Mentored Innovation Awards in Environmental Science and Health

Project Award Amount $15,000

Description

The P30 UCSF-Stanford Environmental Research and Translation for Health (EaRTH) Center invites applications from junior faculty, clinicians, and postdoctoral scholars to embark on new projects in basic science, clinical science, translational science or epidemiology focused on environmental health. 

Innovation Awards are offered in three categories. Applicants should select and indicate the appropriate award category in their application. 

Mentored Scientist Award – For launching an innovative environmental health research project by generating preliminary data, developing a new method, or integrating an environmental health component into existing research.

Mentored Clinician Award – For launching an innovative clinical, health education, or community outreach project in environmental health.

Mentored Postdoctoral Scholar Award – For advancing an independent environmental health research program by launching an innovative pilot project or developing a novel extension of current research to generate preliminary data for future external funding (e.g., a K99/R00 award).

Projects should be broadly aligned with the theme of the EaRTH Center, which is to understand how exposure to environmental pollutants and/or environmental chemicals during development influence disease and to intervene and prevent exposures to improve health throughout the lifespan, especially among vulnerable and underserved populations. Exposures may include relevant environmental chemicals and food additives as well as factors that may affect biological responses to exposures such as psychosocial stress. Additional examples of areas of interest are available on the EaRTH website.

Applicants are required to consult with an EaRTH Center Core Director prior to submitting their application. This consultation is intended to help assess the proposed project, identify opportunities for Core support, and determine the feasibility, scope, and estimated cost of any proposed Core services. 

Each Mentored Innovation Award will provide up to $15,000 in funding for a one-year project period. Awards are not renewable or transferable. A final project report is required at the end of the funding period and should include any resulting publications and subsequent funding obtained to support continuation or expansion of the project. All publications resulting from the project must acknowledge support from the NIEHS-funded EaRTH Center (P30-ES030284).

In addition, following project completion, Mentored Innovation Award grantees are required to submit a brief Annual Progress Report each winter for up to three years. The report will provide updates on project outcomes, including publications resulting from the project and subsequent grants associated with project findings. Grantees will be asked to deliver a short oral presentation on project progress at an EaRTH meeting.

Eligibility

Eligibility requirements need to be met as of date of submission; no waivers will be accepted.

Who’s Eligible:

Mentored Scientist Award: Limited to Early-Stage Investigators, (ESIs) as defined by the NIH, with a faculty appointment at UCSF prior to the application deadline.

Mentored Clinician Award: Limited to early-career clinical faculty at UCSF (Residents, Fellows, Assistant Professors).

Mentored Postdoctoral Scholar Award: The UCSF postdoctoral scholar must have been in a UCSF laboratory one year or longer, but no more than 5 years.

Additional eligibility criteria for each award:

• Applicant must designate a UCSF faculty co-mentor/collaborator with experience in environmental health who is not their current or past mentor. (Please email [email protected] if you need assistance identifying a co-mentor.)

• No prior experience in environmental health research is required.

• Current membership in the P30 EaRTH Center is not required, although awardees will be required to participate in Center functions during the duration of their project and present their results.

• Applicants must consult with an EaRTH Core director to discuss their proposal prior to applying. Please request a consultation via this form. 

Who's Not Eligible:

Individuals who do not meet the eligibility criteria for one of the three Innovation Award categories above are not eligible to apply.

Submission Rules

Criteria for Review/Evaluation of Applications

We invite the submission of bold new project proposals that respond to a timely, research or clinical need relating to environmental health. Proposals will be evaluated and scored by reviewers based on the quality of the proposed scientific investigation, innovation in ideas or approach, the quality and promise of the applicant, and the potential of the proposed research to impact understanding and prevention of harmful environmental exposures as well as to lead to future successful NIH grant applications. Applications must adhere to the following (and will be administratively rejected if instructions are not followed):

• Applicants must consult with an EaRTH Core director to discuss their proposal prior to applying. Please request a consultation via this form. 

• No prior experience in environmental health research is required.

• Current membership in the P30 EaRTH Center is not required, although awardees will be expected to participate in Center functions during the duration of their project and present their results to the Center.

• Grants are non-transferrable to other institutions.

• Applications should be written for a broad scientific audience with inclusion of only necessary details.

