American Cancer Society (ACS)
Org profile — nonprofit cancer research funder
The American Cancer Society is the largest private, nonprofit funder of cancer research in the U.S. Its grants run from undergraduate internships (DICR, $5,000/summer) through postdoctoral fellowships ($66k–$70k/yr) to faculty investigator grants. ACS places explicit emphasis on research relevant to diverse populations, making it a strong fit for population-science and health-equity work. Extramural funding is managed by its Extramural Discovery Science team.
Who Can Apply
Award Amount
$5,000
Deadline
Varies by (2025)
Estimated
Topics
American Cancer Society (ACS)
The ACS is the leading private (nonprofit) funder of cancer research in the United States — a complement to federal NCI funding, often with a distinct emphasis on diverse populations and health equity. Its extramural program is run by the Extramural Discovery Science (EDS) team (ACS research grants).
What ACS funds across the ladder
- Undergrad: DICR Internship — $500/week × 10 weeks ($5,000) of mentored summer research for underrepresented students (ACS DICR). See
acs-fellowships-dicr.md. - Postdoctoral: Postdoctoral Fellowship — $66k/$68k/$70k over 3 years + $4,000/yr allowance; deadlines June 1 / December 1 (ACS Postdoc).
- Faculty/investigator: mechanisms such as Discovery Boost Grants (up to $135,000/yr × 2 yrs; max $297,000) — note ACS signaled a pause/restructure for the Summer 2026 cycle (ACS Discovery Boost).
Diversity & population emphasis
ACS places special emphasis on studies relevant to diverse populations — age, gender, disability, ethnicity/race, geography, income, language, social class, and sexual orientation (ACS Postdoc). For HPV-vaccination, rural-health, and cancer-prevention work, this orientation is a strong fit.