The Pediatric Epilepsy Research Foundation® (PERF®) in partnership with the Child Neurology Society (CNS) offer the PERF®-CNS Bridge Grant Program to retain child neurology researchers.  This program is designed to provide bridge funding to promising child neurology researchers who are applying for their first independent National Institutes of Health (NIH) or Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) research support.  Through this grant mechanism, PERF® and CNS aim to assist investigators who have applied for their first NIH R01 or CIHR Operating/Project Grant support but were not funded.

This award is intended to retain investigators in child neurology clinical, translational, or basic research while they re-apply for NIH or CIHR funding.

Eligibility Criteria

The following individuals are eligible to apply for this grant.

  1. Active members of the Child Neurology Society or membership application is in process.
  2. Have submitted their first NIH R01 or CIHR Operating/Project proposal during the past two years, and that grant was triaged or evaluated in the peer-review process but fell below (or is likely to fall below) the NIH or CIHR pay line.
  3. Investigators with K-Award (or equivalent) funding that will expire prior to the potential funding of their first R01 grant are eligible to apply, but current K-level funding is not a prerequisite.
  4. Investigators whose only federally funded grant is an R03 or R21 (or equivalent) award, and who are now re-submitting their first R01 or Operating/Project Grant, are eligible.
  5. INTERNATIONAL SITES:  The applicant must hold appointment at a U.S./Canada institution; while a proposal may include international programs or sites, the grant funds are intended to support research activities conducted by sites in the U.S. or Canada.

Exclusion Criteria

The following individuals are not eligible to apply for this grant.

  1. Investigators with current, independent, federally funded grants (aside from one R03 or one R21 or equivalent) are not eligible to apply for funding through this mechanism.
  2. Individuals who are seeking funding to support ongoing projects that are currently funded by another extramural granting body are not eligible to apply.

NIH/CIHR Funding Exception

Since these grants are intended as bridge support, if the NIH/CIHR grant is received by Awardee, the Awardee must notify PERF® within 10 business days of receipt of the notice of award, and the following would apply:

  1.  If NIH/CIHR funds are received prior to distribution of Bridge Grant funds, the award funds will not be released, and the grant will be closed out.
  2. If NIH/CIHR funds are received after distribution of Bridge Grant funds, the Awardee is permitted to submit updated documents (i.e. a new budget, justification, and project timeline) and may be allowed to retain some or all the funds if they can provide sufficient rationale.

The Application Submission Deadline: Monday, April 13, 2026 by 5:00 pm Central Time. 

 

More info: https://www.pediatricepilepsyresearchfoundation.org/grants/our-current-grants/
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