Florida Cancer Innovation Fund

The Florida Department of Health is administering the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund through the Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program. The Fund was established by the Florida Legislature under subsection 381.915(9), Florida Statutes, to support innovative cancer research and treatment models, including emerging research and treatment trends and promising treatments that may serve as catalysts for further research and treatment. The Cancer Connect Collaborative advises the Department and Legislature regarding Florida's cancer research, facilities, and treatment efforts and advises the Department on awards made through the Fund. For the current funding opportunity, approximately $70 million is available for research grants, subject to annual legislative appropriation and spending authority. The program is intended to foster collaboration among oncologists, researchers, medical providers, and cancer facilities while creating an expedited pathway for projects capable of improving cancer research, treatment, prevention, accessibility, or patient care in Florida. Projects must be one-year, high-impact initiatives capable of delivering immediate and measurable results within exactly 12 months. The Fund emphasizes rapid clinical translation, proof-of-concept research, clinical trials with actionable results, intellectual property and commercialization, innovative health care delivery, prevention, treatment accessibility, nutrition-based cancer prevention, and generic drug repurposing. Projects are expected to demonstrate pathways to clinical, research, or policy impact, be scalable beyond a single institution, focus on breakthrough rather than incremental advances, and emphasize translation from discovery to application during the grant period. Research priorities include translational research, implementation research, clinical trials, direct interventions, work benefiting nonmetropolitan or medically underserved areas, technology transfer feasibility, novel treatments, nutrition-based cancer prevention research, and repurposing of FDA-approved generic drugs. Applications may be submitted under one of seven categories: Rapid Translation Grant, Consortium Grant, Clinical Trials, High-Impact Pilot Grant, Integrated Cancer Care Innovations, Nutrition and Food-Based Cancer Prevention Grant, or Generic Drug Repurposing Grant. Applicants may request up to $2,000,000 in research funding. Award allocations depend on project scope and available appropriations. Direct costs must be specifically and directly related to the project, necessary for completion, adequately justified, and incurred during the active grant period. Budgets should address personnel, equipment, supplies, and technical support, with justification for each item and personnel effort. Equipment purchases exceeding $5,000 require additional Department review and approval. Grant funds may not pay for Florida Department of Health personnel salaries, construction or renovation, international travel including Canada, vehicles, entertainment, employment subsidies, dues or membership fees, lobbying, meals or food other than allowable travel costs, malpractice insurance premiums, or specified legal and immigration processing costs. Subcontracts must be pre-approved in the required budget template and justified. Grant-funded work and expenditures generally must occur in Florida, although the Department may allow an essential service to be performed outside Florida when it is unavailable in Florida and represents less than 10 percent of the requested amount. The FOA does not state a required cost share or matching contribution. Eligible applicants must be licensed or certified health care providers, facilities, or entities meeting at least one of the statutory criteria stated in the FOA. These include certain licensed hospitals serving rural or underserved cancer populations, licensed clinics or facilities employing or contracting with qualifying physicians providing chemotherapy or radiation therapy, facilities providing low-cost or no-cost cancer screening, rural hospitals, critical access hospitals, qualifying specialty hospitals treating patients from birth through age 18, certain hospitals accredited by the American College of Surgeons, entities conducting biomedical research intended to develop cancer therapies or improve quality of life, and entities educating or training students, postdoctoral fellows, or licensed or certified health care practitioners in cancer screening, diagnosis, or treatment. Funding is restricted to Florida-based institutions and grant-funded activities generally must occur in Florida. Each proposal must name one Corresponding Principal Investigator who is an employee of the applicant organization and meets the institution's requirements for serving as PI. The PI must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Co-PIs are optional. Applicants must avoid scientific or financial duplication or significant overlap with other projects and must disclose applicable federal grant ineligibility, misconduct, fraud, or recent grant termination for cause. Required regulatory approvals must be provided before contract execution and project commencement. Applications are submitted through the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund online application portal at https://cancerinnovation.floridahealth.gov/. Applicants must create an account if they do not already have one, complete all required online fields, attach the required documentation, and submit by the applicable deadline. Required application components include a General Audience Abstract, Scientific Abstract, Specific Aims, Research Strategy, Long-term Goals including future funding plans and return on investment to Florida, a 12-month line-item budget and budget narrative, a list of key personnel, collaborators, and consultants with a curriculum vitae, resume, or biosketch for each, letters of support, a 12-month work plan with measurable outcomes, and regulatory approval information when applicable. Applications involving human subjects must answer all required human-subject questions even when the protocol is already approved or exempt. Applications must also identify quantifiable success measures such as publications, follow-on funding applications, clinical implementation, economic impact, commercialization, workforce development, policy influence, prevention impact, accessibility improvements, collaboration, and information dissemination. Applications are evaluated for scientific merit, feasibility within the required 12-month period, readiness to begin on the first day of contract execution, ability to attract extramural funding, and capacity to stimulate innovation in cancer research and care in Florida. Review priorities include innovation and significance, projects that streamline movement from patient trials to clinical practice, new applicants that have not previously received specified state cancer research funding, work in rural or underserved populations, research targeting modifiable risks such as diet and nutrition or other evidence-based non-pharmaceutical interventions, generic drug repurposing, productivity, feasibility, and organizational or team capacity. Applications undergo administrative review for mandatory eligibility, budget compliance, completeness, and potential scientific or financial overlap before further consideration. The Cancer Connect Collaborative reviews applications and advises the Department, and final funding recommendations are made to the State Surgeon General. Funding decisions are communicated by email to the applicant organization and PI, and funding decisions of the State Surgeon General or designee are final. The FOA was released and applications opened on August 14, 2026. A question-and-answer period runs from August 14 through August 28, 2026, with answers scheduled for posting September 1, 2026, and an informational webinar scheduled for August 25, 2026. Period 1 applications are accepted through September 25, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time; Period 2 runs from September 26 through November 6, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time; and Period 3 is described as running from November 7 through December 18, 2026. The FOA's key points identify December 18, 2026 as the third application deadline, although one sentence in the detailed Period 3 instructions states that applications received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on November 7, 2026 will be eligible for Period 3 review, creating an internal inconsistency that applicants should verify with the Department. Eligible applications not funded in an earlier period are automatically reconsidered in the following period. No specific award notification date is provided. Funded projects must be completed within exactly 12 months and require quarterly progress summaries, with final reporting at the end of the project cycle or as specified in the agreement. Questions about the funding opportunity may be directed to FloridaCancerInnovationFund@flhealth.gov, while technical portal problems may be directed to FLCancerInnovationFundSupport@flhealth.gov.

Design the project for completion within exactly 12 months and demonstrate readiness to begin on day one of contract execution; emphasize breakthrough innovation rather than incremental advances; define specific measurable deliverables and Florida return on investment; show a credible pathway to clinical translation, implementation, commercialization, prevention impact, or improved access; highlight rural or underserved impact, nutrition or other evidence-based non-pharmaceutical interventions, or generic drug repurposing when applicable; demonstrate productivity, feasibility, team capacity, and potential to secure follow-on extramural funding.