Request for Proposals
Through strategic investments into promising research and groundbreaking technological advancements with the potential to alter the course of patient outcomes, The John and Catherine Seibyl Fund for Neurodegeneration Innovation in Research, Care and Education at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) seeks to catalyze neuroscience breakthroughs with a focus on understanding, ameliorating and preventing neurodegenerative diseases through innovative research, care advances and education. The intent is to leverage the university’s collaborative potential for improved brain health outcomes under both the School of Medicine and Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. Projects that combine interests of discovery, application and assessments of care support and that cut across disciplines (nursing and care research, neurosciences, imaging, drug evaluation) will be viewed favorably. If a project would require an enabling major equipment investment, please note and during review a separate support effort will be considered. If a patient intervention is considered, provide evidence of IRB status and explain a timeline that would be longer than one year.
Through a competitive application process, CWRU – led by its School of Medicine and Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing seeks to identify innovative, collaborative, and paradigm-shifting research and educational projects focused in neurodegeneration, brain health, symptom science and caregiving across research disciplines.
Eligibility and Scope
Current faculty members at CWRU may apply, with preference given to those in schools of the health sciences and engineering. Emphasis will be placed on multi-investigator efforts cutting across at least two schools.
Institutional leaders (SOM and FPBSON deans) may focus proposals in a few areas related to neurodegeneration, brain health, symptom science and caregiving, depending on priorities emerging in the fields of research and care. Collaborative efforts that yield new approaches to understanding, characterizing, treating, preventing and managing neurodegenerative disease are preferred. Also preferred are studies of new concepts that do not simply extend ongoing and otherwise funded investigations.
Application Process
The dean of the school of medicine and the dean of the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing will convene periodic interschool collaboration meetings (either in person or via zoom) where researchers from both schools will gather to introduce themselves, their current research and research interests. From these meetings it is expected multi-investigator projects will commence.
Interested applicants must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI).
The LOI has four components:
1. Cover page with project title, PI names and affiliations, contact information and location of where work will be performed
2. NIH biosketch for each PI
3. Collaboration plan (if applicable/required) that outlines the role of each research group (one page max.)
4. Project description (one page max.)
The LOI should be prepared as a .docx file, single spaced, with margins at least 0.5”, and font no smaller than 11-point Arial. The collaboration plan should describe the respective roles of each research group. The project description should include the following sections:
• Significance: Project significance to brain health, and a brief explanation of your study design/methods.
• Specific aim(s)
• Innovation: An explanation of the innovation in the proposed work
• Next Grant: A brief description of the grant mechanism you hope to pursue once your work is complete.
The LOI is due by May 25, 2021 by 5:00 P.M. It is to be submitted via email to: susan.reichert@case.edu
Those selected will be asked to complete a full application.
Full Application
Letters of intent will be reviewed and selected applicants will be invited to submit a full application. Full applications must be submitted no later than 5:00 PM on July 20, 2021 via email to: susan.reichert@case.edu Applications will include the following:
- An expanded project description document no longer than two single spaced pages (.docx file, margins at least 0.5” in font no smaller than 11-point Arial), organized into the following sections:
- Abstract: This section should summarize the application in 30 lines of text.
- Specific Aim(s): The project aim should be delineated in this section.
- Research Strategy in three sections: Significance, Innovation, and Approach.
- References (not included in the page count).
- A Budget in the form of a .xlsx file that details resource costs with a brief Budget Justification in the spreadsheet. While salary of key personnel may be included in the budget, PI salary and fringe is excluded under this RFP, as is cost sharing.
- Budget
Budgets for non-clinical intervention research will be a total of $75,000 (no IDC) and limited to one year. Clinical interventions may have larger budgets and need justification, with awards linked to enrollment over up to 2 years. Funds are available for use when they are disbursed into award accounts. Ultimate disposition of the funds should follow the budget outlined in the application, but may not be used for travel, or equipment and should be used for onsite shared resources unless prior approval is granted. Awardees may apply for a no-cost extension of up to 6 months with justification, to be approved by the awarding committee.
Key Dates
The Due dates for application components are:
Letter of Intent: May 25, 2021
Full Application (by invitation): July 20, 2021
Post-Award Requirements
Award recipients will be Seibyl Scholars and are required to submit a Project Summary consisting of full Financial Reporting accounting for the funds disbursed, and a .docx file no longer than one single spaced page (margins at least 0.5” in type no smaller than 11-point Arial font) in three sections summarizing: 1.) Progress Made, 2.) Future Directions, 3.) the next Grant Mechanism that will be pursued. The Project Summary must be submitted within 4 weeks of the end of the project period. Awardees that do not submit a Project Summary and pursue grant funding beyond the Seibyl Scholars Award will not be considered for future funding. Publications and presentations resulting from this work should cite the Seibyl Scholars Award as a source of support.
Review Committee
The dean of the school of medicine and the dean of the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing will establish a board for review of applications.