The Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research | Innovation Fund

The purpose of The Manton Center's Innovation Fund is to support new and innovative projects of relevance to The Manton Center by junior and senior faculty at Children's with the goal of providing seed money to start long term projects that will eventually become eligible for longer term government and non-governmental grant support. Novel high-risk/high-yield studies utilizing new technology or recent advances to address formerly intractable problems are encouraged, as are proposals to initiate new research programs by junior faculty whose career goals include a commitment to research, care and/or treatment of orphan diseases. An important consideration of the review process will be the potential for eventual longer-term support through the NIH or similar grantmaking sources as well as possibilities that research advances may one day be applicable to a broader range of conditions affecting children around the world.

Orphan disease research is defined as any basic science, translational, or clinical studies of direct relevance to a disease, syndrome or disorder that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. A research study qualifies as relevant to orphan disease research if it:

• Uses new approaches or discoveries to study basic science of relevance to an orphan disease or group of orphan diseases.
• Uses new approaches or discoveries to address clinical problems related to an orphan disease or group of orphan diseases.
• Develops new experimental or diagnostic reagents and procedures to diagnose and treat an orphan disease.
• Develops new biochemical, cellular, or animal models of human orphan disease(s).
• Adapts approaches already in place in other disciplines to address orphan disease(s).