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.
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. Submit your research proposal using the form below, clearly outlining:
- How this study might 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 language 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 (layperson) 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.
Next call for proposals will open November 1st, 2026.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For program inquiries please contact our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Millan Patel at: millanpatel at rarediseasefoundation.org.