Funding Opportunities
The Corporate and Foundations Relations Office is able to work with faculty applying for corporate and foundation opportunities below. Please contact them by email or by phone at 919.962.2867. For all applications, please be sure to work with your Department of Pediatrics division grants administrator. Headlines are linked for more information.
Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health Sprint for Women’s Health
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Sprint for Women’s Health aims to address critical unmet challenges in women’s health across all demographics, geographies, and socioeconomic statuses, championing transformative innovations and tackling health conditions that uniquely or disproportionately affect women from every walk of life. The ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health’s new request for solutions (RFS) funding opportunity will use two funding tracks to foster transformative research and development efforts: one for early-stage research, or “Spark” solutions, and the other for later-stage development, or “Launchpad” solutions. With the two funding opportunity tracks, ARPA-H aims to lower barriers of entry for a diverse range of participants, with a simplified submission process of a Solution Summary followed by a pitch session. A Solution Summary is a three-page document that addresses how the proposed idea is relevant to ARPA-H mission and the proposed women’s health topic areas. The submission deadline is April 15, 2024 at 12pm. For more information, please visit the Sprint for Women’s Health website.
Angelman Syndrome Foundation Research Grants
The Angelman Syndrome Foundation (ASF) is accepting proposals to fund pilot projects to test new ideas about pathogenesis and therapeutics of Angelman syndrome, translational research and clinical research studies. Deadlines – October 15 and April 15.
Children’s Research Institute Research Grant Initiative
As part of the mission of the Children’s Research Institute (CRI) to coordinate and support pediatric research, we are thrilled to support 3 research funding opportunities: 1) Carolina for the Kids (CFTK) Research Grant Awards; 2) UNC Children’s Development Early Career Investigator Grants; and 3) IQVIA Pediatric Clinical Scholars Award. Please look for information on next year’s cycle in fall 2024.
The Commonwealth Fund’s Advancing Health Equity program, established in 2021, aims to advance equity in U.S. health care. Its goal is to eliminate unequal treatment, experience, and outcomes in health and health care for people of color by reducing systemic racism in health care policy and practice through three focus areas: promoting antiracism in health care delivery systems, promoting antiracism in health care policy, and changing the mindset of health care leaders and professionals. This is an open RFA with no deadline.
COVID-19 Funding Opportunities
Information about funding opportunities related to COVID-19 will be added to the UNC Office of Research website as they become available. These include opportunities from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Hearst Foundation: Funding Priorities in Health
The Hearst Foundations assist leading regional hospitals, medical centers and specialized medical institutions providing access to healthcare for high-need populations. In response to the shortage of healthcare professionals necessary to meet the country’s evolving healthcare demands, the Foundations also fund programs designed to enhance skills and increase the number of practitioners and educators across roles in healthcare. The Foundations also support medical research and the development of young investigators to help create a broad and enduring impact on the nation’s health. Priorities include professional development, programs improving access to low-income populations, rural populations, and/or veterans, developing or providing specialized care for complex needs of elderly populations, providing intensive behavioral healthcare, and research. This is an open RFA with no deadline.
IQVIA Pediatric Clinical Research Scholar Award
IQVIA is partnering with the CRI to support the development of the next generation of physician-scientists at UNC. The IQVIA Pediatric Clinical Research Scholar is meant to support the research and career development of an early-stage investigator with a focus on data science, children’s health, and the development of new treatments. Funding from this award may support activities such as, but not limited to, the generation of preliminary data for future research proposals, pilot/feasibility studies, ancillary investigations to ongoing clinical research/trials, and career development opportunities. Early Career Investigators at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor within the UNC Department of Pediatrics are invited to apply. The CRI requires that potential applicants inform us of their intention to submit by May 20th at 5 pm EST at childrensresearch@med.unc.edu (please include your proposal’s working title and a draft abstract). Final proposals will be due by June 3rd, 2024 at 5 pm EST. For more information, please visit the CRI Website.
The North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NCTraCS) provides a variety of pilot funding opportunities to facilitate the transfer of research findings to clinical practice in order to improve the health of the people of North Carolina. Multiple grant mechanisms are available.
The Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials: Career Development Award (Winn CDA), supported by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, is a 2-year program designed to support the career development of early-stage investigator (as defined by NIH) physicians from diverse backgrounds, and physicians who have a demonstrated commitment to increasing diversity in clinical research. The program prepares participants to become independent clinical trial investigators engaged in advancing health equity through their research and mentoring. The goal of Winn CDA is to transform the clinical research landscape by building and strengthening partnerships between clinical investigators and the communities where their patients reside, with a goal of ultimately engaging a patient population that mirrors the epidemiology of the disease studied. The Winn CDA offers a comprehensive and integrated approach to increasing diversity in clinical trials through workforce development and mentoring. For more information, please visit their website or attend one of the upcoming information webinars; applications can be submitted January 2, 2024 through May 13, 2024.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Evidence for Action—Innovative Research to Advance Racial Equity
Evidence for Action prioritizes research to evaluate specific interventions (e.g., policies, programs, practices) that have the potential to counteract the harms of structural and systemic racism and improve health, well-being, and equity outcomes. This funding is focused on studies about upstream causes of health inequities, such as the systems, structures, laws, policies, norms, and practices that determine the distribution of resources and opportunities, which in turn influence individuals’ options and behaviors. Research should center on the needs and experiences of communities exhibiting the greatest health burdens and be motivated by real-world priorities. It should be able to inform a specific course of action and/or establish beneficial practices, not stop at characterizing or documenting the extent of a problem. This is an open RFA with no deadline.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Pioneering Ideas—Exploring the Future to Build a Culture of Health
Pioneering Ideas: Exploring the Future to Build a Culture of Health seeks proposals that are primed to influence health equity in the future. We are interested in ideas that address any of these four areas of focus: Future of Evidence; Future of Social Interaction; Future of Food; Future of Work. Additionally, we welcome ideas that might fall outside of these four focus areas, but which offer unique approaches to advancing health equity and our progress toward a Culture of Health. This is an open RFA with no deadline.
Thrasher Research Fund – Early Career Awards
The Thrasher Research Fund is accepting concept papers to support young investigators in pediatric research. The program’s aim is to encourage the development of medical research in child health by awarding small grants to new researchers. The grant cycle is an ongoing process throughout the year.
UNC School of Medicine: Boost Funding
UNC School of Medicine (SOM) faculty are extremely successful in their efforts to obtain funding for their research, even though the funding climate has become increasingly competitive. The SOM recognizes that it often takes multiple submissions and additional experimental data to get a new project funded, particularly as a new investigator, or with a more complex, multi-PI project. In support of these efforts, the SOM Office of Research is inviting applications from faculty for Boost awards, which are designed to boost the chances of funding for an NIH grant (or similar) that has been reviewed favorably but needs additional revisions and preliminary data in order to be funded on resubmission. Due dates for Boost Funding for this fiscal year will be April 22, 2024.
UNC School of Medicine: Bridge Funding
The School of Medicine is opening the first round of applications for Bridge Funding for this fiscal year. Bridge Funding provides continued support for successful research projects that suffer a lapse in funding. Investigators eligible for funding in this round should have had a competing renewal application for an R01 or equivalent grant reviewed in the most recent review cycle. Bridge funding is a critical resource for SOM faculty, and a high proportion of bridge funding recipients have been successful in renewing their NIH support. Thus, a competitive bridge funding application must demonstrate a high likelihood of receiving NIH funding upon resubmission. The due dates for Bridge Funding for this fiscal year will be January 15, 2024, and April 22, 2024.
UNC Office of Research Development: Idea Seed Grant Program
The program provides pilot funding between $5,000 – $20,000 and/or pre-proposal support for UNC scholars and researchers to approach novel ideas addressing important problems or roadblocks in a current line of inquiry. This unique program provides “right place, right kind” resources by coupling seed funding and person time to support competitive teams of UNC researchers. In addition to funding for preliminary data collection, travel, and team-building activities, awardees will receive expert guidance in planning and preparing grant applications for extramural funding opportunities. This competition is now accepting applications anytime and will receive initial review upon receipt. It is planned that awards will be made promptly after internal review by OVCR leadership and offered on a deliverables oriented schedule. Up-to date instructions will always be kept on the ORD website.