Funding-UK
Alzheimer’s Center grants; deadline March 30, 2009
From: Schmitt, Frederick A
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 1:47 PM
To: Davis, Deborah; david.erem@uky.edu; Hagan, Rhonda; Hickman, Mary D
Cc: Hardin, Jason J
Subject: Alzheimer's Center pilot research funds
Colleagues:
As
you know, the Alzheimer's Center grant at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging
incorporates an annual opportunity to stimulate research through one or two
pilot grants of approximately $25,000. The intent is to stimulate
research by UK faculty on aging and Alzheimer's disease.
The
quality, number of submissions, and later publications and/or grant submissions
that result from these pilot grants are key to our competing renewal of the
center grant. We have significantly revised the procedures for the
applicants, review process, and provide feedback from the reviews as well
as mentoring for junior faculty.
I
would appreciate your help in disseminating this announcement to UK faculty in
order to broadly disseminate this information. We've placed a copy on the
SBCoA webpage ( http://www.mc.uky.edu/coa/ )
for faculty access.
I
appreciate your ongoing assistance and support of the SBCoA.
Cheers,
Fred
January 15,
2009
TO: University of
Kentucky Faculty
FROM: Frederick A.
Schmitt, Ph.D.
RE: 2009-2010
Pilot Grant Funding
The Sanders-Brown Center on Aging is a
National Institute on Aging-funded Alzheimer's Disease Center (ADC). As an ADC,
our prime responsibility is to pursue research to further our understanding of
Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Last year’s recipients were:
·
Drs.
Charlotte Peterson & Anne Harrison (College of Health Sciences) for their
project: “Behavioral and physiological effects of a power training exercise
program in people with mild cognitive impairment”
·
Dr.
Christopher Norris (Molecular and Biomedical Pharmacology) for his project: “Targeted
inhibition of astrocytic NFAT activity in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s
disease.”
The
ADC is soliciting pilot grant applications focused on dynamic basic and
clinical science studies of AD. Each of the awards is intended to provide seed funding that will facilitate the
initial testing of novel hypotheses, and lead to national-level funding of an
expanded research plan based on the pilot work.
The successful applicant may be in any
scientific discipline and should target their proposed research toward
increasing understanding of the mechanisms underlying AD, or the clinical
management of, or risks for, AD and associated dementias. These awards are open to all UK full time
faculty.
Basic science proposals investigating
tau, beta-amyloid clearance, genetics, potential disease modifying agents, and
vascular mechanisms that contribute to AD are encouraged. Clinical proposals that investigate risk
factors, mild cognitive impairment, preclinical AD, caregiving, minority
populations, dementia with movement disorders, cognitive processes, and
neuroimaging are also encouraged.
In addition, researchers are
encouraged, where possible, to incorporate the ADC’s existing Cores (Clinical,
Neuropathology, Education and Information Transfer, and Biostatistics and Data
Management) into their research plan.
The applicant must clarify how the pilot funding will potentially lead
to major support to sustain the research efforts after the end of the one-year
grant.
We plan to support up to two pilot
research projects on AD. These are
onetime nonrenewable awards for a maximum of one year of support (up to
$25,000). The following are additional
examples of eligibility for pilot support:
1
A study proposed by an
established investigator with experience in areas other
than AD research who wants to work in the AD research field.
2
A study by an established
investigator in AD who wants to try a new
hypothesis, method, or approach that is not an extension of ongoing research.
3
A study proposed by a new
investigator with an interest in AD research.
The primary purpose of these grants is
to allow investigators to obtain preliminary data for the support of a future
submission for extramural research funding.
Proposals for pilot studies should
present a testable hypothesis and clearly delineate the question being asked,
detail the procedures to be followed, and discuss how the data will be
analyzed. Pilot study support is not
intended for extensive research studies by established investigators, nor may
funds be used to support or supplement ongoing-supported research of an
investigator.
As noted above, investigators are
encouraged to submit proposals that use existing resources of the ADC. The ADC
is presently longitudinally following over 200 patients with AD and an
additional 400 normal control subjects.
These subjects are available to participate in research studies. The ADC maintains a tissue bank of plasma,
serum, buffy coat, and brain specimens (formalin-fixed and frozen from deceased
subjects; most of the brain specimens have short (<4 hours) postmortem
intervals).
Funding
Period and Program Requirements:
The funding period will begin July 1, 2009 and continue for 12 months (through
6/30/2010). In January of 2010, the grant
recipients will provide the ADC with an interim report on their progress, and
they will provide a formal written progress report to the ADC after completion
of the one-year funding period.
Investigators funded through this program will participate actively in
the ADC’s investigators' meetings and symposia.
In addition, if the results are promising, recipients will be expected
to present their research at scientific meetings, the ADC’s Seminar Series, and
publish their findings in scholarly journals.
Eligibility:
The applicant must have Principal Investigator status and a primary
faculty appointment at UK. As discussed,
we are especially interested in using the pilot mechanism to encourage junior
(or new to UK) faculty to pursue AD research, and more senior faculty to turn
their well-developed expertise toward AD.
We also encourage applications from established researchers who wish to
pursue a new and untested, but promising, research hypothesis.
Application
Format:
Successful
applicants must concisely describe their proposed projects in NO MORE THAN 10
pages (single-spaced using no less than 10 point Arial font and 1/2” margins).
The body of the application should
include: Abstract, Specific Aims, Significance, Preliminary Work/Background, and
Experimental Design.
The application must also include the
following sections that are NOT included in the 10-page limitation: Human and
Animal Subject Welfare Information and Literature Cited.
Application for support of research
involving human subjects must carefully consider a study design with gender
and/or minority representation appropriate to the scientific objectives of the
research.
Further,
each applicant should submit the following material, using the forms from the
PHS 398: (Form FF) Biographical Sketch (limit two pages); (Form DD) Budget for
First 12-month Budget Period with Justification; and (Form GG) Other Support
(also the applicant must append the Specific Aims page for all funded
research). Up to four of the applicant’s
reprints may be submitted in an appendix, if they are pertinent to the
application. The budget may request any
funds that usually are allowable on an NIH application. However, requests for equipment, travel funds
or publication costs must be very well justified. Total direct costs may not exceed $25,000.
If
an application is approved for funding, the award will not be activated until
UK oversight board approvals have been provided (e.g., IRB, IACUC, GCRC). All applications must be approved by the
appropriate university officials, but need not be routed through UKRF/OSPA.
Any application that does not conform
to the above format will be returned to the investigator without review.
For
additional information about the ADC, please access our web page:
http://www.mc.uky.edu/COA/ADRC/adrc.htm.
The deadline for receipt of
applications is March 30, 2009. Subject
to approval, funding will begin July 1, 2008.
APPLICATIONS
MUST BE ELECTRONICALLY SUBMITTED AS PDF FILES TO:
Application Review: Applications will be
reviewed for scientific merit and programmatic relevance by a panel of UK and
external faculty (if needed) with expertise in the fields covered in the
applications.
Notification: Applicants will be
notified about the outcome by June 15, 2009.
Questions: Any questions regarding
this announcement should be addressed to Dr. Schmitt at the above email. Any and all questions concerning the
application process are encouraged.