Request for Internal Pilot Project-PHORG Proposals—July 14, 2014
The Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center announces a request for internal pilot project--PHORG Proposals--NOTE: Increased funding and new deadline--due 5 pm Monday, July 14, 2014
Purpose
The goal of the pilot project program is to stimulate an environment within the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center that fosters translational initiatives that can lead to new methods for diagnosing, preventing, and treating disease. Special consideration will be given to proposals that include the development of a clinical trial with a laboratory component. Translational initiatives that include the study of patient samples that will further the development of an innovative clinical initiative will also be strongly considered.
An additional aim of the PHORG grant is to facilitate intra-programmatic collaborations and interactions among the members of the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. For these reasons, proposals should ideally involve collaborative studies between two Aflac faculty members. If appropriate, more than two groups may be involved in a pilot project but applicants should bear in mind the total level of support available to be distributed among recipient groups.
Eligibility
Faculty members of the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, as well as members of the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Center of Excellence, are eligible to be PI’s.
Criteria for Evaluation and Selection
Awards will be based on scientific merit (significance, approach, innovation, short-term translational potential) and the impact of the proposal on supporting novel clinical or translational studies initiated within the Aflac Cancer Center. It is expected that a proposal for a clinical trial or a correlative biology proposal will be submitted within 3 months of funding this proposal. The clinical or research study should be submitted with the proposal as an appendix. Each proposal will be reviewed by a committee comprised of scientific leaders from the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and the Winship Cancer Center.
Duration, Level of Support and Budget
It is anticipated that two seed grants of approximately $100,000 per grant will be funded during the period September 1, 2014 to August 30, 2015. If only one meritorious proposal is found, the additional $100,000 will be held until 2015-2016 funding cycle. Operating supplies, small equipment items, and travel directly associated with the research activities are eligible for support. Funds may be used for non-faculty partial salary and fringe benefit support for research personnel (students, post-docs, research specialists) but may not be used for general staff or administrative support.
Proposal Length
The length of each proposal is limited to three (3) pages of text (not including references and reprints). Page 4 describes the proposed budget. All submissions must be in Arial 11 point font (9 point for figures and tables is acceptable). See below for details.
Submission
One original application and one full color copy must be received by 5PM on Monday, July 14, 2014 and should be submitted to the attention of:
Judy Caruso
Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center
2015 Uppergate Drive, NE
Room 404
Atlanta, GA 30322
In addition, please email one single pdf file of the project to: judy.caruso@choa.org
Application Components
- Three pages of text that should include:
o The proposal title, names of investigators, amount requested and a one paragraph summary of the project (1/2 page max)
o A concise research description including cancer or blood disease relevance, brief background, aims, and major experimental strategies (2 ½ pages)
- A one-page budget (NIH PHS 398 budget forms “fp4”) with budget justification http://grants1.nih.gov./grants/funding/phs398/fp4.doc
- Key References (one page minimum)
- NIH Biosketches for all investigators including “Other Support”. It has to be made clear that the requested support does not overlap with existing funds and constitutes a new collaboration.
- Appendix (not required, but if essential for the review of the proposal, applicants may include up to 3 reprints of publications, including manuscripts in press or submitted). There is no guarantee that reviewers will read papers in the Appendix.
Pilot Grant Proposal Evaluation/Selection Process
Applications will be reviewed, ranked, and selected for funding by ad hoc group of reviewers selected by the Aflac Scientific leadership committee co-leaders from within Emory University. Applicants will be notified about the status of their application (i.e. funded or not funded) by August 18, 2014.
Reporting Requirements A one to two page progress report is due within 30 days following the end of the seed grant support period. The report should address progress on the specific aims, a summary of the studies and results and future plans for continuing and supporting the collaborative studies. In addition, usage of Aflac facilities and other University resources (if applicable) should be outlined.