2026 PRiME Fellowship Program

Purpose

PRiME Next-Generation Precision Medicine is an inter-disciplinary initiative that is crosscutting to University of Toronto divisions, academic hospitals and partner institutions. PRiME investigators tackle unmet needs in drug discovery, diagnostics and disease biology by leveraging world-class expertise in AI/ML, biologics, omics, molecular chemistry, liquid biopsy, nanomedicine, biology-on-a-chip and related domains to develop new solutions for unmet needs in human disease.  

PRiME encourages creativity, risk-taking and excellence at the convergence of science, medicine, and engineering.  The 2026 PRiME Fellowship Program will invest in bold ideas in all disease areas where the expertise exists in our community, to enable the initiation and support of high-risk, high-reward research projects that are aligned with PRiME’s mandate.

Successful applicants may be eligible for additional operational funding from Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP) for projects that can lead to the development of novel therapeutic products for diseases of high unmet need. TIAP will give priority to projects focused on validating and modulating novel therapeutic targets or projects that provide innovative approaches for modulating previously well-validated targets. If your project meets TIAP’s eligibility, a TIAP representative will contact you to request additional information and work with you to define the use of the additional operational funds. TIAP funds will be announced concurrent with the PRiME Fellowship Awards.

The 2026 PRiME Fellowship Program will support one-year fellowships for senior PhD or clinical fellows (who must have completed 36 months as of December 31, 2025), and postdoctoral fellows PDFs (who must have completed all requirements of their doctorate or health professional degree no more than 4 years prior, as of December 31, 2025). The fellowship must be supervised by at least two Principal Investigators (PIs) who are either already members of PRiME or are willing to join.

Projects are expected to be interdisciplinary, involving collaborations that will enable translation of projects along the research pipeline in a manner that would not otherwise have been possible. PRiME fellowships are intended to catalyze high-risk, high-reward projects that are otherwise hard to fund, providing preliminary data for ongoing research funding. A grant proposal for continued project funding is expected to be submitted during the award period, preferably around its midpoint. PRiME can provide support throughout the proposal preparation and submission process.

Areas of Focus

PRiME is an institutional strategic initiative that tackles unmet needs in drug discovery, diagnostics, AI/ML and disease biology, building knowledge towards a shared goal of advancing innovation, training and fundamental science in the area of next-generation precision medicine to develop new solutions for unmet needs in human disease.     

Projects must focus on interdisciplinary research approaches. All disease areas are eligible, with opportunities including, but not limited to: 

1. High-throughput omics  
2. Therapeutic discovery and/or development 
3. Diagnostic development 
4. Disease biology
5. Pre-clinical applications of basic research discoveries
6. AI/ML learning

Applicant Eligibility

PhD eligibility:

• You must have completed 36 months of full-time equivalent study in the doctoral program (PhD) as of December 31, 2025.
• You must be currently affiliated with one of the collaborating PRiME member organizations.

Stream Eligibility

There are two streams of eligibility for the 2026 PRiME Fellowship Program:

Stream 1 (2026 Tsao Nivaggioli PRiME Fellowship)
The proposed project must involve collaboration between two or more PIs with primary appointments at the University of Toronto. Preference will be given to interdisciplinary, cross-divisional proposals.

• One Tsao Nivaggioli PRiME Fellowship will be awarded for a duration of one year.
• This stream is ONLY open to full-time Postdoctoral Fellows (PDFs).
• Both PIs MUST have 'primary appointments' at one of the following University of Toronto divisions:
  • Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy,
  • Temerty Faculty of Medicine,
  • Faculty of Arts & Science,
  • Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, and/or
  • University of Toronto Mississauga.
• All PIs must be members of PRiME.

Stream 2
The proposed project must be a collaboration between two or more PIs, with at least one having a primary appointment at the University of Toronto (within the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and/or Temerty Faculty of Medicine divisions), while the other supervisor(s) MUST hold a primary appointment at either the Hospital for Sick Children (HSC) and/or the University Health Network (UHN).