• Pilot projects that involve human subjects, human stem cells, or animal subjects must comply with NIH rules before funds are released. Funded projects will be expected to submit initial IRB/GESCR applications and/or IACUC revisions immediately following the notice of award. All funded projects, along with IRB approval, must be reviewed and approved by NIEHS prior to the funding start date. Projects that involve Human Subjects research are also required to provide Inclusion Enrollment Reports to comply with NIH policies.

Selection of Awardees

Funding decisions are based on several factors, including scientific review score, alignment of proposal with the P30 EaRTH Center’s strategic goals and research areas of interest, conformity with stated guidelines, and potential to lead to successful future NIEHS grant applications. Additional information about the EaRTH Center’s goals is available at https://earth.ucsf.edu/what-we-do. Finalists may be asked to present a brief overview of their proposal to the P30 EaRTH Center Executive Committee.

TO APPLY:

STEP 1) Complete the electronic application form
STEP 2) Upload your proposal as a SINGLE PDF that includes all the things listed in numeric order in the instructions below. Note that these instructions supersede general RAP instructions.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPOSAL PDF

Please write your proposal following the instructions listed below (not those on the RAP website) and create one single PDF file. Do not include form fields in your PDF document.

Format Requirements: Arial font; 11 pt; minimum 0.5 inch for all margins; no appendices; include page numbers. 

1. Project Information and Abstract (1 page maximum)

2. Innovation Award Category: Mentored Scientist / Mentored Clinician / Mentored Postdoctoral Scholar

3. Research Keywords: Select up to five keywords from the list provided that best describe the proposed project.

Air Pollution • Asthma • Birth Outcomes • Cancer • Community-Based Participatory Research • Childhood • Climate • Environmental Justice • Farmworker • Persistent Chemicals (PFAS, PBDEs, flame retardants) • Global Health • Neurological • Heavy Metals and/or Other Toxic Chemicals • Immune Response • Medical Providers • Mental Health • Metabolic Disorders • Neurodevelopment • Non-Chemical Stressors • Non-Targeted Analysis • Nutrition • PAHs • Pesticides and/or QACs • Placental Response • Pregnancy • Proteomics • Reproductive Outcomes • Smoking • Water Contaminants • Wildfires

3. Faculty mentor information (name, position, department)

4. Project lay summary (200 words maximum): Summarize the project goals, significance to environmental health, innovation, and potential impact. Write for a broad audience and avoid technical jargon.

5. Project Approach: (2 page maximum)

   1. Goals and significance: Project goals and significance to environmental health.

   2. Innovation: How the proposed work represents a new direction or meaningful extension of current work.

   3. Alignment with the EaRTH Center: How the project aligns with the Center's goals and environmental health mission.

   4. Approach: Methods and activities to accomplish the project goals, including where the work will occur.

   5. Future potential: Describe how the project will advance the goals of your selected award category and position you for the next stage of your work, such as future funding, publication, implementation, dissemination, expansion, or research independence.

6. NIH Biosketch of Applicant: Please submit a current NIH biosketch. Applicants may submit either a biosketch generated through SciENcv or an existing biosketch prepared using the previous NIH format.

7. From the applicant’s co-mentor/collaborating environmental health faculty mentor:

   1. A brief letter of support that describes his/her role on the project (limited to 1/2 page).

   2. The co-mentor/collaborating scientist’s NIH biosketch. Applicants may submit either a biosketch generated through SciENcv using the current NIH Common Form or an existing biosketch prepared using the previous NIH format.

8. Budget: $15,000 maximum per proposal; round up to the nearest thousand (i.e. instead of $14,869 list $15,000). PIs are required to indicate their level of effort, whether paid or in-kind. 

Use the form: PHS 398 Form Page 4, “Detailed Budget for the Initial Period”: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html

Add the network recharge rates to your budget.

*NIH base salary cap. Fully justify all requests.

6. Budget Justification: Clearly and fully justify all costs.

   1. EaRTH Center Core involvement (if applicable): If applicable, describe how EaRTH Core expertise or services will contribute to the project, as identified through the required pre-application Core consultation.

Contact: UCSF EaRTH Pilot Core Director Dr. Diana Laird  [email protected]; Associate Director Alana D’Aleo [email protected]