P3 Cancer Innovation Accelerator

The P3 Cancer Innovation Accelerator (Practice-Changing, Paradigm-Shifting, Policy-Creating) 

The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center announces The P3 Cancer Innovation Accelerator, a funding opportunity to support high-impact, translational cancer research projects. This mechanism is designed to spark collaboration across disciplines and career stages, bringing together varied expertise to tackle the most pressing challenges in cancer care. This award will fund paradigm-shifting, practice-changing, or policy-creating research, with a clear path toward a human endpoint. Teams are eligible for an award of $500,000 (direct costs) for a one-year term. 

The application and evaluation process will be in three stages:

1.  Applicants submit a one-page research description and a half-page team description.  
2. Top proposals deliver a 5-10-minute pitch to VICC Senior Leaders. This year, the VICC Associate Directors (ADs) of Basic, Clinical, and Population Science will each champion one team, serving as strategic partners to strengthen and amplify the proposed work.  
3. Teams participate in a “Shark Tank”-style in-person event, presenting a 15-minute proposal, followed by a ten-minute question-and-answer session. Champions will guide teams through this stage to ensure projects are positioned for maximum impact. 

Detailed information about the application processes in 2027 are forthcoming.