Melanoma Research Alliance

Funds melanoma research across international investigator tracks through a United States nonprofit foundation.

The Melanoma Research Alliance is the world's largest private nonprofit funder of melanoma research. Founded in 2007 under the auspices of the Milken Institute, it has invested more than $200 million through over 500 grant awards and budgets about $11.5 million in new funding each year. Its mandate is concentrated on pre-clinical, translational, and early clinical research that can improve prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment.

MRA runs an annual General RFP and a separate Next Steps mechanism. The annual cycle accepts Team Science Awards, Young Investigator Awards, Pilot Awards, and Academic-Industry Partnership proposals, with special tracks for acral melanoma, uveal melanoma, UK-based applicants, Israel-based applicants, and the RTFCCR-MRA collaboration on early detection and risk stratification. The Next Steps program is milestone-based, offers $50,000 to $1 million over one to three years, and supports cellular and vaccine therapies for acral and uveal melanoma, including GNAQ/11-related disease.

The foundation is built for collaborative projects that can move quickly toward translation. Young Investigator Awards require a senior mentor, Team Science Awards favor multidisciplinary groups across institutions, and submissions go through proposalCENTRAL. MRA also stands out because its founders cover administrative and fundraising costs, which keeps every donor dollar directed to research and gives applicants a strong case for ambitious, near-term proposals.