2021 Spectrum PHS Pilot Grants

Population Health Sciences (PHS)

In keeping with its core mission, Spectrum offers grants for accelerating clinical and translational research in biomedical and health-related areas. The Spectrum Pilot Grant Program has two major goals:

• To stimulate innovative clinical and translational research and
• To encourage collaborative, transdisciplinary work.

The primary expectation is that these early-stage translational projects will lead to additional research, external support, information dissemination and most important, will develop into longer-term, comprehensive projects.

• Transdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged but this is not a requirement for funding;
• Participation of investigators from at least two departments or schools is strongly encouraged but not a requirement for funding in the area of Population Health Sciences.

Program Overview:
Founded in 2015, the Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences (PHS) aims to improve the health of populations by bringing together diverse disciplines and data in order to address social and environmental determinants of health (SEDoH). The overall strategy of PHS is built around four pillars:

1. Collaboration and Community - Fostering partnerships and transdisciplinary research
2. Research Resources - Providing a portal for data discovery and analysis to enable research
3. Translation -Turning research into action and impact
4. Education and Training - Teaching and disseminating PHS discoveries

It is well documented that SEDoH factors are strong predictors of health and disease, and contribute to social inequalities in health. The field of population health sciences, which focuses on understanding and addressing these factors, sits at the intersection of medicine and public health, spanning basic and social sciences, enabling integrated research that encompasses virtually every domain of life and society. The PHS Spectrum Pilot Grants are intended to stimulate novel research that can advance our understanding of how environments, policies, and programs impact population health and social inequalities in health. 

Proposals should have a focus on 1) a social, economic, community, or environmental factor and its influence on health, 2) have implications for reducing social inequalities in health, and 3) demonstrate a means of translating research into impact. Projects involving multidisciplinary teams, particularly those that span the seven Stanford schools, are highly encouraged. For prospective applicants coming from a non-population health background, we encourage you to use this opportunity to incorporate new population health collaborations, data sources, and theories into your proposals. All prospective applicants should review the projects of our previously awarded grantees as well as the CDC’s Social Determinants of Health Toolkit to get a sense of the types of research being prioritized for this funding opportunity. 

Unfortunately, we are not able to fund foreign projects at this time. Please also note that clinical trials as defined by the NIH are not eligible.

Deadline: All proposals must be submitted by Wed, March 31, 2021 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time).

Important dates:

• Informational Zoom Session: Tue, March 2, 2021 from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM (Pacific Time). Register here.
• Proposal Deadline: Wed, March 31, 2021 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time)
• Award Notification: Fri, April 30, 2021
• Funding Period: July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 (no cost extensions are not allowed)

Institutional representatives: Not applicable. Because this is an internal Stanford funding opportunity, you do not have to submit your applications through your RPM in RMG or your CGO in OSR for their approval. 

Amount and Period of Funding:
We are offering two types of grants:

• Early career (doctoral students, postdoctoral scholars) pilot grants up to $20,000.
• Faculty pilot grants up to $40,000.

We encourage investigators to consider submitting requests less than the maximum, as this will increase the probability of being funded and will enable us to award more grants.

Awards funded through the Spectrum Program will be granted for one year and must be completed within the 12-month award period, July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. All unexpended funds will be forfeited if not spent within the award period.

Evaluation Criteria:
All applications will be evaluated along with the following criteria:

• Potential Impact. Is the knowledge gained from the project likely to inform population health policy, practice, or programs?
• Social inequality focus. Does the project have the potential to generate knowledge that will reduce social inequalities in health?
• Methodological rigor. Do the study design and methods of the project have the potential to produce robust and reproducible knowledge?
• Scope & budget. Can the project be successfully implemented within the proposed timeline and budget?
• Contribution to investigator training in population health research. Does the project act to facilitate new collaborative work for the investigator in population health research?
• Potential to lead to longer-term projects. Is the project likely to develop into a longer-term, comprehensive, collaborative population health project?

Projects involving multidisciplinary teams, particularly those that span schools, are highly encouraged.

• Population Health Sciences projects funded during the 2020 cycle
• All projects funded by the Stanford CTSA Innovation Accelerator Pilot Program
• Population Health Sciences website

Award Process and Timeline:
The award process is as follows:

• Informational Sessions. PHS will offer an informational Zoom session on Tue, March 2, 2021 from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM (Pacific Time), providing an overview of the program, how we define population health research along with research resources available to applicants and awardees (e.g., datasets, support for translating research into action, etc.). All prospective applicants and/or a representative from the research team are highly encouraged to attend (Register here). A recording of the session will also be posted on the PHS web site.
• Submit Full Proposal. Final proposals should be no longer than 3-pages and are due on Wed, March 31, 2021 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time).
• Award Notification. Awardees will be notified by Fri, April 30, 2021 and grants will be formally awarded July 1, 2021.

