2020 DGSOM Seed Grant Program

Strategic Vision

The David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) Research Themes have been charged with increasing the impact of basic, translational, clinical, and community research at UCLA in high-priority and broadly defined biomedical research areas. The UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) provides the infrastructure to support high-impact, multidisciplinary team science to improve health and health care in our diverse Los Angeles community. In addition, the Institute of Precision Health (IPH) has been aggressively building an infrastructure for collecting genetic information for a broad range of UCLA patients; IPH seeks to identify diverse research projects that either take advantage of this infrastructure or focus on the development of alternative precision health strategies for advancing knowledge and improving patient care.

Many DGSOM researchers are already immersed in highly impactful research funded by individual grants and contracts to established laboratories, or by start-up funds provided to new laboratories. However, to address many of the most important unanswered questions in biology and the most significant unmet needs in medicine, the diverse expertise found in multidisciplinary teams of investigators will be required. The assembly of outstanding, multidisciplinary teams is challenging because investigators often are required to reach outside of their comfort zones and interact effectively with researchers with very different areas of expertise, or across the basic/translational/clinical/community research spectrum. Importantly, large team science grants from government agencies and private foundations often require evidence that a team has already established productive interactions.

Important Dates:

February 24 - Planning Grant Applications Due by 11:59 PM
March 16 - Planning Grant Decisions Announced
July 20 - Full Grant Applications Due (Restricted to Planning Grant Recipients)
October 5 - Final Decisions Announced
October 15 - Earliest Funding Date

2020 DGSOM Seed Grant Program

In recognition of the strategic vision described above, and in collaboration with the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), the DGSOM Research Themes and the IPH will focus the 2020 DGSOM Seed Grant Program on an effort to promote the assembly of new teams of scientists that are well-positioned to perform innovative, high-impact research and ultimately compete for large team science grants from federal agencies and private foundations. Applications are encouraged from faculty throughout the UCLA campus in any biomedical or medical research area in which groundbreaking advances catalyzed by teams of researchers can be envisioned. Applications that take advantage of the infrastructures established by the IPH and CTSI are especially encouraged, as are applications that span disciplines or span the basic, translational, clinical, and community spectrum.

One important new aspect of the 2020 program is that we would like to encourage compelling projects that span two or more of our Research Themes; faculty discussions of potential cross-Theme projects may lead to efforts in new areas in which, on the basis of UCLA’s diverse strengths, an investigator team may have the potential for an unusually large impact.

Similar to last year’s program, all investigator teams are required to include at least one promising faculty member at the Assistant Professor level in an impactful position as a co-PI or highly significant co-investigator; the goal is to enhance the career development of our junior faculty. A high priority will also be given to newly assembled research teams rather than teams that have already been working together for multiple years. In addition, only a small number of planning grants will be awarded to increase the probability that those who receive planning grants will ultimately receive funding. The 2020 Seed Grant application process will include two phases, in recognition of the amount of time, thought, and effort needed to assemble a multidisciplinary team.

Phase I

In the first phase, brief applications for small Planning Grants will first be requested and evaluated (submission deadline, February 24, 2020; see specific instructions below). Successful applicants will be awarded up to $1,000 (with notifications planned by March 16, 2020) to help fund team science planning activities, including internal meetings, brainstorming sessions, and/or workshops over a 4-month time period. (These funds are not generally intended for experiments unless a key experiment is essential to establish the feasibility of the proposed project.)

These activities should be aimed at identifying key members of the team, developing a cutting-edge research plan, and identifying specific external funding opportunities that can be pursued at the conclusion of the seed funding period.

Phase II

In the second phase of the application process, Full Grant applications (due July 20, 2020) requesting up to $250,000 of direct costs will be submitted. These applications will be restricted to Lead PIs who were awarded a Planning Grant.

In addition to a 3-page research proposal, the Full Grant application will include one or two paragraphs describing why the proposed project is timely and compelling, a description of specific future extramural team-science funding opportunities that are anticipated, and a summary of the team assembly activities carried out during the three-month planning period (see specific instructions below).

Application Instructions and Other Information

The earliest funding date will be October 15, 2020 and a total investment of up to $3 million is envisioned. Successful applicants for Full Grant support may be permitted to submit a renewal application for future funding, with the renewal application subject to competitive review.

Contact Information

Please direct questions to Dion Baybridge at DBaybridge@mednet.ucla.edu

Eligibility and Evaluation Criteria

General Eligibility:

