Program Overview
The Weston Family Foundation, through its Proof-of-Principle program, funds Canadian scientists performing high-risk, high-reward translational research that leverages the microbiome towards improving human health.
Biomarkers are a critical component of modern healthcare, with diverse applications in disease prevention, detection and monitoring, as well as therapeutic development. They are poised to play an increasingly important role in personalized medicine, providing means to estimate an individual’s disease risk and prognosis, and predict and monitor an individual’s response to a given therapy.
Emerging research suggests that the microbiome is a potentially understudied source for biomarkers that holds significant potential for predicting and understanding individual responses to therapeutic or preventative strategies. Consequently, there may be opportunities to manipulate or target the microbiome to enhance an individual’s response to these strategies.
The Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of a new funding opportunity to address these key areas in microbiome research. The Proof-of-Principle 2024 program aims to support high-impact projects that seek to identify, validate, or apply microbiome-based biomarkers of disease and therapeutic response.
Eligible projects will:
- Evaluate compositional or functional microbiome biomarkers.
- Build on established responder/non-responder phenotypes towards the optimization of therapeutic or preventative strategies.
Please refer to the Program Details for a full description.
Funding available per project: Up to $300,000 over a maximum of 30 months.
Important dates:
- Program information session: May 1, 2024 register here or May 7, 2024 register here
- Letter of Intent deadline: June 4, 2024 apply here
- Award announcement: October 2024
For more information about this program, including details on project and applicant eligibility, Foundation definitions, program review criteria and expected project outcomes, please see the relevant documents below.
We welcome you to contact us with any program related inquiries. Please send your questions to microbiome@westonfoundation.ca.
Relevant Documents