• Two fellowships in the HSC stream and two in the UHN stream will be awarded for a duration of one year.
• This stream is open to applicants who are either a full-time Postdoctoral Fellow (PDF), Clinical Fellow or Senior PhD student.
• Participating University of Toronto divisions:
  • Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy
  • Temerty Faculty of Medicine
• Participating partner institutions:
  • The Hospital for Sick Children (HSC)
  • University Health Network (UHN)
• All PIs must be members of PRiME.

Key details:

• A supervisor’s “primary appointment” is typically defined as the institution where the majority of their research grants are held and their research lab is located.
• If a PI is interested in applying to this fellowship program, but is not yet affiliated with PRiME, please sign up here
• If a project team would like to confirm stream and project eligibility prior to the submission deadline, please contact us by email prime.initiative@utoronto.ca

Award Amounts

• Stream 1
  • Postdoctoral Fellow – CAD$50,000

• Stream 2
  • PhD student – CAD$40,000
  • Postdoctoral Fellow – CAD$50,000
  • Clinical Fellow – CAD$50,000

NOTE: Successful applicants from the streams may be eligible for “additional” operational funding from Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP) for projects relevant to TIAP priorities.

How to Apply?

Applicants must submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) by October 31, 2025, 11:59 PM EDT and full application package by November 28, 2025, 11:59 PM EDT.

• An information session will be held on October 23 2025
• Notice of Intent (NOI): Applicants must submit a NOI by October 31, 2025, 11:59 PM EDT. Please submit the following information: stating the intent to apply, topic of the proposed project, and the names of the collaborators (if possible). Please use the link to the NOTICE OF INTENT FORM
• Full Application Package: Applications will outline the applicant and the collaboration’s outstanding potential of productivity working on cutting-edge, high-risk ideas. The application package must include the following components and be submitted using a FULL APPLICATION FORM. Applicants are advised to submit the following details as below: 
• Applicant details (name, contact, affiliation, trainee stage) 
• Information from up to three co-supervisors (name, contact, primary affiliation). Please note that a supervisor’s “primary appointment” is typically defined as the institution where the majority of their research grants are held, and their research lab is located.
  • Please list the supervisor who will manage the Fellowship funding as your ‘primary supervisor’ 
  • Please specify the ‘primary appointment/affiliation’ of all your supervisors
  • Stream applying for?
• Project summary information and survey
  • Proposed project title (15-word limit) 
  • Proposed project survey (disease area, IP status, funding status, etc.) 
  • Lay summary/impact statement (150 words) 
• Research proposal description (1,000 words)
  • Information on the proposed research, including: aim(s), novelty, background and preliminary data (recommend no more than 50% of the available word count), research plan, timeline and methodology,  how it advances knowledge in the field/anticipated impact(s), and its translational opportunity.  
  • Information on the extent to which this project builds upon or is different from existing projects. 
  • Information on how the research project is high-risk, high-reward, and is made possible by the inter-disciplinary connection between the collaborating labs 
• Up to 10 relevant publications 
• What are the expected outcomes of the research proposal? (250 words max)
• Research proposal attachments
  • Schematic describing research project (optional – max 1 page, 500 words) 
  • Up to two figures of preliminary data (max 1 page each, combine both into single file) 
• Applicant’s experience relevant to the proposed research (300 words)
  • Information on the applicant’s experiences with the proposed methodologies and/or the plan to attain the experience. 
• Inter-disciplinary training and mentorship plan (300 words)
  • Provide an overview of the inter-disciplinary nature of the research training experience and mentorship plan in place for the proposed project.. 
• Applicant’s track record attachments
  • Academic CV (max 4 pages) 
  • Letters of support
    • One joint or two separate letters of support from the co-supervisors (max 1000 words each for separate, 1500 words for joint) 
    • Focus on the quality and impact of the applicant and the research environment  
    • To reduce the potential for unconscious bias in the evaluation process - please refer to applicants consistently by their surname(s) and use gender-neutral pronouns. 
    • Please combine into a single file, as applicable, prior to upload 
• Applicant demographic information (optional) 

Full application package submission deadline: November 28, 2025, 11:59 PM EDT. Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Apply Here

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria

• Research Excellence and Innovation in addressing unmet needs in therapeutic drug development, drug discovery, AI/ML, precision medicine.
• High risk, high reward potential for bold, innovative projects delivering meaningful translational impact.
• Ability to engage in interdisciplinary research within the PRiME community and to foster new collaborations.
• Demonstrated track record and research impact of the applicant (evaluated in the context of their career stage).

