• • Research dedicated to furthering the understanding of CDKL5 function to inform the development of targeted, novel therapies.

• • Transformative research to enhance our understanding of the cellular, molecular, genetic and systems-level mechanisms contributing to the pathogenesis of CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD), facilitating the continued investigation of disease-modifying strategies.

• • Research aimed at improving CDD disease models (e.g., cell-based, tissue-based, or animal models) in an effort to assess the potential efficacy of therapeutic interventions against phenotypic deficits in the CDD patient population.

• • Clinical research that will facilitate elevated understanding of the natural history of CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder as it relates to symptom progression (including, but not limited to, seizures and cognitive delay), pharmacosensitivity, and response to surgical/behavioral/supportive therapies.

• • Development of clinical biomarkers, severity scales, or patient-reported outcome measures for CDD, particularly those that (1) assess disease burden, that (2) may be prognostic indicators of an individual’s risk for disease progression, or that (3) contribute to clinical trial readiness.

• • Development of a scalable collaborative infrastructure for an International CDKL5 Clinical Research network. Beyond establishing and maintaining the infrastructure for collecting and sharing data, a priority will be to support the activities of clinical research fellows in ongoing collaborative projects within the network.

IFCR research awards are available to both established and junior investigators. All materials must be submitted in English. IFCR encourages research projects that are collaborative and those with a multidisciplinary approach.

Funding requests may include salary support for the PI, technical staff and/or collaborators; supplies, animal costs, etc. Indirect costs are not supported. IFCR requires a detailed budget submitted with the final grant application. Budgets are flexible based on the needs of the work proposed and the potential teams involved.

IFCR will issue a rolling request for proposals for Seed Grants, Junior Investigator Grants, and Clinical Research Fellowship awards. The funding cycle timeline for targeted RFPs will be announced at a future date.

Below are instructions for the required sections of the LOI, which together can be no longer than two (2) pages in length. The LOI should clearly and succinctly outline the hypotheses under investigation, the specific aims, and provide a brief description of the anticipated deliverables if successful.

• Project Title
• Participants
• Project Goals
• Responsiveness to IFCR priority areas
• Brief Background
• Specific Aims
• Deliverables (including anticipated future funding based on this work)
• Requested Resources
• Current and Pending Support