The Dana Foundation Program in Brain and Immuno-Imaging
R E Q U E S T F O R P R O P O S A L S
Using Brain and Immune Imaging Innovations to Improve Human Health
PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL APPROPRIATE DEPARTMENT CHAIRS AND SPONSORED RESEARCH OFFICES
Application Deadline: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at Noon
The Dana Foundation’s imaging research program focuses on improving human brain and brain-immune functioning in health and disease. Funds support pilot-testing by investigators who are early in their research careers of promising but high-risk innovative ideas that have direct clinical application and that, when successful, are competitive for larger scale support from other funders. Grant amounts may be up to $200,000 total, payable over three years. Applicants will be informed within ten weeks whether they will be invited to prepare full proposals. The first awards will be announced in July 2010, with subsequent award announcements made during the remainder of the year. Below is a description of the program and application process.
Please note that due to financial constraints, selection this year will be extremely competitive with fewer than 10 percent of preliminary proposals likely to receive funding.
Previously funded studies have focused primarily on 1) understanding normal brain functioning, how it is altered by disease or injury, and how it recovers or repairs, 2) assessing and improving diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, and 3) refining and advancing imaging technologies to address specific clinical questions. In addition to these three general areas of continued interest, it is becoming increasingly apparent that neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, and mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression start long before they are clinically evident. The Foundation, therefore, encourages studies that seek to understand developmental processes of disease, surrogate measures of early disease existence, and measures of disease progression.
The Foundation invites submission of one preliminary application per invited institution (see eligibility), using either:
• Conventional imaging - anatomical imaging of white or gray matter and measures of physiological functioning. These proposed studies should focus on patient-oriented clinical research. Exceptions for considering research in animal models or in human tissues will be made only in cases where the research has direct clinical relevance, but cannot yet be safely and effectively conducted in humans.
• Cellular/molecular imaging - biochemical actions of specific brain cells, or their interactions with immune cells with direct clinical relevance to human health and disease. These studies may involve human tissues or animal models. Applications can involve the study of cells within neural circuits, using a combination of imaging and single cell electrical recording, if the techniques have already been developed.
Eligibility:
Each U.S. medical school dean, and the presidents of the few selected biomedical research institutions that have been invited by letter, may nominate one applicant. The applicant may use either conventional or cellular imaging or both. To be considered under this Program, the application must be countersigned by the medical school dean or invited biomedical institute’s president.
Investigators at institutions that are affiliated with a medical school are eligible to apply only through their affiliated medical school, by submitting an application to the medical school dean. Previous applicants are eligible to reapply through their dean’s office (or through the president’s office, in the case of applicants from a specifically invited biomedical research institute). Projects involving collaborations with NIH intramural researchers or industry scientists are acceptable.
Support is focused on faculty researchers who have demonstrated the potential for independent research careers who are at the assistant professor level, or in the first few years of their associate professor appointments. Post-doctoral fellows are not eligible to apply. Applications from junior investigators that are an extension of the work of a senior mentor, particularly if from the same institution, are discouraged.
For both conventional and cellular imaging proposals, promising career investigators who have not yet been awarded more than one independent research grant (R01 from the NIH or equivalent from another Federal agency) are eligible to apply for funding of up to $200,000 payable over three years.
The Foundation does not provide support for indirect costs. Also, as much as 10 percent of the total grant award may be used to purchase equipment for the project. The balance is to be used to meet direct research costs. Projects should be feasible to obtain meaningful data within the award limit over a period of up to three years.
All applicants please note:
• All proposals that seek to develop new imaging techniques or assays, or modify existing ones to address clinical questions, whether in systems or cellular and molecular imaging, must provide preliminary evidence of feasibility and evidence of the investigator’s experience in using the technology. Proposals seeking support without such preliminary evidence will not be considered.
• Investigators proposing patient-oriented studies should provide preliminary evidence that the required number of participants—patients and controls—are available at the research institution(s) involved.
• For all proposals that do not propose to undertake studies in humans, the direct relevance to human health and functioning needs to be explicitly stated.
• Certain areas are not appropriate for consideration:
o Ideas for which you do not have preliminary data.
o Instrument development without initial evidence of feasibility and clinical applicability.
• Descriptions of all previously funded projects are available at: http://www.dana.org/grants/imaging/.
Applying:
The Program is designed to enable investigators to obtain pilot data more quickly than is possible through other funding processes. Investigations must be applicable to human brain or brain-immune functioning or malfunctioning to be considered for funding. Research that can be supported through clinical income should not be submitted.
The application should be in the form of a four-page preliminary proposal, using at least 11-point font size (font sizes smaller than that will not be reviewed) and .5 inch margins in all directions with numbered pages, consisting of the following:
Page 1:
On institutional letterhead: Please note that a clear cover page is critical for review of your submission. Please write “The Dana Foundation Program in Brain and Immuno-imaging”, followed by: Project title; investigator(s) name(s), title(s), phone and fax numbers, E-mail, and street addresses. Clearly specify that whether the imaging is conventional, cellular/molecular or a combination of both. In addition, please include the names and full addresses of the sponsored research officer and the dean or president forwarding the application. All proposals must be countersigned by the dean of a U.S. medical school or president of a specifically invited research institution to be considered eligible.
Pages 2-4:
Section I: A clearly and succinctly stated hypothesis.
Section II: The aims of the proposed research project. What disease(s) or disorder(s) would be better understood, diagnosed, or treated? Or, what normal brain function or brain-immune interaction would be better understood? Or, what imaging technology would be refined? If this proposal is for technology development or modification, please provide initial evidence of the project’s feasibility.
Section III: The research significance and potential clinical application(s) of the research.
Section IV: The methods. What specific tests or studies are proposed to develop the pilot data? If use of human participants is planned, please provide preliminary evidence that the number required can be recruited from the participating institution(s).
Section V: The qualifications of the primary investigator(s) for undertaking the proposed research. What
facilities and resources at the applicant institution(s) would be used in the research? Please provide evidence that required technologies would be available for this project.
Additional Pages:
Appendix A: A list of all active grants and pending proposals by the applicant(s). Please include an abstract, specifying the aims, for any existing or pending grants from these sources of support that are related to or could potentially overlap with the proposed Dana project.
Appendix B: Please provide a standard NIH four-page format CV for the primary investigator(s).
Appendix C: Optional: If high resolution photographs are vital to illustrate or support the methodology proposed, please enclose 10 glossy originals.
Please note: At this time, do not send a budget, or any other supporting documents, although you may use up to two more pages for references.
Preliminary proposals received by the January 19 deadline will be considered for further development. Late submissions will not be considered.
The original application and ten copies, each stapled, should be sent to:
Angie Marin
Program Associate
The Dana Foundation
745 Fifth Avenue, Suite 900
New York, NY 10151
Staff is unable to respond to inquiries regarding application content.
The Dana Foundation, founded in 1950, is a private philanthropic foundation with major program interests in science, health, and education. This RFP and other information about the Foundation's programs may be found on our web site at www.dana.org