Obesity Grants

2009 National Fellow-to-Faculty Transition Award Program Description

Application Deadline: Jan. 22, 2009 (11:59 p.m. Central Time)
Award Activation: July 1, 2009

Contact Information
(214) 360-6104, -6106, -6107, -6113
E-mail: ncrp@heart.org
Fax: (214) 360-6124

Science Focus
The American Heart Association funds research broadly related to cardiovascular disease and stroke. We support research in clinical and basic sciences, bioengineering, biotechnology and public health.

Applications related to obesity, women and heart disease, and resuscitation are particularly encouraged.

Objective
This program provides funding for trainees with outstanding potential for careers as physician-scientists in cardiovascular or stroke research during the crucial period of career development that spans the completion of research training through the early years of the first faculty/staff position. The award provides a supportive mentored experience during this period of transition. The award will (1) greatly enhance the awardee's chances of obtaining a high-quality faculty/staff appointment; (2) improve the awardee's success and retention in an investigative career in cardiovascular science; and (3) develop the mentoring skills of the awardee as a potential future mentor.

The award will provide support for beginning physician-scientists for a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years of research training and the first years of the first faculty/staff (or equivalent) appointment, for a maximum of five years of support. It is strongly encouraged that the five years of the award run consecutively, but the applicant and mentor may propose and justify an alternative plan for peer review consideration.

Individual awardees may take the award from the institution providing the research training component to another institution for the career development component (first faculty/staff appointment). The intent is to make the awardee a "free agent" who is empowered to stay at or move from the training institution while retaining the award. The mentor during the faculty stage of the award may or may not be the same person who was the mentor during the training phase.

Disciplines
All basic disciplines as well as epidemiological, community and clinical investigations that bear on cardiovascular and stroke problems.

Target Market, Eligibility

* Physicians who hold an M.D., M.D./PhD., D.O. or equivalent doctoral degree at the time of application submission and who seek additional research training under the supervision of a sponsor/mentor prior to embarking on a career of independent research.
* Applicants must be enrolled in or have completed an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-approved residency or a clinical fellowship program associated with an ACGME-approved residency.
* Applicants must have completed the clinical portion of their training program by the time of award activation. The applicant is responsible for identifying and working with a sponsor/mentor to develop the application.
* Candidates may have had no more than five years of postdoctoral research training (beyond clinical training) at time of application.
* The award is not intended for individuals of faculty/staff rank.
* At the time of award activation, applicant may not hold a faculty/staff appointment. The exceptions are M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. with clinical responsibilities who hold a title of instructor or similar due to their patient care responsibilities but who devote at least 80 percent full-time effort to research training.
* The mentor may hold an M.D., PhD., D.O. or other equivalent degree. Because of the strong mentoring component of this award and the importance of developing a meaningful relationship between awardee and mentor, an individual mentor may sponsor only one applicant to the program per year.

Citizenship
At time of application, must have one of the following designations:

* U.S. citizen
* Permanent resident
* Pending permanent resident. Applicants must have applied for permanent residency and have filed form I-485 with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and have received authorization to legally remain in the United States (having filed an Application for Employment Form I-765).
* E-3 -- specialty occupation worker
* H1-B Visa -- temporary worker in a specialty occupation
* O-1 Visa -- temporary worker with extraordinary abilities in the sciences
* TN Visa -- NAFTA Professional

Individuals with J1 visas are not eligible.

Awardee must meet American Heart Association citizenship criteria throughout the award.

Exception: Postdoctoral applicants who are outside the United States at time of application, and who meet all other eligibility requirements for the Fellow-to-Faculty Transition Award, must provide visa documentation prior to award activation.

Location
The training component of the award may be completed at any accredited institution in the UnitedStates, although U.S. citizens or permanent residents may complete this training portion at a non-U.S. institution. All awardees must complete the faculty component at an institution in the United States. Applicants are not required to reside in the United States for any period of time before applying for the award.

