Application due date for workshop selection: January 7, 2016
Selected participants must be available for pre-workshop discussion groups commencing February 2016
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, the Jayne Koskinas Ted Giovanis Foundation for Health and Policy (JKTGF) and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) invite applications from investigators with independent research programs in cancer biology, clinical oncology, applied mathematics or theoretical physics to participate in a workshop entitled, Applied Mathematics in Germinating Oncology Solutions (AMIGOS), to be held March 22-23, 2016, at the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. The AMIGOS workshop is intended to identify research that uses methods and concepts from applied mathematics and/or theoretical physics that has the potential to substantially advance understanding of cancer biology or improve clinical outcomes. Participation in the AMIGOS workshop is by invitation following an application process. Applications to participate in the AMIGOS workshop must be received by January 7, 2016.
A unique aspect of the March AMIGOS workshop will be the formation of pre-workshop discussion groups comprised of workshop participants, mentors and members of the AMIGOS organizing committee, which will begin once successful applicants are notified of their selection. Pre-workshop activities are designed to identify areas of shared interest, defined either by mathematical approach or a significant problem in cancer research, establish participant teams in identified areas, and outline specific problems or projects to pursue. The ability and willingness to dedicate time to these preparations is a condition for participation in the AMIGOS workshop. A panel of distinguished mentors will advise the teams in selecting problems and developing project ideas.
The AMIGOS mentors are:
Ideas formulated during pre-workshop discussions will be refined at the March workshop. The workshop will consist of presentations and open discussions of team projects alternating with intensive team sessions to develop ideas into project proposals. Open sessions will include all participants, mentors and representatives from NCI, BCRF, JKTGF and the organizing committee. The goal is for teams to solidify into research collaborations that will pursue innovative and promising project ideas after the workshop. If the workshop produces innovative and promising research ideas, both the JKTG and BCRF, but not NCI, will seek to further support the intellectual outcomes of the workshop, through a targeted funding opportunity for workshop participants. NCI will have no role in planning, organizing or establishing such an opportunity and will not participate in any related activities.
In preparing their applications, applicants are encouraged to highlight the unique skills or approaches they would bring to the multidisciplinary cancer research team that will be formed through this AMIGOS process. Applicants are also asked to identify a persistent problem(s) in cancer biology or clinical oncology that could most benefit from their integrative skills and approaches.
Applications must be received by January 7, 2016. Applications will be evaluated by the mentor panel and AMIGOS organizing committee. Selection for invitation to participate in the AMIGOS process will be based on the applicant concisely articulating a vision of how they could contribute to a productive interdisciplinary collaboration that would be formed with other (at present unknown) AMIGOS participants.
Successful applicants will be informed of their selection the week of February 1, 2016. All travel and lodging costs associated with the workshop will be paid by NCI, JKTGF and BCRF. Application forms and instructions are available on the Application Page. Inquiries can be sent to Dr. Dorothy Farrell farrelld@mail.nih.gov. Participation in pre-workshop activities and attendance for the entire March workshop are conditions for submitting an application.