How does St. Baldricks determine which doctors and hospitals receive funding?
When researchers and research institutions apply for funding from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the application is reviewed by our Scientific Advisory Committee, a group of pediatric oncology experts who volunteer their time to advise St. Baldrick’s on scientific matters and review funding applications. The Scientific Advisory Committee uses the same system the National Cancer Institute uses for reviewing and rating grant applications. Each has a primary, secondary and tertiary review and after thorough discussion over the applications, the group votes electronically. In the case of fellows, three different elements are reviewed – the fellow candidate, the caliber of the mentor, and the merit of the scientific project the fellow proposes to conduct. All the grants are scored and those that are recommended for funding are presented to the St. Baldrick’s board for approval. If we don’t have enough money to fund every scientifically approved application, then other factors come into play
