Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund
of California
Applications are invited for research support from funds provided by the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund of California. These funds are administered by the Reeve-Irvine Research Center and are used to promote innovative, high-impact research projects focusing on spinal cord injury or nerve cell regeneration. Principal Investigators (PI) must be from institutions within the state of California.
All proposals will go through a competitive peer review process by experts from outside California.
Three Types of Projects will be Considered:
Category 1. Individual or collaborative research projects that focus on spinal cord injury. Preference will be given to projects that involve studies in the adult mammalian spinal cord, and use appropriate techniques for producing model spinal cord injuries and outcome assessment.
Category 2. Collaborative projects for which the animal component of the work would be carried out at the Roman Reed Core laboratory at the University of California at Irvine. This laboratory is fully equipped for studies of spinal cord injury in rodents, and is staffed by individuals who are experienced in current injury paradigms, appropriate care of spinal cord injured rodents, functional testing, and molecular biological and histopathological outcome measures.
Category 3. New, innovative projects with minimal/no preliminary data; the bar will be set very high for these proposals. The PI must have proven track record in the area proposed and demonstrated ability to carry out the project. These high-risk projects must have very high yield potential. When applying for this category, be explicit in the face page and opening paragraph of the proposal. Projects in this category have a funding cap of $75,000.
Application:
Font size should be no more than 15 characters per inch.
1) Face Page (1 page).
2) Proposal (6 pages*). The proposal should include Rationale, Specific Aims, Experimental Procedures and Methods, as well as the Budget and Justification. Please note page limitations. The entire proposal, including budget, should not exceed 6 pages.*If this is a renewal, please include an additional 2-page progress report on the project previously funded. For renewals, the entire proposal, including budget, should not exceed 8 pages.
Please be aware, we can make no commitments beyond a 1-year period of support. Thus, focus your plans, milestones and achievable goals on what can be accomplished in one year.
a. Rationale (1 page): The proposal should begin with a clear rationale stating the potential relevance of your results. What will this work contribute toward the goal of achieving new treatments for spinal cord injury? Please focus in this section on achievable goals. It should be noted how the work might impact on the spinal cord injured population, not on the advancement of knowledge. Consider that your proposal will be read both by scientists and by lay individuals with particular interest in spinal cord injury research (patients and their advocates). It is not necessary in the rational to explain the general problem of spinal cord injury. Instead, focus specifically on what your experiments hope to achieve.
b. Specific Aims (1 page): Clearly outline what you plan to accomplish in terms of specific experiments during the period of support. Include whatever information is necessary to document the feasibility of the proposed studies. If expertise in the proposed techniques is not evident in previous work, document how appropriate expertise will be obtained (e.g., collaboration, using Roman Reed Core Lab, etc.). List achievable goals and indicate milestones, as well as a timetable for your potential accomplishments. Again, focus on accomplishments that have clear potential for future clinical application.
c. Renewal Application Only: Progress Report (2 pages): If this is an application for renewed funding of a previously funded project, summarize your progress and accomplishments. Pay special attention to milestones of the previous application. A progress report should not be included for new applications.
d. Experimental Procedures (2 pages): Provide details of the experiments you propose to achieve your specific aims. Please include general methods, and specific methods for unusual techniques. Provide sufficient information for reviewers to adequately evaluate your project for feasibility and appropriateness for stated goals.
e. Budget (2 pages): There is no budget maximum, however applicants should keep in mind that funds are limited.
Projects are for 1 year only, but applicants may apply for new funding in subsequent years. Use the attached form for the budget separating categories according to personnel and supplies. Support for PI's salaries should not be requested. Also, funds should not be requested for "unnamed" post-doctoral or pre-doctoral fellows as the likelihood for being able to recruit such fellows in a timely fashion cannot be determined.
Provide detailed calculations for salaries and for graduate student stipends, including tuition and fees. Please indicate the role of all personnel in the project and the percentage of time they will devote to the project. Please include budget justification.
- For Investigators who are in the University of California system, do not include funds for fringe benefits. These are 19900 funds. Some of the UC campuses provide funds centrally to cover fringe benefit costs. Please check with your budget office to see how your UC campus handles funding for these costs. For investigators who are not part of the UC system, include funds for fringe benefits for all personnel.
- Provide a breakdown of expenses for animals and supplies.
- Funds for the purchase of general purpose equipment will not be provided unless there is some very special need. We strongly suggest that you consult with the Reeve-Irvine Research Center (rirc@uci.edu, 949-824-rirc) before including any equipment in your budget.
- Travel expenses should not be requested unless travel is required for the research itself (for collaborations).
- Funds for publication expenses and service contracts should not be requested, however costs for facilities use are acceptable.
- If you are requesting use of the Core facility, indicate anticipated cost of activities undertaken in the core, including purchase and housing of animals, histological analysis, etc.
- Please note, indirect costs are NOT provided.
Appendices
Provide the following information: Be sure to include “ on going research support.”
a. Biosketch for all key personnel (use NIH biosketch format).
b. Abstracts: Include a 1-2 paragraph scientific abstract describing the proposed project. This should be no longer than half a page. In addition, include a 1-2 paragraph lay summary of the proposed project. This should be no longer than a half-page in length.
c. Figures: Figures may be attached as an appendix.
d. References cited: References may be attached as an appendix
Additional Application Information
- For general application questions, please contact Suzy Kim, M.D., rirc@uci.edu.
- If you are requesting use of the Core facility, please contact Os Steward, Ph.D., via rirc@uci.edu, to discuss your project.
- Additional information about the Roman Reed Program may be found at www.reeve.uci.edu
|
