Our BISK Research Awards program seeks to grow the scientific understanding of skeletal dysplasia by supporting healthcare professionals such as physicians, allied healthcare practitioners and scientists leading research in innovative and understudied areas.
The BioMarin Skeletal Dysplasia (BISK) Research Awards program aims to support innovative investigator-initiated research in understudied areas to help improve care and outcomes for people living with skeletal dysplasia.
Eligible applicants include any healthcare professionals such as physicians, allied health practitioners and research scientists working within the skeletal dysplasia space in the United States.
We will consider non-interventional proposals on gaps and barriers in the care of skeletal dysplasia, including generation of real-world data, patient-reported outcomes, quality-of-life evidence, or qualitative studies and surveys. Six awards are available for the 2026 cycle, each worth up to $25,000 per recipient to support one year of research.
Deadline: Eligible applicants must submit Letter of Intent (LOI) proposals by Sept. 30, 2026.
Please review the topics below for further information regarding the BISK Research Awards. If you have additional questions, please contact us via this form.
The institutional overhead payment cannot exceed 5% of the total award (for example, $1,250 for an award of $25,000). This overhead is part of the overall award amount rather than an extra payment on top of the award.
Research involving active and/or placebo controls will have these costs included in the budget.
A project may receive extra funding from other sources, but this must be disclosed in the research protocol.
In the event of a change in the status of a pending application, all investigators are required to notify the program administrator at BISKAwards@bmrn.com.
After the grant is awarded, additional funding will not be available.
Authorized expenses may encompass goods and materials required for the completion of the research project, costs related to research publication, staff salaries and other relevant expenditures. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If in doubt about which expenses are authorized, please contact the program administrator at BISKAwards@bmrn.com.
The following types of expenditures are not permitted within the budget:
Approved research protocols will be assessed for fair market value by BioMarin and will require progress reports at defined milestones prior to fund disbursement.
Projects receive a portion of funding up front once required documents are submitted, with additional payments based on milestone achievements and satisfactory progress or final reports.
More than one application per institution is allowed, but researchers from the same institution may not submit multiple applications for a single project.
Both LOI proposals and research protocols will be submitted by email.
Blinded LOI proposals will be reviewed by members of the grants review committee. The grants review committee is comprised of internal BioMarin reviewers and external experts in skeletal dysplasia.
Each LOI proposal will receive a numerical score based on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) simplified peer review framework. The 12 top-scoring LOI proposals will be selected to move forward into the next phase where applicants will be requested to submit a research protocol with full budget. Blinded research protocols will be scored using the same framework, and the 6 top-scoring protocols will be selected as award recipients.
The decision of the grants review committee is considered final, and no appeals can be made. Reviewers are not permitted to provide feedback to the unsuccessful applicants.
If an award recipient experiences any significant changes in their circumstances, they are required to notify the program administrator and provide a detailed explanation of these changes, including how such developments may impact the utilization of the awarded funds.
Awards are granted to both the recipient and their affiliated institution. Consequently, any changes in institutional affiliation must be promptly communicated to the program administrator. The decision to transfer a grant to another institution or investigator rests exclusively with BioMarin.
For all awards, recipients are required to submit progress and financial reports to the program administrator at the six-month mark. Final reports must be provided within 60 days following the conclusion of the funding period. Templates for both progress and financial reports will be distributed via email to award recipients at least 30 days prior to each respective deadline.
The BISK Research Awards program reserves the right to terminate support of a funded project at any time for any cause.
For-profit entities, such as pharmaceutical firms, homecare providers and health maintenance organizations, are not eligible to apply for the BISK Research Awards. However, research laboratories and academic institutions that are affiliated with a hospital operating for profit are exceptions to this rule. If you are in doubt about eligibility, please contact the program administrator.
As a condition of funding, BioMarin may request a right of first refusal to obtain an exclusive, worldwide license for any technology invented or improved during the grant period. This intellectual property encompasses but is not limited to patented inventions, technical data and materials. It expressly excludes technology developed prior to the award period, following the conclusion of the award period or technology created by investigators during the funding period that was not supported in any way by this award.
BioMarin understands that some institutions may face challenges due to conflicting intellectual property policies and is open to alternative arrangements if needed. However, these must align with the BISK Research Awards’ goal of treating all recipients as equally as possible.
Applicants requesting an award to carry out research with recombinant molecules and/or animal or human participants must obtain approval from the appropriate institutional or government authorities, e.g., an Institutional Review Board.
If an applicant’s institution does not mandate special authorization to use recombinant molecules, this should be conveyed to the program administrator. Before any award funds are released, the administrator must receive documentation of relevant permissions.
The applicant’s institution is responsible for ensuring that the rights of any human participants are upheld and that animals are cared for in a humane manner.
The BISK Research Awards encourage award recipients to publish work carried out under this award, including abstract submissions to congresses.
Recipients are required to formally acknowledge the receipt of BISK Research Awards funding in all publications and abstracts that reference research conducted with support from these awards.
Results from non-human and clinical studies should be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal within one year of completion.
When clinical investigations require trials, projects must adhere to Good Clinical Practice standards as well as all local safety reporting rules. Studies involving human participants must be registered on clinicaltrials.gov and submitted to a peer-reviewed journal within a year after completion.
Patient safety is the top priority in clinical studies. BioMarin will only release research funds once both parties confirm the study’s safety and suitability, and relevant safety data are provided to the BioMarin safety officer.
Successful applicants who have been awarded research funding will be requested to provide consent for release of their name and institution. This information may be publicized through print or digital means in press releases, social media posts or other program-related materials. Standard consent forms will apply.