2023 Spectrum PHS Pilot Grants

Spectrum PHS Pilot Grant Program Overview

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 highly 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.

Population Health Sciences (PHS)

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 Social Determinants of Health 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. The Spectrum PHS 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. Prospective applicants may want to 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 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 Tuesday, February 28, 2023  at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time).

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 previous cycles
• All projects funded by the Stanford CTSA Innovation Accelerator Pilot Program
• Population Health Sciences website

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, 2023 through June 30, 2024. All unexpended funds will be forfeited if not spent within the award period.

Important dates:

• Informational Zoom Session: Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM (Pacific Time). UPDATE: Refer to the link here for the PHS' information session presentation slides & recording
• Proposal Deadline: Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time)
• Award Notification: Friday, April 7, 2023
• Spectrum PHS Pilot Awards Office Hours Session (Awardees only): Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (Pacific Time)
• Funding Period: July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 (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. 
 

Award Process and Timeline:

The award process is as follows:

• Informational Sessions. PHS will offer an informational Zoom session on January 24, 2023 2:00-3:00 PM (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.
  • UPDATE: Refer to the link here for the PHS' information session presentation slides & recording
• Submit Full Proposal. Final proposals should be no longer than 3-pages (excluding the cover sheet, budget documents, and bios) and are due on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time).
• Award Notification. Awardees will be notified by April 7 and grants will be formally awarded July 1, 2023.
• Spectrum PHS Pilot Awards Office Hours Session. Awardees will be invited to attend a Spectrum PHS Pilot Awards Office Hours Session on Thursday, April 13, 2023 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (Pacific Time) where we will provide an overview of the award requirements.

Application Instructions

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, Word for the budget justification) 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
  • Grant type (early career or faculty)
  • 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:
    • Approvals for animals and human subjects should be addressed ahead of the grant-funding period, include protocol numbers or letter of exemption. Approvals are strictly required for funding dispersal and are generally not a valid rationale for no-cost extension requests.
    • ​If applicable, include approval numbers for animals and human subjects.
      • If not yet approved, reference the eProtocol submission status.
      • Please note that the eProtocol application must include Spectrum Pilot Grant under "Other Funding" of the funding section.
      • 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 (Group 7: IRB BioMed/GCP Research for All Medical Investigators and Staff).
       
• Budget (not part of 3-page limit; upload as an Excel file)
  • Use provided budget template here.
  • Allowable expenditures include: investigator’s salary, research personnel salaries, travel (if project-related) and project supplies.
    • 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).​
  • Unallowable expenditures include: capital equipment costing more than $5,000, intellectual property services, and food.
  • Salaries are capped at the NIH salary cap of $192,300.
  • Do not include indirect cost expenses.
     
• Budget Justification (not part of 3-page limit; upload as a Word file)
  • Use provided justification template here.
  • Your budget justification should provide an explanation of factors used to determine costs on each budget line item in your proposal.
     
• Bios (1-paragraph maximum for each key personnel; upload as a single PDF)
  • 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, or by start of grant period on July 1, 2023 at the latest.
• If the research does not involve animals or human subjects, award recipients must provide confirmation.

Questions: 

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

• Eileen Bernabe, Associate Director, Research Programs, Center for Population Health Sciences: stanpophealth@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, please contact Ellen Orasa at eorasa@stanford.edu.