CFF Clinical Research Award

CFF Clinical Research Award

Supports investigator-driven clinical studies addressing diagnosis, treatment, and prevention across key medical priorities.

The CFF Clinical Research Award supports investigator-initiated clinical research directly tied to CF diagnosis, treatment, disease management, or pathophysiology. Fall 2026 deadlines are April 2, 2026 for the Letter of Intent and August 17, 2026 for the full application, both submitted through awards.cff.org by 5 p.m. ET. Single-center projects receive up to $150,000 per year plus 12% indirect costs; multi-center projects receive up to $350,000 per year plus 12% indirect costs; both run for a maximum of three years. An additional Health Experiences and Outcomes supplement of up to $50,000 over the entire project period is available, subject to fund availability, for work addressing CF health disparities, biomedical workforce diversity, or translation of validated patient-reported outcome measures.

Eligible study designs include observational, interventional, translational, and epidemiologic approaches. Applicants must be independent investigators with demonstrated access to sufficient CF patient numbers and appropriate controls; fellows may apply but receive funding only if they hold a faculty-level appointment at the time of award. Industry-sponsored research is explicitly ineligible — no pharmaceutical co-funding of any kind is permitted. A multiple-PI format is available; investigators interested in that option should contact Program Officer Dara Riva at driva@cff.org. Only academic and research institutions are eligible; for-profit entities may not apply. Review is conducted by the CFF Clinical Research Committee under NIH-aligned peer-review standards.

The Policies and Guidelines PDF at cff.org/media/11006/download contains binding page limits, scoring criteria, and format requirements and must be downloaded before writing an application. The Spring 2027 cycle follows with an October LOI deadline and a February full-application deadline, giving teams who are not ready for the August 17 submission a known second opportunity. Investigators who have already validated access to a CF care center's patient registry data and can document multi-center partnerships are well-positioned for the higher $350,000-per-year multi-center tier.