UCSF EaRTH Center Seedling Awards Program 2021
The UCSF Environmental Research and Translation for Health (EaRTH) Center (NIEHS P30ES030284) is excited to announce the launch of the 2021 EaRTH Seedling Awards Program in Environmental Health Sciences. These awards are designed to enhance current research projects with an environmental health focus or to collect preliminary research data to support a NIH/NIEHS grant submission. These funds are intended to support activities that can commence upon disbursement of funds. These funds can be used toward specific EaRTH Core Services described below.
Seedling Awards support any research in the environmental health sciences that aligns with the theme of the EaRTH Center, which is to understand how exposure to environmental pollutants and/or environmental chemicals during development influence disease and to intervene and prevent exposures to improve health throughout the lifespan, especially among vulnerable and underserved populations. Exposures may include relevant environmental chemicals and food additives as well as factors that may affect biological responses to chemical/pollutant exposures such as psychosocial stress.
Eligibility
EaRTH Center members and affiliate members are eligible.
Deadline
Applications are due no later than May 16, 2021. The application will be reviewed and a funding decision made within 3 weeks of application submission.
Regardless of funding decision date, all funds approved must be used by February 28, 2022, and any unused funds will be returned to the center on that date. Carryforward of unobligated funds is not possible.
Budget
Funding is specific to RFA listed below for specific Core offerings.
Bioassay Facility Core – High-throughput Chemical Screening
- 2 awards available up to 20K each
Bioassay Facility Core – DTSC Environmental Chemical Laboratory
- 3 awards available up to 20K each
Application
The Application must include:
- A completed EaRTH Center application (captured via Qualtrics link below)
- PI’s Biosketch (uploaded in Qualtrics)
- Projects that require institutional approvals (e.g. IRB, IACUC) must provide a copy of those approvals with the application. (uploaded in Qualtrics)
Reporting Requirements
The anticipated period of funded project performance will be June 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022. IRB/IACUC approval letters must be received as soon as possible to avoid any delays in funding. Funded projects will be expected to submit initial IRB applications 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.
In addition, all Seedling Fund Awardees are required to submit a report at the end of the project. The final report will contain updates on the project, publications directly related to findings from the project, and grants directly associated with project results. Grantees may be asked to present a short oral presentation on progress at an EaRTH Center webinar, meeting or at the annual EaRTH Center Research Forum. Grantees will also understand they may be contacted after the service is complete for updates related to publications, grants, etc. that resulted from the service awarded.
All publications resulting from funding must include the following acknowledgement: "Support for this research was provided by core center grant P30-ES030284 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health."
Application Review and Selection
Applications will be reviewed by P30 EaRTH Center Executive Committee. Funding decisions are based on several factors – scientific review score, alignment of proposal with the EaRTH Center’s strategic goals, proposal research area of focus, conformity to stated guidelines, and potential for to lead to future successful NIEHS grant applications. Information on the EaRTH Center goals are available at earth.ucsf.edu. Applicants may be asked to consult with EaRTH Center Core Directors prior to funding decision.
Current Seedling Awards Available
Bioassay Facility Core – High-throughput Chemical Screening
Service Provider: Dr. Jennifer Fung
Number of awards may vary based on applications received for each HTCS Seedling Award option.
Seedling Award #1
$30K – High-throughput screen of up to 40 custom chemicals using C. elegans worm assay. GFP-marked C.elegans strains will be introduced to 90 chemicals at two doses and morphological changes to the GFP reporter will be collected on an InCell 6000 high-throughput confocal imaging platform. We will provide training in how to use ImageJ in combination with Cell Profiler and/or Cell Profiler Analyst for machine-learning to segment and classify the morphological changes.
Seedling Award #2
$10K – The HTSC will purchase and prepare a custom library of chemicals in plate format for any chemical screening project.
Bioassay Facility Core – DTSC Environmental Chemical Laboratory
Service Provider: Dr. June-Soo Park
3 awards up to $20K. Sample sizes indicated on the yellow column would be covered for each analysis type and RFAs would be for a single group of chemicals.
