
Overview
The Translational Research Acceleration Program (TRAP) awards will accelerate the movement of preclinical research toward an Investigational New Drug filing and into clinical trials to provide a robust and diverse pipeline of potential therapies to fight inherited retinal degenerations (IRD) and dry age-related macular degeneration.

The Research Priority Areas
(1) Novel Medical Therapies – approaches that use chemistry, biology, and bioengineering to formulate new therapies that mitigate inherited retinal degenerations and dry age-related macular degenerations;
(2) Genetic Technologies – the manipulation and modification of human gene expression to alter the biological properties of living cells/tissues with the goal of providing therapeutic solutions;
(3) Regenerative Medicine – the development, regeneration, and employment of human cells, tissues, and cellular/tissue-based products for the restoration of retinal function and vision
Note: Research and technologies that fall outside of the scope of these areas may be considered with adequate preliminary data and justification.
Eligibility
Principal Investigators must hold a research leadership position within their organization and must be able to independently conduct research with the full support of their leadership. U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens, within or outside of the United States, are welcome to apply.
Applying
All prospective award recipients must first submit a Letter of Intent (Due August 17, 2020), and once reviewed by the Foundation, top scoring applicants will be invited to submit a full application (Due October 30, 2020). Please download and review the Letter of Intent and application guidelines before submitting any documents to the Foundation.
A Proposer’s Day was held on August 3, 2020, to review the program and answer questions. Below is a recording of the session.
If interested in applying, questions may be directed to the Director of the Preclinical Translational Research Program at grants@FightingBlindness.org.