Application Instructions

Format

• Page specifications
  • 8.5 x 11” page size
  • At least 0.5” margins on all sides
  • At least 11-point font size
• Save your documents as PDFs (or Excel for the budget) and upload to the SeedFunding application (online submission)

Applications Must Include the Following Information

• A cover sheet (1-page limit; upload as a single PDF) that includes:
  • Title of proposal
  • PI name title, email and department
  • Co-PI, Mentor name (if applicable) and co-investigator names, departments and emails
  • 4-sentence summary of proposed project
  • Amount of funding requested
     
• Body of proposal (3-page limit; upload as a single PDF):
  • Please answer the following questions:
    • Potential impact. Is the knowledge gained from the project likely to inform population health policy, practice, or programs? If so, in what way?
    • Social inequality focus. Does the project have the potential to generate knowledge that will reduce social inequalities in health?
    • Methodological rigor. How will the study design and methods ensure that the project produces robust and reproducible knowledge?
    • Scope & budget. What is your plan for completing the project within the one-year time frame? What is your proposed high-level budget? How does your team intend to navigate any COVID-19 related research restrictions imposed by Stanford University? Have you received IRB approval (please note planned or approved protocols, including approval number or exemptions as appropriate)?
    • Contribution to investigator training in population health research. Will the project facilitate new collaborative work in population health research?
    • Potential to lead to longer-term projects. What steps will you take to help ensure the project develops into a longer-term, comprehensive, collaborative population health project?
  • Also address or include the following:
    • ​If applicable, approval numbers for animals and human subjects.
      • If not yet approved, reference eprotocol submission status.
      • The eProtocol application must include the following: (1) the CTSA grant number UL1TR003142 and SPO number 131298 and (2) the project is funded by a Spectrum CTSA Pilot Grant.
      • For more information on IRB or APLAC protocol submission, please visit http://humansubjects.stanford.edu or https://researchcompliance.stanford.edu/panels/aplac.
    • For human subjects research, project investigators and their research staff must complete the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) training online (i.e., Group 7: IRB BioMed/GCP Research for All Medical Investigators and Staff).
       
• Budget (not part of 3-page limit; upload as a single Excel file): Use provided budget template.
  • Allowable expenditures include: investigator’s salary, research personnel salaries, travel (if project-related) and project supplies.
  • Unallowable expenditures include: capital equipment costing more than $5,000, intellectual property services, and food.
  • Do not include indirect cost expenses.
     
• Budget Justification (not part of 3-page limit; upload as a single PDF): Use provided justification template.
   
• Bios (1-paragraph maximum for each key personnel; upload as a single PDF file) are required for the PI, Co-PI(s), and each Key Personnel involved in the Pilot Project. Bios are not part of the 3-page limit.

Notes:

• Figures and tables included within the body of the proposal will count towards the 3-page limit.
• References may be included and are not part of the page limit.
• Do not include appendices to the proposal.
• Applications that do not comply with the requirements will not be considered for review.
• Funding will not be dispersed without clearance of any applicable APLAC, IRB or IRB exemption requirements. It is highly preferable that clearance is achieved prior to finalist stage in April 2021, or by start of grant period on July 1, 2021 at the latest.
• If the research does not involve animals or human subjects, award recipients must complete the Human Subjects Determination Form and provide email confirmation of non-human subjects determination See link for more details: https://researchcompliance.stanford.edu/panels/hs/forms/for-researchers#need.
• Budget should include some measurable effort for Principal Investigators (PIs), Co-PIs, and other personnel performing work (associate director and program manager can advise, if needed).​

Additional Requirements

• Project location must be Stanford University, Hospitals, or Clinics.

Restrictions

• No clinical trials as defined by NIH’s Definition of a Clinical Trial.
• No foreign components as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
  • No non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign institutions)
  • No non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. organizations
• Applicants cannot have other current NIH training grants (e.g., T series, K series, etc.) during the award period.

Questions: For questions regarding scope of the proposal, criteria for awards or the review process, contact:

• Alistair Lindawson, Associate Director for Research Programs, Center for Population Health Sciences: alindawson@stanford.edu  

To apply for a Spectrum PHS Pilot Grant, please complete and submit this online application. For questions regarding the application process and requirements, contact, please contact Ellen Orasa at eorasa@stanford.edu