Research@UIC > Funding Opportunities > Finding Funding> Pilot Study Competition

Pilot Study Competition in the Areas of Population Health or Health Disparities related to Cancer

TO: UIC Faculty

FROM: Eric A. Gislason, Vice Chancellor for Research

DATE: February 23, 2005

RE: Spring 2005 Pilot Study Competition in the Areas of Population Health or Health Disparities related to Cancer

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research in collaboration with the Center for Population Health and Human Disparities at the University of Illinois at Chicago Cancer Center is pleased to announce the Spring 2005 Pilot Study Competition. Questions concerning this competition may be addressed to Mr. Anthony Halford, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, Room 310 AOB, M/C 672; phone 312/996-7036; e-mail ahalford@uic.edu.

DEADLINE AND COPIES REQUIRED

The CPHHD requires ONE Original signed by the department head and Principal Investigator, PLUS 10 COPIES. Application must be submitted by 3:00 p.m. on Friday, April 22, 2005 in OVCR, Room 310 AOB (1737 W. Polk). Late applications will not be accepted. Applications should use the PHS 398 form and format for an R21 proposal. These applications can be downloaded from the following web site: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html.

TYPES OF SUPPORT

These pilot grants are intended to support pilot research in the areas of Population Health or Health Disparities related to Cancer. For Full consideration the proposal should address the following issues:

Grants must address an area that clearly contributes to explaining health disparities and/or understanding population health.
Grants must be interdisciplinary. That is they must include investigators from more than one academic discipline.
Population health and health disparities can be addressed in terms of the physical or social environment, behavior, genetic, or molecular levels. The proposal must incorporate at least two of these levels.
Grants may be used to attract an investigator that will contribute to the areas of Population Health and Health Disparities to the University but it must be the investigator’s work and must still meet the remaining criteria.
Grants that represent affiliations with investigators who are new to the center are encouraged.
Grants that involve community-based partners are encouraged but clear evidence of how the collaboration will be implemented must be provided.

There is approximately $80,000 available for this program in FY 2006. OVCR expects to make several awards ranging from $10,000 to $30,000. Grants will be for a single year with the possibility of a one-time renewal based upon suitable progress. The total number of awards may be based in part upon the number of fundable applications received. Applications should include all costs. If a subcontract is anticipated, then the indirect costs should be included as part of the budget.

ELIGIBILITY RULES

1. All UIC full-time faculty are eligible to apply as a principal investigator (PI). The research plan must include at least one more investigator as a co-investigator and must show clear interdisciplinary content.

2. Applicants may only apply as PI for one award during any award period.

3. Applicants must be eligible to apply as PI for grant support from a national peer-review competition (NIH, ACS, LSA, DOD, etc.) or its equivalent.

4. Applications may include community-based organizations as co-investigators.

5. The applications must include plans for funding beyond the pilot grant and must include a statement, agreed to by the Department Head that a grant based on theses pilot studies will be submitted through the Center for Population Health and Health Disparities.

CPHHD applicants are strongly encouraged to have their CVs registered on the Community of Science (COS) research expertise database. If you are not already registered with this database, please do so at: http://expertise.cos.com/cgi-bin/addupdate/showAddRecord . OVCR uses this expertise database to inform researchers about funding opportunities and for other research development purposes. If you need assistance registering with COS, please call the Research Development Services for assistance at (312) 996-4995.

FORMAT OF APPLICATION

DO NOT use a Proposal Approval Form (PAF) for the CPHHD applications. The PAF is use for external fund applications.

Proposals should follow the NIH guidance for R21 Pilot Study Grants and should be submitted using the PHS 398 forms. For more information please see the website: http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/extra/extdocs/gntapp.htm.

BUDGET GUIDELINES

Request the minimum amount of funds that will allow you to conduct the research. For the budget justification page, itemize the budget request and justify each item clearly.

ALLOWABLE EXPENSES

Research supplies and animal maintenance
Technical assistance
Domestic travel when necessary to carry out the proposed research program
Publication cost, including reprints
Books or periodicals required for the research during the period of funding
Cost of computer time
Special fees (pathology, photography, etc.)
Stipends for graduate students and postdoctoral assistants if their role is to promote and sustain the project presented by the junior faculty member.
Equipment costing less than $2,000. Special justification is necessary for items exceeding this amount and permission must be obtained from the OVCR in advance.
Registration fees at scientific meetings.
Secretarial/administrative personnel
Salary support for community partners
Consulting fees for community partners
Funds to support community meetings (travel, parking, light refreshment
Subcontracts must be budgeted and the budget must include any indirect costs. A specific proposal and budget from the subcontractor must be included with the proposal.

NON-ALLOWABLE EXPENDITURES

Tuition
Foreign travel (special consideration will be given for attendance at scientific meetings held in Canada).
Honoraria and travel expenses for visiting lecturers
Per diem charges for hospital beds
Non-medical services to patients
Construction or building materials
Major alteration to space in which the research is to be conducted
Office and laboratory furniture
Office equipment and supplies
Rental of office or laboratory space
Recruiting and relocation expenses
Dues and membership fees in scientific societies

REVIEW PROCESS

When preparing an application, note the following criteria that will be used to evaluate all proposals.

1. Significance Extent to which the project, if successfully carried out, will make an original, important and/or novel contribution to the field of Population Health and Health Disparities and will clearly be used to develop an R01 or other research funding.

2. Approach Extent to which the conceptual framework, design, methods, and analyses are properly developed, well integrated, and appropriate to the aims of the project.

3. Feasibility The likelihood that the proposed work can be accomplished by the investigators given their documented experience and expertise, past progress, preliminary data, requested and available resources, institutional commitment, (if appropriate) documented access to special reagents, or technologies and adequacy of plans for recruitment and retention of subjects.

FUNDED PROPOSALS

Investigators who receive funding from the must submit to the CPHHD a project summary report at the end of each funding period and at the end of the project. Included in this report should be a list of pending and planned national extramural peer reviewed applications resulting from this funding, list of all publications or presentations based on the data, and any other products from the grant. A subsequent update of successful funding of these applications is also requested.

Awardees will be required to present their project to the members of the Center as part of an on-going seminar. These seminar presentations will be scheduled throughout the academic year and are planned as a vehicle to communicate data to CPHHD members and to establish close and continual relationships between investigators and the CPHHD.

Any publications resulting from the work supported by the CPHHD must acknowledge this support with a footnote of the grant number for the Center. The publication should contain an acknowledgement such as “Supported by Grant #, supported with funds from the National Cancer Institute and the CPHHD, University of Illinois at Chicago Cancer Center”. We will also ask that the investigator provide the Center with copies of any manuscripts supported by their grant when they are submitted for publication.