completion in the award timeframe.

Translational medicine is a scientific discipline focused on turning observations in the laboratory, clinic, and community into medicines, diagnostics, or other interventions that improve human health.

Translational medicine fosters a patient-focused research cycle that stretches from the lab bench to the patient bedside and back to the lab again. This includes adapting basic research discoveries in cells, tissues, and animals for application in humans and then taking the knowledge of what did and didn’t work in the clinic back to the bench.

Given the breadth of the discipline, the PhRMA Foundation’s Translational Medicine Program focuses specifically on novel research that uses the “bedside to bench” approach to address unmet needs in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. The Foundation seeks research proposals that focus on identifying unmet clinical needs and developing new diagnostic, experimental, and computational approaches and technologies to improve patient care and management.

Applicants should work with clinical collaborators to identify unmet clinical needs. Proposals should integrate innovative technologies, with advanced biological, chemical, diagnostic, and pharmacological sciences and engineering methodologies in areas that include but not are limited to:
Genetics (Molecular, Pharmaco-, Population, Medical)
Genomics (Functional, Structural, Toxico-, Pharmaco-, Comparative)
Systems (Biology and Pharmacology)
Pathways and Networks
Integrative Biology
Modeling and Simulation
Target Identification and Validation
Biomarker Identification and Validation
Molecular Epidemiology
Imaging
Disease Modeling

The PhRMA Foundation seeks research proposals that investigate challenges and potential solutions related to evaluating the delivery, safe use, effectiveness, and value (clinical, patient-centered, and economic) of medicines and other health care interventions. Proposals could be empirical analyses or studies addressing methodological aspects of the following areas:
Real-world outcomes using real-world data and analytic tools
Clinical outcomes assessments
Patient-reported and/or patient-centered outcomes, especially for diverse and underserved populations
Patient- and equity-centered value assessment frameworks
Economic evaluations of health care interventions
Health preference research, particularly the perspectives of patients
Development of innovative decision and value communication tools
Evaluation and outcomes assessments focused on health equity and unmet need
Innovative methods for measuring and reporting novel value elements from different stakeholder perspectives