Budget/Annual Award Amount

Training Stage of Award:

* PI Salary/Fringe: Yes, up to $50,000 (institution may supplement)
* Project Support: Yes, up to $10,000/yr; travel limited to $2,000/yr, salaries of technical personnel essential to the conduct of the project, supplies, equipment, volunteer subject costs, publication costs; $5,000/yr is available to support mentor salary, projects costs, mentor travel to accompany awardee to professional meetings
* Fringe Benefits: Yes, included in $50,000
* Indirect Costs: No
* Dependent Allowance: No
* Tuition: No
* Maximum Annual Amount: $65,000

Faculty Stage of Award:

* PI Salary/Fringe: Yes, $90,000 (institution may supplement salary)
* Project Support: Yes, $25,000/yr; travel limited to $2,000/yr, salaries of technical personnel essential to the conduct of the project, supplies, equipment, volunteer subject costs, publication costs; $5,000/yr is available to support mentor salary, projects costs, mentor travel to accompany awardee to professional meetings
* Fringe Benefits: Yes (included in $90,000)
* Indirect Costs: Yes, $12,000 maximum (10 percent of total award amount)
* Maximum Annual Amount: $132,000
Award Duration
Five years, subject to annual review and satisfactory progress.

Restrictions

* Not intended for individuals of faculty/staff rank.
* Since the fellowship is considered a training award, a staff or faculty appointment cannot be held. (The exceptions are M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. with clinical responsibilities who hold a title of instructor or similar due to their patient care responsibilities but who devote at least 80 percent full-time effort to research training.)
* During the training period, awardees are expected to devote more than 80 percent full-time equivalent effort to research or activities directly related to their development into independent researchers, as opposed to administrative, patient care, or teaching responsibilities. A 75 percent full-time equivalent effort to research is required during the faculty component of the award.
* Current AHA predoctoral and postdoctoral awardees may apply for this award.
* The fellow cannot hold a comparable fellowship award.
* With one exception, this award may not be held concurrently with another AHA award (national or affiliate). Exception: A Fellow-to-Faculty Transition Award recipient may apply for and receive an affiliate Beginning Grant-in-Aid or Grant-in-Aid during the faculty phase. The awardee may request only project support for these AHA grants, since the Fellow-to-Faculty Transition Award provides significant salary support.
* Current or prior recipients of an AHA Scientist Development Grant, Established Investigator Grant or Established Investigator Award (national or affiliate) are not eligible.
* Prior or current recipients of any NIH K-series awards are not eligible.
* The Fellow-to-Faculty Award is not renewable (an individual may hold this award only once).
* A minimum of one year of research training after award activation is required prior to the transition to a faculty/staff appointment.
* An applicant may submit only one national application per deadline.
* The same or similar application submitted for the fourth time will be administratively withdrawn and returned to the applicant.

Applicants should never contact reviewers regarding their applications. Discussing scientific content of an application or attempting to influence review outcome will constitute a conflict of interest in the review. Reviewers are directed to notify the AHA if an applicant contacts them.

Applying to National and an Affiliate
If eligible, an applicant may simultaneously submit applications for affiliate and national awards. If both are funded, the applicant must choose one award. A person cannot hold more than one association award concurrently, unless there is a stated exception. The proposed research plan may need to be adjusted based upon different length of award and dollars available. The deadline dates may be different for each submission.

Interim Reporting and Progress Assessment
Research Committee assessment of annual progress reports to include research findings, abstracts, and publications. Audit of annual expenditure reports. Non-competing review of information submitted by the awardee at the time of completion of the training portion of the award.

Carryover of funds will be allowed as specified in current AHA policies/procedures. Any publications resulting from this award should acknowledge the American Heart Association's support.

Evaluation
Response to program promotion (application volume).
Publications and citations by others resulting from the AHA-funded projects. Subsequent funding obtained by the awardee. Career progress of award recipients. Assessment of impact of research funded.

Success Rate (January 2007 deadline)
# Applications Reviewed: 52
# Applications Awarded: 9
Success Rate: 17.31 percent

2009 National Scientist Development Grant Program Description

Application Deadline: Jan. 22, 2009 (11:59 p.m. Central Time)
Award Activation: July 1, 2009

Contact Information
(214) 360-6104, -6106, -6113
E-mail: ncrp@heart.org
Fax: (214) 360-6124

Science Focus
The American Heart Association funds research broadly related to cardiovascular disease and stroke. We support research in clinical and basic sciences, bioengineering, biotechnology and public health.

Applications related to obesity, women and heart disease, and resuscitation are particularly encouraged.