Additional Guidelines

• PRiME funding is meant to create a unique opportunity and may be used in conjunction with other funding but cannot duplicate an existing funding source for the project. 
• Applicants cannot hold a PRiME Fellowship award at the same time as any other external funding award.  Applicants holding an external award at the time of application must openly declare this and indicate the end date of the existing award. Fellows who accept another award during the term of the PRiME fellowship must immediately advise the committee of this and return the remaining award funds to PRiME.
• The proposed project cannot be already funded by a PRiME Fellowship Award at the time of the application or award. 
• Usually, a PI may only be awarded one PRiME Fellowship per competition cycle.   
• Renewal of funding may be considered for projects making outstanding research progress during the term of the award but will not be given preference and will be judged together with new incoming applications in subsequent competitions. 
• A grant proposal to provide subsequent funding for the project is expected to be submitted during the term of the award. It is highly recommended that the grant proposal be submitted near the midpoint of the award. PRiME is able to provide support throughout the proposal compilation and submission process. 
• Primary Fellowship funds:
  • To be used for salary support for the successful recipient (identified in the application as the ‘applicant’). Support is provided at the amount indicated, with any additional salary costs (e.g., recruitment, benefits, additional salary expenses) to be covered by the supervisors as negotiated by the team members. 
  • Cannot be used for consumables/research expenses, travel or other hospitality expenditures.  
• Funds must be completely used within one year of the award start date.  Any unused funds must be returned to PRiME at the end of the award term. Extensions will not be granted. 

Important Dates

Competition Announced: September 29, 2025

Info Session for PIs and Trainees: October 23, 2025 (3:30-5:00 PM)

Notice of Intent (NOI): October 31, 2025, 11:59 PM

Full Application: November 28, 2025, 11:59 PM

Award Announcement:  February 18, 2026

Highlights from the 2025 PRiME Fellowship-supported research projects

• Lily Takeuchi (PhD) - 2025 PRiME Fellow co-supervised by Prof. Craig Simmons (FASE) and Prof. Lorraine Kalia (UHN) for investigating “Therapeutic target discovery in a stem cell-derived organ-on-a-chip model of the blood-brain barrier in Alzheimer's disease.”
• Maryam Ali (PhD) - 2025 PRiME Fellow co-supervised by Prof. Jumi Shin (UTM) and Prof. Micheline Piquette-Miller (LDFP) for investigating “Designer Protein Drugs for Targeting Breast and Ovarian Cancer.”
• Ruilin Wu (PhD) - 2025 PRiME Fellow co-supervised by Prof. Jason Fish (UHN) and Prof. Milica Radisic (FASE) for investigating “Development of Precision Therapies for Brain Arteriovenous Malformations.”
• Yuxi Xiao (PDF) - 2025 PRiME Fellow co-supervised by Prof. Jason Moffat (Hospital for SickKids) and Prof. Alan Moses (FAS) for investigating “High-Throughput Imaging and Disordered Protein Design: Generation of Large-scale Image Dataset for Algorithm Optimizations.”
• Sathishkumar Narayanaswamy (PDF) - 2025 PRiME Fellow co-supervised by Prof. Robert Batey (FAS) and Prof. Michael Tyers (Hospital for SickKids), Prof. Aaron Wheeler (FAS) for investigating “Nano-Linked PROTACs and Bifunctionals: Harnessing Nanoparticles to Enhance Targeted Protein Degradation in Cancer Therapy”. The team also received the matching TIAP Top-Up Award.