2021 Spectrum SPADA Pilot Grants

SPADA - Stanford Predictives and Diagnostics Accelerator

Program Mission:
Spectrum offers pilot grants for accelerating clinical and translational research in biomedical and health-related areas. The Spectrum Pilot 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 importantly, will develop into longer-term, comprehensive projects. We encourage transdisciplinary collaborations, but this is not a requirement for funding.

Program Overview:
SPADA, the Stanford Predictives and Diagnostics Accelerator, assists interdisciplinary innovations in research, development, and deployment of technologies that improve human health through disease prediction and/or diagnosis. The defined scope of SPADA includes projects with a goal of diagnosing and/or predicting the onset, course, worsening, or complications of disease, and prolonging health.

Pilot Grants for SPADA projects must have the objective of translating discoveries into novel Predictives and Diagnostics products that address unmet medical needs. Emphasis will be placed on technologies that have the potential to advance rapidly into clinical care through commercialization or other pathways.

Proposals should specifically address any or all of the following, as much as feasible:

• size and scope of unmet need
• drawbacks of current options
• regulatory pathway
• intellectual property landscape and freedom to operate

Some examples include prototype development and investigator-initiated pilot clinical studies.

• SPADA Projects funded in previous cycles

Important application dates:

• Request for Proposals Released:  Thu, February 18, 2021 
• Application deadline:  Mon, March 29, 2021 by 11:59 PM (PST)
• Approximate Offer Date:  Mon, May 3, 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:
Typical grants will range between $15,000 and $50,000 for one year and must be completed in that timeframe. All unexpended funds will be forfeited if not spent within the 12-month award period. SPADA encourages investigators to consider submitting requests less than the $50,000 maximum, as this may increase the probability of being funded and will enable the award of more grants in this cycle.

Award Process:
Proposals will be evaluated by a committee of independent faculty and external reviewers, and awards will be based on individual selection criteria and scoring systems. In general, reviewers will select applications for consideration as finalists that have made convincing arguments that the investigator(s) is (are) proposing a bold idea or approach that can have a major translational impact in translational research.

• Finalists may be invited for oral presentations at a Pitch Session.  Finalists must submit all information required for pilot funding (see below) before the Pitch Session.
• Awardees will receive preliminary notification from their program area; however, final award can only be formalized once all requirements have been met.  Project teams who do not meet requirements in a timely fashion may forfeit their award to runner-up teams. 
• Requirements including, but not limited to:
  • Final budgets received from departmental finance;
  • IRB approval, or determination that human subjects not involved;
  • CITI training (Group 7) completed by project investigators and their research staff
  • IACUC approval for animal studies

Application Instructions

Proposal Submission

• Applicants must choose a primary program area (e.g., SPADA, SPARK, Biodesign) for the project and may apply to another area if the project meets criteria for both programs.
• Please communicate with program staff if it is unclear which program area is the best fit.
• A project can only be awarded a total of $50,000 per annual grant cycle, but may receive funding from more than one program area (e.g., SPADA and Biodesign co-fund a project).
• Submit applications through Stanford University Seed Funding's website. To apply, click here: https://seedfunding.stanford.edu/opportunities/2021-spectrum-spada-pilot-grants

Format

•  Page specifications:
  • 8.5 x 11” page size
  • At least 0.75” margins on all sides
  • At least 10-point font size
• Save your documents as single PDFs (or Excel for the budget) upload to SeedFunding (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
  • Mentor name (if applicable)
  • Co-investigator names, departments and emails
  • Office of Technology Licensing (OTL) disclosure (yes/no) and docket number, if relevant.
  • Amount of funding requested
     
• Body of proposal (3-page limit, at least 10-point font; upload a singled PDF):
  • Please address any or all of the following, as much as feasible:
    • Description of proposed product
    • Underlying technology
    • Clinical indication and brief scope of market
    • Comparison to effectiveness and cost of current standard of care
    • Preliminary assessment of regulatory pathway, freedom to operate, IP landscape
    • Translational objectives that will be achieved with the funding
    • Development plan, including timeline and plans for funding post-award
    • Intellectual property status
    • Preliminary data (if any)
  • If the research involves animals or human subjects, also address or include the following:
    • 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 protocol submission, please visit http://humansubjects.stanford.edu or https://researchcompliance.stanford.edu/panels/aplac.
       
• 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. 
  • Your budget justification should provide an explanation of factors used to determine costs on each budget line item in your proposal. 
     
• NIH Biosketches (not part of 3-page limit; upload as a single PDF) are required for the PI, Co-PI(s), Co-I(s), and other senior/key personnel*, 5-page version.
  • *Senior/ key personnel are defined as all individuals who contribute in a substantive, meaningful way to the scientific development or execution of the project. 
    ​
• Notes:
  • Figures and tables must be 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.
  • Budget should include some measurable effort for Principal Investigators (PIs), Co-PIs, and other personnel performing work.

Questions? 
For questions regarding scope of the proposal, criteria for awards or the review process, please contact Jim Zuegel, SPADA Program Manager, at jim@zuegel.us.

To apply for a Spectrum Community Engagement Pilot Grant, please complete and submit this online application. If you have any questions while completing the online application, please contact Ellen Orasa at eorasa@stanford.edu.