This competitive program seeks to strengthen clinical trial readiness for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) by enhancing workforce education and building durable internal infrastructure to support high-quality clinical research in SCD. Potential applicants are encouraged to provide educational programs focusing on preparing multidisciplinary staff including: physicians, Advanced Practice Providers (APPs), nurses, research coordinators, and pharmacists; to participate confidently in SCD clinical trials through targeted training in SCD research, good clinical practice, regulatory requirements, and culturally responsive research engagement.

Applicant Eligibility Criteria: The following may apply: medical, nursing, allied health, and/or pharmacy professional schools; healthcare institutions (both large and small); patient advocacy groups, professional organizations/medical societies; medical education companies; and other entities with a mission related to healthcare professional education and/or healthcare improvement. Only organizations are eligible to receive grants, not individuals or medical practice groups (i.e., an independent group of physicians not affiliated with a hospital, academic institution, or professional society). If the project involves multiple departments within an institution and/or between different institutions / organizations / associations, all institutions must have a relevant role and the requesting organization must have a key role in the project. The applicant must be the project/program lead or an authorized designee of such individual (e.g., project/program lead’s grant coordinator). The project/program lead must be an employee or contractor of the requesting organization. Requesting organization must be legally able to receive award funding directly from Pfizer Inc. We strongly recommend that applicants confirm this with their organization or institution prior to submitting an application. Grants awarded to organizations that are subsequently found to be unable to accept funding directly from Pfizer Inc. may be subject to rescission. For projects offering continuing education credit, the requesting organization must be accredited.

General Area of Interest for this RFP: Projects that will be considered for Pfizer support should educate multidisciplinary healthcare professionals in the following educational focus areas: • Development and optimization of internal research infrastructure • Standardization of trial workflows • Improvement of feasibility and start up processes • Strengthening of coordination between clinical care and research teams • Reduction of operational barriers to trial activation and ensure consistent, high-quality trial conduct • Decentralized Clinical Trial education and patient-centric approaches • Implementation of new technologies, such as AI, in trials workflow • Education on SCD-specific pathophysiology • Education on barriers in SCD clinical trials • HCP-led education to support community understanding of clinical trials Both accredited and non-accredited proposals are eligible. It is not our intent to support clinical research projects. Projects evaluating the efficacy of therapeutic or diagnostic agents will not be considered.