Florida Cancer Connect Collaborative Research Incubator Program

The Florida Cancer Connect Collaborative Research Incubator is administered by the Florida Department of Health as part of the Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program. The Florida Legislature established the Florida Cancer Connect Collaborative in 2024 and created the Research Incubator in 2025 under section 381.915(12), Florida Statutes. The Collaborative provides program oversight, while the Department administers the funding. The Incubator was established to support a targeted area of cancer research over a five-year period beginning July 1, 2025, and pediatric cancer is the designated research focus for that period. The stated Incubator period is July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2030. The funding opportunity supports innovative pediatric cancer research proposals intended to advance the care and treatment of individuals from birth through 18 years of age in Florida. The program seeks to expand access to cutting-edge pediatric cancer treatments within the state and reduce the need for Florida families to travel out of state for experimental therapies or specialized care. Statutory priority is given to applicants that enhance pediatric cancer research and treatment by increasing participation in pediatric cancer clinical trials. Priority activities include strategies to increase trial enrollment, professional education about cancer clinical trials, tools that help patients and community oncologists identify available Florida trials, and collaboration between academic cancer centers and community-based oncologists. Proposals fostering broader collaboration among institutions, researchers, and community practitioners may also receive priority. Eligible Florida-based specialty hospitals may request a maximum of $7.5 million for proposals submitted for fiscal year 2025-26. The FOA does not state a minimum award, aggregate program funding amount, number of awards, or required cost share or matching contribution. Funding is contingent on annual appropriations by the Florida Legislature and spending authority granted to the Department. Allowable direct costs include salaries with annual increases of up to three percent, fringe benefits, supplies, qualifying equipment, laboratory services, patient-care costs, consortium or contractual costs, domestic travel, certain other research expenses, and consultant costs that do not exceed 10 percent of the total budget. Indirect costs may not exceed 15 percent of requested direct costs. Disallowed costs include Florida Department of Health personnel salaries, international travel, vehicles, entertainment, employment subsidies, dues or membership fees, lobbying, meals or food other than allowable travel costs, and malpractice insurance premiums. Applications may only be submitted by a Florida-based specialty hospital as defined in section 395.002(28)(a), Florida Statutes, that provides cancer treatment for patients from birth through 18 years of age. Each eligible hospital may submit only one application containing all proposed activities. Projects proposed for Incubator funding must not have previously received awards from the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund or the Department's specified biomedical research grant programs, including the William G. Bill Bankhead Jr. and David Coley Cancer Research Program, the James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program, and the Live Like Bella Pediatric Cancer Research Initiative. All grant-funded work and spending must occur in Florida at the applicant organization and listed collaborating entities, although the Department may approve an essential service provided only outside Florida if the amount is less than 10 percent of the requested amount. Each proposal must identify a Proposal Lead or Project Manager responsible for scientific and technical direction and proper conduct of the activities. Applications are accepted only through the Florida Cancer Connect Incubator online portal. Required application components include General Project Information; Health Impact; State Return on Investment and Translation Strategy; Data and Best Practices Dissemination Strategy; Collaborator Information; biographical sketches or CVs for key personnel uploaded as a single document; consultant letters confirming roles and rates if consultants are used; a detailed Work and Evaluation Plan containing milestones, SMART metrics, and expected outcomes; a Budget Template; a detailed Budget Narrative; and disclosure of Reportable Financial Interests. The key-dates table states that the FOA announcement was anticipated for August 4, 2025, the application system was anticipated to open August 11, 2025, and complete submissions were due by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on August 29, 2025. Applications being edited after the deadline are not accepted, and the Department recommends submitting early. Program questions may be sent to cccincubator@flhealth.gov, the general program office number is 850-245-4585, and technical application-system questions may be directed to 850-245-4744. Applications submitted by the deadline undergo an administrative review for mandatory eligibility, completeness, and potential scientific or budgetary overlap with active or pending Department-supported projects. Qualified applications then receive full peer review, with reviewers assessing overall impact and rating applications against the required application elements; the FOA also states that awards are based on scientific merit through a peer-reviewed process. Funding decisions are communicated by email to the applicant organization and the Proposal Lead or Project Manager, although the FOA does not specify a separate award-notification date. Awardees must execute non-negotiable Terms and Conditions and comply with quarterly financial reporting, quarterly progress reporting, final progress reporting, information requests for five years following the award period, dissemination requirements, and applicable open-access and research-material sharing requirements.

Emphasize scientific merit and demonstrate how the project will advance pediatric cancer research and treatment in Florida. Address opportunities to increase pediatric cancer clinical trial participation and enrollment, improve awareness of clinical trials, help patients and community oncologists identify available Florida trials, and strengthen collaboration among academic cancer centers, community-based oncologists, institutions, researchers, and practitioners. Ensure proposed activities have not previously received awards through the specifically excluded Florida cancer and biomedical research programs.