Discovery Stage Research

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Objective

The mission of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is to accelerate world class science to deliver transformative regenerative medicine treatments in an equitable manner to a diverse California and world.

CIRM’s Discovery Programs include complementary funding opportunities that support research at different scales and levels of maturity, emphasizing multidisciplinary innovation, knowledge sharing and leveraging synergies across CIRM-funded programs. The objective of these funding opportunities is to support comprehensive, discovery research across a diverse range of diseases and bottlenecks that will accelerate the development of potential therapeutics and biomarkers in regenerative medicine.

Explore Funding Opportunities

DISC4 supports expansive, cross-disciplinary, and integrated studies led by large collaborative teams that apply a range of technologies and approaches to accelerate foundational insights into understanding human diseases.

Download the DISC4 Program Announcement (PA) for more details regarding award eligibility, review criteria, and application information.

Important: All prospective DISC4 applicants must first complete a Pre-submission Form.

Pre-submission Forms for DISC4 will open on April 17, 2025. All Pre-submissions must be submitted by June 16, 2025.

For more information about the DISC4 Awards, including deadlines, requirements, webinar information, and FAQs, visit the DISC4 Awards page on our website. 

Program description updated as of April 1, 2025

The Foundation Awards Program supports rigorous studies addressing critical basic knowledge gaps in the biology of stem cells and regenerative medicine approaches, and to advance stem cell-based tools. Projects funded through the Foundation Awards should propose impactful or innovative research that culminates in a discovery or technology that would advance our understanding of the biology of stem or progenitor cells (collectively, “stem cells”) that is relevant to human biology and disease, or advance the application of genetic research that is relevant to human biology and disease and pertains to stem cells and regenerative medicine, or advance the development or use of human stem cells as tools for biomedical innovation, or lead to the greater applicability of regenerative medicine discoveries to communities representing the full spectrum of affected populations.

As of April 1, 2025, the Program Announcement has been updated. Please see Program Announcement for full details:

Applications for DISC0 are now closed. Sign up for our emails to get the latest updates.

Note: Resources below have not been updated with the April 1 Program Announcement changes.

Foundation Application Review Summaries

To Submit an Application:

Log in with your existing CIRM Username and Password. If you do not have a Username, click on the “New User” link and follow the instructions to Create a CIRM Username and password.

Select the tab labeled “Open Programs” under the section labeled “RFAs and Programs Open for Applications,” click on the “Start a Grant Application” link for your selected program.

Click on the appropriate link and follow the posted instructions. Proposal templates can be located and submitted under the “Uploads” section.

Click on the “Done with Application” button. The “Done with Application” button will be enabled when all the mandatory sections have been completed. Please note that once this has been selected, you will no longer be able to make changes to your application.

Select the tab labeled “Your Applications” and check the table under the section labeled “Your Submitted Applications.” You will see your application number and project title listed once the submission process has been completed.