CURE Epilepsy is the leading nongovernmental funder of epilepsy research. Our mission is to find a cure for epilepsy, by promoting and funding patient-focused research. Our newly developed Catalyst grant program reflects our commitment to this mission by supporting the development of promising and transformative new therapies for epilepsy. Projects supported by this award mechanism should advance research to clinical trial readiness through development of biomarkers, optimization of new entities with established proof-of-concept including pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, safety profiles and/or improved formulations, as well as studies that advance preclinical findings to pilot clinical trials. This competitive grant program provides funding of up to $250,000 over two years and is available to independent researchers at universities or non-academic institutions including small biotechnology companies developing new interventions to cure epilepsy. All applicants must submit a Letter of Intent and selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals. Priority areas for 2021 include approaches to prevent, modify and/or arrest the development of acquired epilepsy, prevent onset, or halt the progression of severe pediatric epilepsies, new treatments for pharmaco-resistant epilepsy and new approaches, biomarkers, or therapies to predict and prevent SUDEP. The call for this program will be released in June 2021.