Research IS Care for patients with rare conditions as standard medical approaches and research precedent usually do not exist. Therefore, the Rare Disease Foundation, in collaboration with our partner BC Children’s Hospital Foundation (BCCHF), is proud to provide microgrants of up to $5,000 CAD to researchers, clinicians and advocates in order to expedite the exploration of new ideas for understanding rare diseases and improving patient care.
Our microgrant program is soon to re-open (Nov/Dec 2025 target date). Please check this page periodically. Once we re-open, you will have 1 month to apply.
RESEARCH PROJECT CRITERIA
- Must involve a rare disease or rare sub-type of disease (lifetime prevalence < 1 in 2000)
- Must directly impact care for one or more individuals
- Must be scientifically valid and feasible
- Must have ethics approval (microgrant activation requires an ethics approval certificate, where applicable)
APPLICATION PROCESS
1. Applicants must prepare a 1-page research proposal clearly outlining:
- How this study will improve patient care
- A scientific summary: background, hypothesis, methods, brief budget justifications (see what we consider as eligible project expenses) (max 3,000 characters)
- A lay summary addressing a non-medical, non-scientific audience (max 3,000 characters)
- Apply using the Submission Form below
Important: Applications may be submitted by anyone as long as they have a collaborator to receive funds who is associated with a Canadian institution or a Registered Institution listed here. To add your institution to that list apply here. One investigator may apply for multiple awards.
Grant evaluations are known to be biased by gender, ethnicity, institution of origin and other factors; therefore, applications are de-identified prior to review. Please make our life easier by avoiding including any identifying information in your scientific and lay summaries — we want to judge your proposal solely on the strength and feasibility of the idea(s) it contains.
Applications will reviewed by multiple scientific and parent / patient (lay) reviewers for their impact on care, scientific validity and for their adherence to the priorities of patients and their families. Our goal is to return a decision to applicants within 3 weeks.
WHAT SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS SHOULD EXPECT:
Funded projects are expected to lead to dissemination of results through publication or meeting presentation, and/or generate preliminary data for larger studies directed at improving patient care. If funding is readily available elsewhere, the rationale for requesting it from this program should be provided.
- Successful applicants must provide a 1 paragraph lay summary describing their results upon project completion including how their work impacted patient care.
- Awards will be in effect for 1 year from the proposed project start date. Extensions may be requested if needed.
- We request that publications containing data supported by microgrants acknowledge the support of the Rare Disease Foundation and BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.
We love to receive feedback on the longer-term impact of the work we fund so please reach out and let us know if something awesome happens down the road with your project!
See summaries of previously funded projects.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For program inquiries please contact our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Millan Patel at: millanpatel at rarediseasefoundation.org.