The Dotan Research Center in Hemato-Oncology Call for Research Proposals 2026

The DOTAN RESEARCH CENTER in HEMATO-ONCOLOGY Call for Research Proposals 2026

Dear researcher, dear clinician,

The Dotan Center for Research in Hemato-Oncology was established in 2014 aiming to advance the translational research of hematological malignancies. The entire activity is supported by the generous donation of Varda and Boaz Dotan. During a decade of its activity, the center supported over 35 research projects, some of which are currently being promoted to prove clinical feasibility.

The current call of hemato-oncology grant program will support Individual research grants - totaling up to 245,000 NIS year each. The number of grants and the level of support may vary. These grants can be submitted by one or two principle investigators.

The grants will cover two years of research (up to 490,000 NIS total) commencing in July 2026. Third year may be granted pursuant on a satisfactory scientific report submitted 2 months prior to the end of the 2^nd year.

Translational research is defined as research that is relevant to patient-related issues. Hence, the Dotan Center hemato-oncology grants support translational research into the causes, mechanisms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of hematological malignancies. The research may also include drug development; development of a chemical, molecular or cellular therapeutic or diagnostic procedure.

Collaboration between basic and clinical research is encouraged and provides an advantage. Please be advised that pure clinical applications, such as intervention studies, clinical trials or health care delivery research will not be considered. Similarly, basic research with no potential clinical horizon e.g. potential translational aspects within 5 years from its completion will not be considered either.

Eligibility: The submitting principal investigator(s) (PI) must be a Tel-Aviv University faculty member. Collaborating investigators (CIs) may be from other institutions in Israel or abroad. International collaboration is encouraged. However, only Tel-Aviv University faculty members will be funded, as the budget will be administered by the TAU research authority. The program encourages collaborations between clinicians and basic scientists. The research must be conducted in Israel. An investigator may submit only one application as a PI. An investigator may be named as a CI in several applications but may receive funding for only one project.

Please note that PIs holding active grants from the Dotan Center are eligible to submit a new application. This application could be on the same topic of the current project or on a new one. Also note, outstanding applications by new applicants will be prioritized for funding over proposals of present grantees.

Applicants should submit proposals, following the guidelines below. The deadline for proposal submission Feb 1^st at noon. Submission email should include in the subject line:

Dotan 2026 research grants - Name of PI

Enquiries regarding the proposals should be submitted electronically to DotanCancer@gmail.com by Feb 1 st 2026 noon.

Guidelined for Submission of Grants

The proposal and all additional documents should be submitted in English as a single PDF file. The proposal should not exceed 6 pages (see details below), excluding:

1. References
2. Other sources of funding for the proposed project and other projects
3. CV of the PIs and the CIs
4. List of publications
    

Required fonts are Arial 11 or Times New Roman 12. The text should be typed on A4 format, with 1.15- line spacing leaving 2.5 cm margins on all sides.

Proposal should be constructed as follows:

• The Project Title (Only one line up to a maximum of 100 characters)
• Principal Investigator (s) (name, academic position and affiliation), CIs (if exist) (name, academic position and affiliation)
• Abstract (not exceeding 300 words)
• Scientific Background
• Working hypothesis and aims: Please describe a discrete, hypothesis-driven project, achievable within the duration of the grant and with the support requested.
• Relevance to Hematological malignancies (not exceeding 300 words)
• Research plan (including experimental design in brief)
• Expected outcomes and milestones (table)
• Preliminary results
• Budget:
   

An ethical approval is required to activate the budget for any research that includes pre-clinical models or clinical samples regardless of the location of the research activity. The approval is granted to the PI of the project and should cover the 1^st year of the research program.

Allowed expenditures are:

• Personnel - mainly supporting graduate and postgraduate students (The principal investigator and/or co-investigators(s) may NOT apply for his/her own salary).
• Consumables
• Animal costs, including the purchase of the animals, weekly charges for housing and other necessary charges.
• Equipment may be requested only if it is necessary for the project proposed.
• Other expenses heading should be used to request funding for any items that are essential for the project, but which are not included in any of the aforementioned sections, including charges for the use of specific facilities, subcontracting etc.
• Travel will be allowed in Israel, and for international conferences or workshops, up to $2500 a year.
  
   

The submission file should include in separate pages:

References - Single line spacing is allowed for the list of references.

CV of all the investigators named in the application (NIH style not exceeding 5 pgs). Please use the template file provided. Please indicate the contribution of the investigators to the suggested project.

Letters of collaboration on the specific project (if relevant).

Other sources of support for the proposed project – Please include details of all current funding and also grants awarded but not yet started and pending applications that overlap with the submitted project. If there is an overlap, please explain what percentage of the research is non-overlapping with the other project and in the CBRC Hematological malignancies application.

Available research resources. Lab space and availability of infrastructure required to carry out the proposed research.

Cover letter (separate from the main submission file), should include 6-8 experts in the field as suggested reviewers. At the time of submission of the application, an applicant should include a list of Including/Excluding Reviewers: Suggested reviewers should be from outside Israel, should not have co-authored a paper with the PI during the last five years, mentored the PI (e.g in a PhD or postdoctoral fellowship) and should not have other common grants or ongoing research collaborations. In addition, an applicant can exclude up to three potential reviewers. Acceptable reasons include main competitors, commercial sensitivity, etc.

Only proposals submitted on time in the requested format will be accepted for review.

Review process: Each application will be reviewed by an external Scientific Review Panel chaired by Varda and Boaz Dotan. The application will be evaluated for its (1) scientific content and rationale; (2) qualifications, experience and productivity of the applicant; (3) the relationship of the research to Hematological malignancies (which must be clearly defined in the application). (4) The translational applicability of the application (5) collaboration between basic scientists and clinicians.

Applicants should submit proposals, following the guidelines below.

Proposals as well as enquiries regarding the proposals should be submitted electronically to DotanCancer@gmail.com

Time Table:

• Deadline for submission of two documents (proposal and cover letter): Feb. 1st 2026 noon
• Notification of review process outcome: June 2026
• Initiation of funding for approved applications: July 2026

Sincerely,

Varda and Boaz Dotan