Objective
To support highly promising beginning scientists in their progress toward independence by encouraging and adequately funding research projects that can bridge the gap between completion of research training and readiness for successful competition as an independent investigator.

Disciplines
All basic disciplines as well as epidemiological, community and clinical investigations that bear on cardiovascular and stroke problems.

Target Audience

* M.D., Ph.D., D.O., D.V.M. or equivalent doctoral degree at time of application
* Applicants should be faculty/staff member initiating independent research careers, usually at the rank of instructor or assistant professor (or their equivalents).
* Must have faculty/staff appointment at activation.
* At the time of award activation, no more than four years will have elapsed since an applicant's first faculty/staff appointment (after receipt of doctoral degree) at the assistant professor level or its equivalent (including, but not limited to, research assistant professor, research scientist, staff scientist, etc.).
* Applications may be submitted for review in the final year of a postdoctoral research fellowship or in the initial years of the first faculty/staff appointment.
* Must meet institutional requirements for grant submission at time of application.
* Individuals are ineligible for the Scientist Development Grant if they have been or are currently funded (extramurally) for more than one year at a level greater than $95,000 per year in direct costs.
* SDG and an NIH mentored K-series award cannot be held concurrently.

Citizenship
At time of application, must have one of the following designations:

* U.S. citizen
* Permanent resident
* Pending permanent resident. Applicants must have applied for permanent residency and have filed form I-485 with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and have received authorization to legally remain in the United States (having filed an Application for Employment Form I-765).
* E-3 -- specialty occupation worker
* H1-B Visa -- temporary worker in a specialty occupation
* J-1 Visa. Note: You must have an H-1B or equivalent by the award activation date. If the H-1B or equivalent is not received by the award activation date, the award must be relinquished.
* O-1 Visa -- temporary worker with extraordinary abilities in the sciences
* TN Visa -- NAFTA professional

Awardee must meet American Heart Association citizenship criteria throughout the award.

Budget/Annual Award Amount

* PI Salary/Fringe: Yes, up to $35,000/yr
* Project Support: Yes, at least $35,000 per year (all of award may be budgeted for project support and 10 percent indirect costs if PI salary/fringe are not requested)
* Indirect Costs: Yes, not to exceed 10 percent ($7,000/yr)
* Maximum Annual Amount: $77,000 ($70,000 direct + 10 percent indirect costs)

Award Duration
Four years

Peer Review Criteria

1. Future Independence of Investigator: Is there demonstrated evidence that the award will promote independent status for the applicant by the end of the three- or four-year award? The award is not intended to provide enhanced funding for professional personnel working on the research program of an established scientist.
2. Significance: Does this study address an important problem broadly related to cardiovascular disease or stroke? If the aims of the application are achieved, how will scientific knowledge or clinical practice be advanced? What will be the effect of these studies on the concepts, methods and technologies that drive this field?
3. Approach: Are the conceptual framework, design, methods and analyses adequately developed, well integrated, well reasoned and feasible (as determined by preliminary data) and appropriate to the aims of the project? The assessment of preliminary data should be put into perspective so that bold new ideas and risk-taking by the beginning investigators are encouraged rather than stymied. Does the applicant acknowledge potential problem areas and consider alternative tactics?
4. Innovation: Is the project original and innovative? For example: Does the project challenge existing paradigms and address an innovative hypothesis or critical barrier to progress in the field? Does the project develop or employ novel concepts, approaches, methodologies, tools or technologies for this area?
5. Investigator: Is the investigator appropriately trained and well suited to carry out this work? Is the work proposed appropriate to the experience level of the principal investigator and other researchers? Does the investigative team bring complementary and integrated expertise to the project (if applicable)?
6. Environment: Does the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Do the proposed studies benefit from unique features of the scientific environment, or subject populations, or employ useful collaborative arrangements? Is there evidence of institutional support as demonstrated in the department head letter?