The Lead PI for both a Planning Grant application and a Full Grant Application must be a UCLA faculty member in the Regular Professor, In-Residence Professor, Clinical X Professor, or Health Sciences Clinical Professor series.
The Lead PI on each application must hold a primary appointment on the UCLA campus, in that her or his extramural grant applications must typically be submitted through the UCLA Office of Contract and Grant Administration.
Each faculty member may serve as Lead PI on only one Planning Grant application.
Full Grant applications can be submitted only by Lead PIs awarded a Planning Grant.
A faculty member may serve as a Co-PI or Co-Investigator (but not Lead PI) on more than one Planning Grant application and more than one Full Grant Application, although excessive commitment could be detrimental during the review process.
All investigator teams are required to include at least one promising Assistant Professor in an impactful position as a co-PI or highly significant co-investigator.
Faculty in the Adjunct and Research series can serve as Co-PIs or Co-Investigators (but not Lead PIs) on Planning Grant applications and Full Grant applications.
Faculty at CTSI partner institutions can serve as Co-PIs or Co-Investigators (but not Lead PIs) on Planning Grant applications and Full Grant applications.
Faculty will be asked to indicate which of the six Research Themes are relevant to the application, and may select Precision Health as a strategic priority that is highly relevant to application. Alternatively, the applicant may select “Not Relevant to a Research Theme.” This information will be used to identify appropriate reviewers, but applications on all topics will be given full consideration by a diverse group of reviewers from the Research Themes, IPH, and CTSI, and with additional expertise included on the review panels as needed.

Please Note:

The PI of each funded award must submit a six-month progress report and final annual report. The reports will include:

Scientific report – status of research and progress to date
List of publications made possible by the award (if any)
List of external funding applied to/received as a result of the award
Financial report

Submission and approval of the 6-month Progress Report are required for continued funding.

General Evaluation Criteria:

General evaluation criteria for all Planning Grant applications and subsequent Full Grant applications:

Novelty, significance, and potential impact of the project for advancing knowledge and/or improving human health
Qualifications of the Lead PI, Co-PIs, and Co-Investigators, including the required junior faculty member
Research plan
Preliminary data is not necessary for new teams, but can be helpful for existing teams
The extent to which the investigator team is consider to be new rather than long-standing
Potential to lead to a successful team science award from the NIH or another funding agency
Evidence that the PI has actively pursued funding from the NIH and other agencies over the past three years

Please note:

Applications that are primarily for equipment purchases are not suitable for this funding mechanism.
Research proposals should not directly overlap with actively funded team science grants, but applications can draw on the expertise of each team member, possibly resulting in some overlap with funded individual grants.
The review processes for grant submissions are confidential and applicants will not receive comments or scores.

Planning Grant Application Instructions

The Planning Grant application should include the following three items assembled into a single PDF (please use Ariel 11 font for application text with 0.5-inch page margins):

A two-page document consisting of:

A project title
The name of the Lead PI and names of up to two Co-PIs that have already been identified (with the understanding that additional Co-PIs and Co-Investigators may be identified during the Planning Grant period).
A one- or two-paragraph summary of the scientific problem and general, anticipated approach.
A one-paragraph statement describing aspects of the project that are unique and compelling. Why will the project make a difference? Why is it timely and ripe for pursuit?
A brief list of key references.
A one-paragraph discussion of the potential for the project to lead to a large extramural grant. Please be specific about the research and funding landscape of the field and about funding agencies and specific RFAs that are on the horizon and likely to be available (e.g. NCI’s Cancer Moonshot and NIH BRAIN Initiative).
One paragraph summarizing plans for use of the Planning Grant funding (up to $1,000; an itemized budget is not necessary).

NIH-style Biosketches for the Lead PI and up to two Co-PIs or Co-Investigators who have been identified at the time of the Planning Grant application.
NIH-style Other Support page for the Lead PI.
A list of grant applications submitted by the Lead PI over the past 3 years. Please use the template that can be downloaded here. The purpose of this request is to ensure that the Lead PI is actively pursuing extramural funding.

Full Grant Application Instructions (Limited to PIs who have obtained Planning Grants)

Application Instructions

Full applications can be submitted by all Lead PIs who have been awarded a Planning Grant.

The Full Grant application should include the following items assembled into a single PDF (please use Ariel 11 font for application text with 0.5-inch page margins):

A 3-page research proposal, which includes:

Project title
Names and academic titles of Lead PI, Co-PIs, and Co-Investigators
A summary of the scientific problem
A list of the specific aims
Preliminary data (Preliminary data not essential, but can be included if available. Please embed any figures and legends in 3-page proposal)
Research plan
Up to 15 key references (can exceed the 3-page limit)

Up to 2 additional pages including the following paragraphs

A 1- or 2-paragraph statement describing aspects of the project that are unique and compelling. Why will the project make a difference? Why is it timely and ripe for pursuit? (This should be a refined version of the text included in the Planning Grant application)
A 1-paragraph discussion of the potential for the project to lead to a large extramural grant. Please be specific about the research and funding landscape of the field and about funding agencies and specific RFAs that are on the horizon and likely to be available (e.g. NCI’s Cancer Moonshot and NIH BRAIN Initiative). (This should be a refined version of the text included in the Planning Grant application)
One paragraph summarizing the use of the Planning Grant funds and activities that took place to develop the plan for the Full Grant application.

NIH-style budget (using standard NIH budget page). Total budgets can be up to $250,000 in direct costs and may consist of the following:

Salaries (PI and co-PI salaries are not permitted)
Supplies (include major supply categories))
Essential equipment (limited to $25,000)
Animals
Other

Brief budget justification narrative (one paragraph)
Biosketches for Lead PI, Co-PI's, and/or Co-Investigators
ARC and IRB approvals do not need to be included with the application, but must be provided prior to funding; failure to provide approvals soon after grants are approved for funding my jeopardize funding.