The Kenneth Rainin Foundation Announces $100,000 Innovator Awards Program For Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Research

The Kenneth Rainin Foundation has announced its new Innovator Awards Program for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. The Program is designed to accelerate the pace of discovery in IBD research. Approximately four million people worldwide suffer from some form of IBD and most are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40.

"Launching the Kenneth Rainin Foundation's Innovator Awards Program for IBD research is very exciting for all of us," said Jen Rainin, president of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation. "Our Program is unique in that it encourages investigators from all scientific disciplines and from any non-profit research institution to collaborate to explore bold and innovative ideas that can expand our understanding of IBD, which in turn, will have a major impact in finding a cure for IBD."

Jen Rainin is the daughter of the late founder, Kenneth Rainin, who suffered greatly from IBD. To further his memory and accomplish the Foundation's mission of no one suffering from IBD, the Innovator Awards Program is focused on finding applicants with diverse backgrounds who can help build a creative, conceptual paradigm for IBD with emphasis on the importance of nurturing interdisciplinary collaboration between fields. Alternative approaches that are nutrition-based or holistic in nature may also play an important role.

Initial one-year grants of $100,000 will be awarded once annually. The first round of applications will be accepted February 15-March 15, 2010. Applications must be submitted online, and selected applicants will be notified in July, 2010. Applications will be initially reviewed by the Rainin Foundation's Scientific Advisory Board. Based on their recommendations, final selections will be made by the Foundation's Board. Successful projects will be eligible for significant multi-year funding based on the initial year's proof of principle work.

About the Kenneth Rainin Foundation

The Kenneth Rainin Foundation (www.krfoundation.org) is a private family foundation that funds inspiring and world-changing work. They are dedicated to enhancing quality of life by promoting equitable access to a baseline of literacy, enabling inspiration through the magic of the arts and providing opportunities for a healthy lifestyle for those with chronic disease.

The Kenneth Rainin Foundation Scientific Advisory Board members are Dr. Averil Ma, Rainin Distinguished Professor of Medicine, PIBS, Director, Colitis and Crohn's Disease Center, UCSF; Dr. Ruslan Medzhitov, David W. Wallace Professor of Immunobiology, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University School of Medicine; Dr. Dan Littman, Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Professor of Molecular Immunology and Professor of Pathology and Microbiology, Skirball Institute Program of Molecular Pathogenesis, NYU Langone Medical Center; and Dr. Claudio Fiocchi, The Clifford and Jane Anthony Chair for Digestive Disease Research and Education, Department of Pathobiology, Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic.