A Medical Device Daily

The Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF; Hillsborough New Jersey), a national organization devoted to melanoma in the U.S., reported issuing five new research grants as part of its Career Development Grant Program and Established Investigator Grant Program.

The MRF's research grant programs support promising medical research that furthers the development of effective treatments and a possible cure for malignant melanoma, while encouraging scientists and clinicians to join in this mission.

Nearly seven years ago, the cancer research community began unlocking the underlying genetic malfunctions that occur in cells causing melanoma. Now researchers are beginning to correlate those discoveries to therapies that may have a meaningful impact on the survival of patients. Although the melanoma research community is poised to make unprecedented strides in the understanding, prevention and treatment of melanoma, these research efforts have been hindered by the fact that melanoma research is woefully underfunded.

The MRF's Career Development Grant provides funding of up to $50,000 per year for two years to investigators who are beginning a research career emphasizing melanoma-related projects. The MRF's Established Investigator Grant provides funding of up to $100,000 per year for two years to established researchers in melanoma or those in closely related fields who wish to move into melanoma research.

Grant recipients are selected through a scientific peer-reviewed system comprised of leading clinical and pre-clinical melanoma researchers.