Request for Proposals
UAB Center for Palliative Care Intramural Research Grant Program
Request for Proposals
Deadline: November 30, 2007
The UAB Center for Palliative Care requests proposals for projects that examine a fundamental question relating to palliative care. Palliative care focuses on relief of the pain, symptoms and stress of serious illness. The goal is to reduce suffering and improve quality of life for patients and their families. Palliative care is appropriate at any point in a serious illness and can be provided at the same time as curative treatment.
This mechanism will fund 1-2 awards for $2,000-$10,000 over a one-year period. The Center is eager to encourage new basic, translational, clinical, social and behavioral, or public policy research that will be synergistic with ongoing research in palliative care at UAB. We are particularly interested in receiving applications to study issues in survivorship, symptom control, advanced illness and multimorbidity, models of advanced illness healthcare delivery, physician-patient-caregiver communication, healthcare disparities, ethics and spirituality.
Research Focus: This intramural grant program is designed to target the broadest range of scientific disciplines, including interdisciplinary research. It is expected that projects completed with the support of this mechanism will lead to the submission of a competitive application to a major research funding agency (e.g., NIH) at the end of the project period. Research involving human subjects must employ a study design with gender and/or minority representation (by age distribution, risk factors, incidence/prevalence, etc.) appropriate to the scientific objectives of the research.
This mechanism is intended to support pilot projects. Projects that utilize the funds to provide partial support to otherwise unfunded research or to augment pilot funding provided by another mechanism will be considered. Appropriate examples of this type of support include use of the funds for statistical support or equipment purchase. Proposals that are contingent on successful funding through another mechanism, however, will not be favorably reviewed.
Eligibility: This funding is intended to support full-time UAB faculty members who are new investigators without current or past NIH research project support (those below the rank of associate professor); applications from established investigators with no previous palliative care research experience will also be considered. Submissions from instructors and assistant professors should reflect the involvement of a senior faculty mentor who will provide guidance through the conduct of the proposed work.
To Apply: Submit a 6 page (single sided, single-spaced with 0.5 margins and Arial 11-point font) application. Applications should include introduction, hypothesis, specific aims, research design and methodology including relevant analyses. Additional pages not included in the 6 page limit should include vertebrate animals or human subjects sections consistent with PHS 398 instructions as applicable, references, 4-page biosketch of the PI and mentor as applicable, budget and budget justification. Use PHS 398 forms for these components:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html. Funding is contingent upon IRB or IACUC approval.
A cover letter with the title of the project should be signed by the PI and mentor, and initialed by the appropriate division/department chair. Please suggest 4 potential reviewers from outside UAB having no conflict of interest (include e-mail addresses).
Please contact Dr. Christine Ritchie (critchie@uab.edu) if you have questions about your eligibility or the responsiveness of your proposal to this request. The deadline for submissions is November 30, 2007. Two hard copies should be submitted to CH19 Room 219 U and an electronic copy submitted to Ms. Vicki Herring (greenfire@uab.edu) by 5 pm, November 30, 2007.