Hartford Hospital
Research Administration
2016 Internal Funding
Request for Proposals
Overview:
Hartford Hospital Research Committee is pleased to announce funding opportunities made possible by the generosity of the Hartford Hospital Medical Staff. There will be up to $200,000 available to fund a series of projects.
Several funding programs will be available to offer the widest possible range of opportunities to encourage research by HH investigators.
Two of the programs, Open Competition and the Small Grant program, share the goal of supporting projects that will lead to new external grant applications and dissemination of results including peer reviewed publications, and national or international presentations. Both programs are designed to support studies that may be complete research projects or pilot/feasibility/preliminary studies. The funding can cover any aspect of study cost, including salary support, supplies, analytic and/or data base support, etc.; requests for travel, lap-tops, computers, or other capital expenses are generally not allowable. The two programs differ in their scope of work, which in turn, is expected to be reflected in the proposed budgets. The Open Competition program will support budgets up to $30,000; Small Grant program applications should have a maximum amount of $10,000.
A third program, Patient Safety and Quality, is designed to encourage investigators to develop research projects aimed at improving patient safety and enhancing the quality of health care service delivery at Hartford Hospital. Professional dissemination of findings and the possibility of external funding are again important goals for the projects, but these projects will primarily need to show significant clinical impact and change in practice that results in measurable improvements in patient safety and/or program cost savings. These projects are meant to fund research themes; they will not support on-going or new quality initiatives unless they are designed to answer a specific research question. Therefore, the proposed project MUST have a research orientation with a well-defined study period, a well-defined set of outcome measures and appropriate statistical analyses. The clinical program changes themselves, must be independently funded and be sustainable without RC funding. These projects will also have a maximum funding amount of $15,000.
To ensure that these programs will encourage the growth of research at Hartford Hospital, we aim to devote 20% of the Small Grant and PSQ funds to support projects submitted by investigators who have not been awarded RC funding in the past. Less experienced investigators are strongly encouraged to apply through one of these two mechanisms.
For all three programs, the maximum funding amounts should be viewed as a limit and not a target. Budgets should be streamlined and designed to cover essentials only. The RC will evaluate the scientific merit, originality, budget and relationship to the specific goals of the HH research enterprise. The RC may approve a proposal for funding at a funding level less than the total requested.
Guidelines and general information
1. As these programs are sponsored by Hartford Hospital Medical Staff, the Principal Investigator or at least one co-investigator who will play an intergral part in the project must be a member of HH medical staff
2. This RFP will be sent to Clinical Chiefs and departmental Research Councils. Both are encouraged to offer suggestions for key research areas and to serve as forums for investigators seeking potential mentors and/or a forum for the vetting of their research ideas.
3. Investigators should also be aware that the Senior Scientists, IRB administrators and others in the Research Department will be available to consult on design and statistical analysis or ethical/consenting issues, respectively. Newer investigators are encouraged to take advantage of these consultations with the understanding they are responsible for the actual drafting of the proposal
4. It is anticipated that projects will be one to three years in duration. Projects should l include a timeline with specific milestones indicated. A progress report is due at month 6 and then yearly. A draft manuscript is due at the completion of the project. Partial installments of the budget will be paid keyed to attainment of the milestones.
Process -- Letter of Intent
A Letter of Intent will be the first step of the project and must be submitted to the Research Committee by August 22, 2016. The LOI should include the PI’s name, a working project title and a description of the research hypothesis/research question or practice issue to be explored. The LOI needs to make the case for the clinical and research significance of the topic. A brief description of the research team and budget justification supporting the project’s feasibility should also be presented. The LOI should be no more than two pages using 11 point font and one inch margins. It is to be submitted via e-mail to Ilene Staff () by 08/22/2016. The Letters of Intent will be reviewed by the RC to screen and limit the number of application so that the most promising projects can be identified and prioritized for selection. An approved LOI is required for submission of a complete grant application.
Timeline (all dates other than LOI due date are tentative at this time (dependent on volume of submission and other factors):
August 22, 2016, 6:00 p.m. – Letter of Intent due
Sept 7, 2016: Research Committee members review LOIs
By or before Sept 14, 2016: Invitations for full application/proposals to be sent out.
October 31, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. – Full Application/Proposal due
November - December, 2016: The Research Committee will review all submissions and make funding recommendations to the Medical Staff. Final funding decisions will be made by the Medical Staff Executive Committee.
For those projects awarded funding, the project must be submitted through iRIS and must be reviewed and approved by the appropriate ethics committee (IRB or IACUC), and have the budget approved by Grants and Contracts before the project can be activated. The PI will receive a Notice of Award Letter signaling that the project had become active.
The budget and payment milestones are under the oversight of Research finance office for Grants and Contracts.
Any questions concerning this timeline should be addressed to Dr. Ilene Staff ().
Submission Process for Full Application:
The following items must be uploaded with the Research Application
1. Research Protocol (10 page limit) – The protocol should consist of the following components:
· Literature and Background
· Specific Aims/Hypotheses
· Clinical Significance/Translational Relevance including how the project fits into hospital and departmental priorities
· Research design
· Sampling - Enrollment criteria
· Methods of data collection including all variables to be collected and the primary endpoints identified and any use of specimens identified
· Statistical Analysis Plan including statistical tests to be used and a power calculation
· Data sharing plan, security, storage and privacy
· References
For those unfamiliar with research protocols, see, “Elements of a Research Protocol” on our website http://www.harthosp.org/Portals/1/Images/54/docs/RPElements.doc or through Ilene Staff. Please use a font no smaller than 11 point with one inch margins on all sides.
2. In addition to the main research narrative, the following short documents (each no more than 1 page) should be included:
· Executive Summary
· Project impact: how the project will contribute to Hartford Hospital research mission – including external funding potential and/or clinical practice change
· Implementation time line for project with mileposts and deliverables (this will be used for comparison for all progress reports)
3. A complete budget using the latest Hartford Hospital Budget Worksheet available at http://www.harthosp.org/research/GrantsContracts/default.aspx. If you have questions about the budget, you may contact Grants Administration at 972-4592.
4. A detailed Budget Justification document outlining costs and rationale.
5. CV for the Principal Investigator and any co-PIs or team members you believe to be relevant. Each CV must be no longer than 4 pages. We will be using an NIH type format for the CV (a template will be distributed)
Review criteria for full proposal:
The RC will evaluate proposals taking the following factors into account:
Clinical utility:
§ The proposal complements HH’s priorities related to safety, quality or personalized medicine
§ The research advances depth of expertise or differentiation in Hartford Hospital services for patients.
Research relevance:
§ The proposal’s focus is in an area of scientific promise
Feasibility and likelihood of success:
§ The proposal leverages an area of the investigator’s demonstrated research success
§ The investigator has demonstrated leadership in this area of research
§ The project has a high probability of success
§ The budget is appropriate to the scope and importance of the investigation
External funding:
§ The investigators have documented sources of external funding
§ The proposal offers the potential for collaboration within HH and/or with external research and academic institutions
Benefits to Hospital:
§ The proposal will elevate the profile of Hartford Hospital as a source of information about “best practices” and increase translation and dissemination of information.
§ The proposal has the potential to generate “intellectual property” for HH and grant applications.
We look forward to working with Hartford Hospital investigators to make this funding opportunity a success.