Restrictions

* Awardee may not hold another association award concurrently.*
* Awardees may apply for a Beginning Grant-in-Aid, Established Investigator Award or Grant-in-Aid in the final year of this award.
* An awardee may hold the Scientist Development Grant only once (national or affiliate).
* These awards are non-renewable.
* The project submitted can have no scientific overlap with other funded work.
* No sponsor required or accepted for this award.
* An applicant may submit one National Innovative Research Grant application and one other National application per deadline if desired.
* Individuals are ineligible for the Scientist Development Grant if they have been or are currently funded (extramurally) for more than one year at a level greater than $95,000 per year in direct costs.
* An SDG and an NIH mentored K-series award cannot be held concurrently.
* The same or similar application submitted for the fourth time will be withdrawn and returned to the applicant.**

Successful applicants who hold any postdoctoral fellowship or training award must resign that award when activating the SDG award. The SDG is an independent award; therefore, training or fellowship awards (such as the NRSA) cannot be held simultaneously.

Applicants should never contact reviewers regarding their applications. Discussing scientific content of an application or attempting to influence review outcome will constitute a conflict of interest in the review. Reviewers should notify the AHA if an applicant contacts them.

Location of Work
Awards are limited to nonprofit institutions such as medical, osteopathic and dental schools, veterinary schools, schools of public health, pharmacy schools, nursing schools, universities and colleges, public and voluntary hospitals and other nonprofit institutions that can demonstrate the ability to conduct the proposed research. Applications will not be accepted for work with funding to be administered through any federal institution or work to be performed by a federal employee with the exception of Veterans Administrations employees. Funding is prohibited for awards at non-U.S. institutions.

Exception: An investigator may be allowed to request approval to conduct work outside the United Statestemporarily.

Applying to National and an Affiliate
If eligible, an applicant may simultaneously submit applications for affiliate and national awards. If both are funded, the applicant must choose one award. A person cannot hold more than one association award concurrently, unless there is a stated exception. The proposed research plan may need to be adjusted based upon different length of award and dollars available. The deadline dates may be different for each submission.

Interim Reporting
Assessment of annual progress reports to include research findings, abstracts, publications and names of trainees supported, if any.

Evaluation
Publications, citations by others, appointment to a faculty/staff position and/or other evidence of career progression, contribution of association support to career advancement.

Active Living Research/Healthy Eating Research Rapid-Response Grants
Deadline:
Open

Program Area:
Childhood Obesity

Purpose:
Active Living Research and Healthy Eating Research are national programs of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that support research to identify promising policy and environmental strategies for increasing physical activity, promoting healthy eating and preventing obesity.

This call for proposals (CFP) supports time-sensitive, opportunistic studies to evaluate changes in policies or environments with the potential to reach children who are at highest risk for obesity, including African-American, Latino, Native American, Asian American and Pacific Islander children (ages 3 to 18) who live in low-income communities or communities with limited access to affordable healthy foods and/or safe opportunities for physical activity.

Research studies may focus on one or both sides of the energy balance equation—on physical activity (including sedentary behavior), healthy eating or both.

Studies funded under this CFP are expected to advance RWJF’s efforts to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.

Eligibility & Selection Criteria:
Preference will be given to applicants who may be either public entities or nonprofit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Applicant organizations must be based in the United States or its territories at the time of application.
The timing of the program, event or policy change to be studied must justify the rapid-review process in order to answer the proposed research questions.

Key Dates:
Grants are awarded on a rolling basis; letters of intent may be submitted at any time.
Deadlines for receipt of invited full proposals are August 15 or October 15, 2008.
Grant periods are expected to begin 12-14 weeks after receipt of the full proposal.

Total Award:
Up to $800,000 total will be awarded for rapid-response research grants in 2008.
The maximum amount for a single grant is $150,000 with a maximum funding
period of up to 12 months.

Because childhood obesity is a major threat to the lifelong health of children across the nation, it is important to learn as much as possible about the impact of these initiatives, and to act as quickly as possible to identify the most promising and effective strategies. Results of evaluations can inform policy debates for local, state and national action.

The annual solicitations and funding cycles of Active Living Research and Healthy Eating Research involve a 7- to 9-month period between proposal submission and the start of funding. While those solicitations serve an important purpose, they do not address the need for timely studies on emerging or anticipated changes in policies or environments. This CFP for rapid-response grants is an attempt to address the specific need to support critical research that can only be conducted during a short window of opportunity.

Letters of intent for the rapid-response grants may be submitted at any time, and invited proposals, if awarded, may begin within 12-14 weeks after submission of the full proposal. Research studies may focus on one or both sides of the energy balance equation—on physical activity (including sedentary behavior), healthy eating or both.

