EaRTH Center Community Partnership Pilot Award Program

 

The application window for this pilot award program has closed.

 

The UCSF P30 Center for Environmental Research and Translation for Health (EaRTH) is offering a community partnership award of $40,000 to support community-initiated projects in environmental health research and translation, education, and outreach addressing needs defined by the community and corresponding to EaRTH Center priorities, including:

  • Women and children (pregnancy and childhood);
  • Chronic disease outcomes;
  • COVID and environmental health;
  • Environmental chemical exposures and climate resiliency;
  • Health inequities; and
  • Youth involvement.

This award is intended to fund partnership projects where community-based organizations and UCSF academic partners work together, with the goal of creating projects that can provide preliminary data or establish a proof of concept to sustain the work through subsequent funding opportunities.  EaRTH will issue one award of $40,000 and provide technical assistance in refining project concepts for a proposal. Pilot projects are for one year and are not renewable. All applications will be reviewed and scored by the EaRTH Center Executive Committee. A progress report is required at the end of the funding period, identifying any resulting publications or products and subsequent funding obtained to support the expanded/extended projects. Any resulting publications, public presentations, or products must directly acknowledge funding from the UCSF P30 EaRTH Center. Awardees will also present their findings at the EaRTH Center Annual Research Forum and may also be asked to give short presentations at other Center meetings. The anticipated project start date is August 1, 2022.

 

Who Can Apply?

To qualify for this funding, all projects must be conducted by partnerships that include at least one eligible community organization and at least one eligible UCSF academic partner as defined below.

 

Eligible community partners are government agencies (such as the San Francisco Department of Public Health, the San Francisco Unified School District as well as individual schools), and non-profits, having 501(c) 3 (504) or 170(c) 1 tax- exempt IRS status including:

  • Health, social service, and other community –basedorganizations;
  • Faith-based organizations;
  • Primary and secondary schools;and,
  • Voluntary associations, civic and citizengroups

 

Eligible UCSF academic partners include:

  • Learners/trainees: students, residents, post docs,fellows
  • Clinical and professional staff, especially those engaged in professional development programs (Diversity Training, Leadership Forum, etal.)

 

Partnerships may include academic partners from the Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and the Graduate Division. Learner participation must be in conjunction with at least one faculty member.

 

Funding Restrictions

Funds may not be used for:

  • Debt reduction;
  • Entertainment; (excluding modest meeting related expenses, such as light refreshments)
  • Indirect expenses that cannot be directly tied the project;
  • Projects conducted outside of the 9 Bay Area Counties;and,
  • Reimbursement solely for patient care or clinical service delivery. These services may be reimbursed if they are a direct and necessary component of the broaderproject.

 

Submission Rules

Criteria for Review/Evaluation of Applications

We invite the submission of innovative and collaborative pilot projects that relate to environmental health. Proposals will be evaluated based on the quality of the proposed scientific investigation, innovation in ideas or approach, the quality and promise of the applicant and the research team, and the potential of the proposed research or project to impact community understanding and prevention of harmful environmental exposures. Applications must adhere to the following:

  • Community and UCSF academic partners are designated as co-investigators.
  • No prior experience in environmental health research is required.
  • Current UCSF academic partner’s membership in the P30 EaRTH Center is not required, although awardees will be expected to participate in Center functions during the duration of their project and present the results to the Center and the Scientific Advisory Board.
  • Applications should be written for a scientific and lay audience (abstracts will be required for both) and a clear articulation of how the proposal is responding to community environmental health needs.
  • Pilot projects that involve human subjects, human stem cells, or animal subjects must comply with NIH rules before funds are released. Funded projects will be expected to submit initial IRB/GESCR applications and/or IACUC revisions immediately following the notice of award. All funded projects, along with IRB approval, must be reviewed and approved by NIEHS prior to the funding start date.

 

Selection of Awardees

Finalists will be asked to present a brief overview of their proposal to the P30 EaRTH Center Executive Committee. Funding decisions are based on several factors – community need, relevance, and scientific review score; alignment of proposal to the P30 EaRTH Center’s priorities; and conformity to stated guidelines. Information on the EaRTH Center goals are available at here.

 

Instructions for Proposal

Please write your proposal following the instructions listed below and create one single PDF file. Do not include form fields in your PDF document. Format Requirements: Arial font; 11 pt; minimum 0.5 inch for all margins; no appendices; include page numbers.

 

1. Proposal Cover Page: Please include the name of the project and primary community and university partners involved with contact information for each.

2. Proposal Lay Summary.  Please include a separate page with an abstract of 200 words or less which conveys the goals of the project, significance for environmental health and potential impact for stakeholders. This summary should be written for a lay audience and avoid scientific jargon.

3. Proposal Narrative: Maximum 2 pages, plus one additional page of figures and/or tables; literature cited should be listed separately and is not included in the page limit. The narrative should include the following information:

  • Partnership Background - Identify the key partners involved in the project and the roles of each partner. Describe how the partnership formed (as relevant, and if this is a new partnership) and the community identified need that is being addressed through this project.
  • Project Description - Please provide a description of the project and desired outcomes.
  • Outcomes and Evaluation - Describe how the project and partnership will be evaluated. What is the anticipated impact from this project on the community? Describe how this partnership project could be sustained after the project period. How will resources be leveraged to maximize project impact?
  • Project Timeline (not included in page limit) - Please include a detailed listing of all key project activities and deliverables, including submission of final report to the EaRTH Center. Final reports are due 1 year after funding date.

4. Detailed Budget. $40,000 maximum per proposal; round up to the nearest thousand (i.e. instead of $39,869 list $40,000). Use the following form: PHS 398 Form Page 4, “Detailed Budget for the Initial Period”: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/fp4.pdf

5. Budget Justification: Clearly and fully justify all costs (1 page).
For all personnel, clearly identify any discrepancies between the actual effort (i.e. real percent time) the individual will contribute to the project, versus the amount of salary effort they are requesting.  This is particularly important for personnel who expect to contribute project effort with little or no salary, such as those whose salary is above the NIH base salary cap.

6. NIH Biosketch of Academic Investigator(s) and resume/biosketch of Community Investigator(s) (5 page maximum per biosketch):
Please follow NIH guidelines on current biosketch requirements and view their sample templates: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm.

 

Proposal Scoring Rubric

EVALUATION CRITERION

POINTS POSSIBLE

Project Abstract

5

Project Narrative

5

Provides a description of the project

15

Provides a description of the outcomes

15

Provides an evaluation plan

15

Provides sustainability plan

10

Project Timeline

5

Provides a budget for the project

5

Provides background on each of the partners involved and how the partnership formed

10

Identifies roles of each partner

15

Total:

100