Live Like Bella Pediatric Cancer Research Initiative

The Live Like Bella Pediatric Cancer Research Initiative is administered through the Florida Department of Health's Biomedical Research Advisory Council grant programs. The initiative is established under section 381.922, Florida Statutes, and is intended to advance progress toward curing pediatric cancer through a competitive, peer-reviewed grant process. Its stated goals are to significantly expand pediatric cancer research capacity in Florida, improve research and treatment through greater pediatric enrollment in clinical trial networks, and reduce the impact and burden of pediatric cancer on Floridians. Proposed projects must demonstrate a close relationship to pediatric cancer and to advancing progress toward cures or substantially improving cancer morbidity and mortality. Eligible projects must pursue an area identified in the Funding Opportunity Announcement's research focus, including prevention and treatment, screening, obesity and cancer, treatment-related morbidities, technology transfer feasibility, or research supporting Investigational New Drug or Investigational Device Exemption development. The Department gives priority to research addressing reductions in mortality and morbidity, improved screening accuracy and detection, resistance to front-line treatments in recurrent disease, sarcomas, leukemia and other blood cancers, and the relationship between obesity, treatment responsiveness, and treatment-related morbidities. Preference is also given to projects addressing pediatric-specific cancers. Bella Initiative grant mechanisms include High-Risk, High-Reward Clinical Trials, Multicenter Clinical Trials, Discovery Science, Emerging Therapeutics and Technologies, High-Risk, High-Reward Discovery Science, New Investigator Research, Non-Typical Clinical Trials or Socio-Behavioral Research, Equipment, and Bridge grants. Maximum awards vary by mechanism. The highest maximum is 900000 for Multicenter Clinical Trials for up to 48 months. Other maximums are 600000 for Emerging Therapeutics and Technologies, 300000 for High-Risk, High-Reward Clinical Trials and New Investigator Research, 250000 for Discovery Science and Non-Typical Clinical Trials or Socio-Behavioral Research, 125000 for High-Risk, High-Reward Discovery Science, and 100000 for Equipment and Bridge grants. Maximum durations range from 6 months for Bridge grants to 48 months for certain clinical trial mechanisms. Maximum amounts include direct and indirect costs. Indirect costs may not exceed 15 percent of total direct costs. Allowable direct costs include qualifying salaries and fringe benefits, project supplies, equipment, laboratory services, consultant costs subject to the stated limit, patient and animal care, applicable committee fees, consortium or contractual costs, qualifying Department data fees, domestic travel, and research participant incentives. Disallowed costs include Florida Department of Health personnel salaries, construction or renovation, international travel, vehicles, entertainment, employment subsidies, dues or membership fees, lobbying, most meals or food, malpractice insurance premiums, and specified immigration or legal processing costs. The FOA does not state a required applicant cost share or matching contribution. Applications may be submitted by eligible Florida-based universities or established research institutes, with the FOA definitions also identifying Florida universities or research hospitals, Florida-based Veterans Administration hospitals, and established research institutes as eligible institutions. Grant-funded activities, effort, and spending must occur in Florida at the applicant organization and collaborating entities, except that the Department may approve an essential service provided outside Florida when the amount is less than 10 percent of the total award. Each project must designate one Corresponding Principal Investigator who is an employee of the applicant institution, meets that institution's PI requirements, and is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Co-Principal Investigators are permitted, but only one Corresponding PI may be designated. Scientific, financial, and effort overlap is prohibited. Multicenter Clinical Trial applications must involve investigators from at least two distinct research or clinical facilities in Florida and be implemented at two or more Florida locations. A required Letter of Intent must precede the full application. The LOI includes the program name, PI contact information, other research personnel, lead and collaborating institutions, project title, research priority, grant category, a general audience abstract of no more than 3500 characters, and keywords. The full application is submitted through the Department's online system and includes general project information, a general audience abstract, scientific abstract, health impact narrative, cancer-relatedness statement, collaborator information, biographical sketches, consultant letters when applicable, specific aims, applicable human subject, animal, recombinant DNA, and survey information, the required budget template and narrative, applicable letters of support, and a required Work Plan with measurable outcomes, activities, timelines, responsible personnel, and performance metrics. Uploaded application documents must generally be PDF files using the specified formatting standards. Required signature pages and other required attachments must be included in the designated sections or the application may be disqualified. Applications first undergo an administrative review for timeliness, mandatory eligibility, completeness, and possible scientific or budgetary overlap. Eligible applications then receive peer review by reviewers located outside Florida. Overall impact considers significance, investigators, innovation, approach, environment, and health impact on Floridians, along with cancer-relatedness, budget concerns, and protections for human or animal subjects. Applications in the top 30 percent during individual review progress to the peer review panel stage. The Department and BRAC then conduct programmatic review using peer review scores, availability of funds, and program goals and preferences to form recommendations to the State Surgeon General. Funding decisions are final, and awards remain subject to legislative appropriations and Department spending authority. For this competition, emailed program questions were due by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on November 30, 2025, with answers scheduled for posting by December 1, 2025. The required Letter of Intent was due by 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time on December 16, 2025. Applications were anticipated to open December 22, 2025 and were due by 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time on January 12, 2026. The FOA does not provide a specific award notification date. The cover identifies an award period of July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, while the budget instructions state an anticipated start date of July 1, 2026; the FOA does not reconcile these dates, and individual mechanisms allow maximum durations of 6 to 48 months. Scientific and programmatic questions are directed to research@flhealth.gov, general FOA contact is also available at 850-245-4585, and online application technical assistance is available through Help.FLDOH@orau.org. Funded projects are subject to quarterly progress and expenditure reporting, annual financial reporting, final or annual progress reporting as applicable, and certain follow-up information requests for five years after the grant period.

Clearly demonstrate pediatric-cancer relatedness and impact on Florida health outcomes; align the project with a stated research priority and appropriate Bella grant mechanism; emphasize significance, investigators, innovation, approach, environment, and health impact because these are the stated overall-impact criteria; provide a complete Work Plan with measurable and time-bound milestones; avoid scientific, financial, and effort overlap; submit the required Letter of Intent before the application; verify all required signatures, uploads, formatting, and character limits before submission because incomplete or improperly formatted applications may be disqualified; note that only the top 30 percent of applications at individual peer review progress to panel review