Studies that are not urgent and time-sensitive are not eligible to receive grants under this CFP. It is the responsibility of the applicant to clearly demonstrate why the proposed study needs to be funded, conducted and completed on an urgent and time-sensitive basis. Letters of intent and proposals must: 1) define the window of opportunity to conduct the research; 2) explain why the window is limited by time and why the usual award cycle for Active Living Research and Healthy Eating Research would not be suitable; and 3) outline the relevance of the research to a specific policy or environmental change.

Total Awards Available through the Rapid-Response Grant Program
Up to $800,000 in total awards are available for rapid-response grants in 2008. The maximum amount for a single grant is $150,000, with a maximum funding period of 12 months.

Research Topics
Rapid-response grants are not limited to the specific funding priorities for current Active Living Research and Healthy Eating Research CFPs, but must be consistent with the programs' overall goals. The shared goals are to identify and evaluate policy and environmental approaches that have the greatest potential to prevent childhood obesity by increasing children's physical activity, decreasing sedentary behaviors, and improving diet and energy balance. Research projects may focus solely on physical activity (including sedentary behavior), or solely on healthy eating or on a combination.

Types of studies eligible for rapid-response funding are described below. These examples are for illustration purposes only. We rely on the creativity of researchers to generate the best ideas for solution-oriented environmental and policy research.

Opportunistic evaluations of imminent changes in policies or environments (i.e., "natural experiments").

Examples include:

Evaluating the effects of policies that are about to be enacted, such as menu labeling in restaurants; physical activity or nutrition requirements in child-care settings; district or state adoption of school nutrition standards for competitive foods; or new funding to enforce physical education requirements; and
Evaluating the impact of environmental changes, such as a new supermarket opening in a low-income neighborhood where none had existed; changes to public transit options for accessing supermarkets; the introduction of farmers' markets in low-income neighborhoods; renovations of parks or playgrounds; street safety improvements as part of Safe Routes to Schools; or the initiation of community policing to improve the safety of parks and playgrounds.
Studies that can inform an ongoing or upcoming policy debate ( e.g., small experimental studies, secondary data analyses, cost-effectiveness analyses, health impact assessments, simulations of policy effects or macro-level policy analyses).

Examples include:

Studies of menu labeling in restaurants;
Small-scale evaluations of the feasibility of training Head Start staff to lead physical activity;
Studies of how impending school nutrition policies affect youth food- and beverage-purchasing behaviors and the resulting impact on caloric intake;
Small-scale evaluations of strategies to improve implementation of, or adherence to, potentially high-impact policies related to school nutrition or physical education, television restrictions in preschool or day care, or restaurant menu labeling; and
Cost-effectiveness and health impact assessments to inform the policy debate on promising national, state, community or institutional policy or environmental changes designed to promote healthy eating and/or increase physical activity levels among youth and their families (e.g., an increase in federal or state funding for Safe Routes to Schools).
Application Process and Deadlines

How to Apply
All letters of intent must be submitted via e-mail directly to either the Active Living Research or Healthy Eating Research national program office. Letters of intent may be submitted at any time. Studies focused solely on physical activity (including sedentary behavior) should be submitted to the Active Living Research national program office. Studies focused solely on healthy eating should be submitted to the Healthy Eating Research national program office. Studies that relate to physical activity and healthy eating equally may be submitted to either national program office. Click here to download the letter of intent application materials.

Timetable
The Active Living Research and Healthy Eating Research national program offices will make every effort to achieve a rapid turnaround time for each application.

Within two weeks of receipt of the letter of intent, applicants will be notified of review results, and selected applicants will be invited by e-mail or letter to submit a full proposal.
Invited full proposals must be submitted only through the RWJF Grantmaking Online system by one of the following dates: August 15 or October 15, 2008.
It is anticipated that funding for approved studies would begin approximately 12-14 weeks after submission of the full proposal.

Contact:
Chad Spoon, research coordinator (Active Living projects)
cspoon@projects.sdsu.edu
Office: (619) 260-5539

Laura L. Klein, M.P.H., research coordinator (Healthy Eating projects)
healthyeating@umn.edu
Office: (800) 578-8636