David Koch Jr. Foundation Kidney Health Innovation Seed Grant Awards
The David Koch Jr. Foundation Kidney Health Innovation Seed Grant awards mechanism aims to accelerate transformative discoveries in pediatric kidney disease, glomerular disease, and the adolescent to adult transition for individuals with kidney disease. This initiative seeks to leverage Stanford’s exceptional expertise and scientific ecosystem to foster interdisciplinary projects across disciplines such as immunology, genetics, computational biology and psychology - ultimately impacting health outcomes for children and young adults with kidney disease.
An interdisciplinary approach is strongly encouraged for this initiative where at least two of the lead investigators bring expertise from different disciplines to the project. Single-PI applications will be considered if the scientific rationale is compelling. Proposals should clearly demonstrate the potential for the research to generate robust preliminary data or novel directions that will lead to further funding from external agencies.
The Seed Grants provide up to $300,000 total over two years in funding to support a wide range of scientific approaches with the potential to advance research in kidney disease. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Translational and personalized medicine research to improve diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes in immune-mediated or genetic kidney diseases.
- Development and testing of novel therapies to accelerate access to more effective treatments and curative approaches.
- Data-driven and computational research to identify treatment targets, predict response, and personalize care strategies.
- Research to improve the health and well-being of children and young adults with glomerular disease, including advances in diagnosis, treatment, and long-term outcomes.
- Research on the transition from pediatric to adult health care in order to improve the quality of care and health outcomes during and after the transition.
Priority will be given to research proposals with maternal and child health relevance.
Please Note: Proposals for ancillary studies to NIH kidney disease networks must be approved by the network in advance and a letter of support included in the MCHRI grant application.
For more information, please visit the opportunity webpage.
Information Session
We encourage applicants to attend the following sessions to learn more about resources available at Stanford and beyond:
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Pediatric Grand Rounds: Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 8:00 AM at the Center for Academic Medicine Grand Rounds Room with Dr. Matthias Kretzler, MD, University of Michigan, PI of NEPTUNE
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Interactive Learning Session: Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 9:00 AM at the Center for Academic Medicine Grand Rounds Room, featuring:
- Dr. Matthias Kretzler, MD, PI of NEPTUNE
- Dr. Alan Schroeder, MD, Clinical Professor, Pediatrics and Stanford PI for PEDSnet
- Dr. Vivek Charu, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology and of Medicine (Quantitative Sciences) and PI of the Stanford pediatric and adult kidney biobank.
- Dr. Richard Lafayette, MD, Professor, Medicine; Director, Stanford Glomerular Disease Center, Stanford Site PI of NEPTUNE and CureGN
- o Dr. Sophia Giang, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, Stanford Site Co-I of NEPTUNE and CureGN
Eligible applicants must hold a Stanford appointment at the rank of Instructor and above, including those in the University Tenure Line (UTL), Research (NTL-Research), or University Medical Line (UML), and Clinician Educator (CE) line. Visiting scholars are not eligible to serve as PI or Co-PI, though they may participate as collaborators and sub-investigators. Applications may include co-investigators from other research organizations.
Total seed funding award is up to $300,000 total over two years. Applicants may request support for personnel (undergraduate or graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research assistants, associates, or faculty) and research-related expenses.
