Succeeding at grant writing takes a special skill set. Successful proposals are direct, concise, and well organized, with careful adherence to the style and format requested by the funder. Knowing what funders want, how the review process works, and what reviewers consider most important are keys to success.
National Library of Medicine Research Support
Health and Population Databases
Epic COSMOS - Cosmos integrates both inpatient and outpatient charts into a single, comprehensive record — including as patients move between health systems. In addition to diagnoses and medications, it includes patient-generated data and specialty-specific data. For example, a cancer patient’s record contains detailed oncology visits, cancer staging, advanced lab results, and hospitalizations as well as standard outpatient visits.
TriNetX - TriNetX is the global health research network enabling healthcare organizations, biopharma and contract research organizations (CROs) to collaborate, enhance trial design, accelerate recruitment and bring new therapies to market faster.
County Health Rankings and Roadmaps - Use County Health Rankings' model of health to explore the measures that influence how long and how well we live.
Health Policy Institute of Ohio - HPIO provides actionable insights for policymakers through the translation of complex research and data and by connecting diverse perspectives to inform policy decisions.
NIH Specific
NIH RePort - Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools
Grants Process for NIH
Changes coming to NIH Applications and Peer Review in 2025
Information for Researchers - Researchers can find funding opportunities, get an overview of the grants process and policies, and find resources for applications, grants, and post-award reporting.
The Assisted Referral Tool (ART) - was developed by the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) to recommend potentially appropriate study section.
National Resources
- The National Library of Medicine brings together NIH grant tutorials and grant writing tip sheets in a single site, including an annotated sample R01 grant.
- NIH Grant Writing for Success is a popular presentation from NIH experts that provides insights and helpful hints on preparing an application for submission. Learn how to avoid the most common mistakes in writing grant applications and correct some typical misconceptions about the grant review process.
- The NIH offers webinar series and All About Grants Podcasts covering topics related to the process of seeking NIH funding, including honing research ideas, selecting application opportunities, and effective grant writing. Live webinars occur throughout the year and pre-recorded webinars are available for viewing. Podcasts range from 4 minutes to 20 minutes and cover all of the ins and outs of NIH funding.
- View an NIH Peer Review Live Mock Study Section with Q&A. This NIH presentation is designed for anyone who ever wondered what an NIH peer review study section meeting might look and sound like as applications are discussed. During this 45-minute video, you’ll get a better idea of how the meeting is conducted, as well as hear a sampling of common questions asked by reviewers and mistakes made by applicants. A short Q&A follows the presentation.
- View sample grant applications from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) for a range of funding mechanisms, including research grants (R series) and training and career development awards. For more examples of successful grant proposals, take a look at sample applications from the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute.
Local Resources
- CWRU’s School of Medicine offers seminars and workshops several times each year to help graduate students, postdoctoral students, and early stage investigators with grant writing and proposal development.
- The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center hosts an annual summer-long, weekly federal grant writing workshop aimed at early career investigators. Spots are limited and the call for applications is typically issued in February.