UConn’s Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP) offers seed grants for faculty at UConn Storrs, UConn Health, and the regional campuses who are InCHIP Network Members.  

The Institute for Collaboration on Health Intervention and Policy proudly announces this FOA for pilot studies to address health disparities. This award will provide one $30,000 award in funding for a pilot study that aims to address, prevent, or mitigate the impact of poverty and its associated conditions on physical or mental health in the U.S. or internationally. 

This award is only available to UConn Faculty who attended InCHIP's networking event held on January 30, 2026 on Poverty and Health. While we understand team formation will largely take place after the event, the Contact PI for each proposal should have attended the networking event. 

Details

This mechanism supports pilot projects that address poverty and health. This includes the social, economic, political, and structural factors that contribute to poverty, as well as the factors on the pathway between poverty and health outcomes. Projects may focus on topics such as economic determinants of health, health disparities related to poverty or socioeconomic status, psychosocial stressors associated with poverty, or poverty-related interventions and policies that could affect health. Applications are encouraged that address poverty-related health challenges across the life course, both within the U.S. and internationally, and include populations affected by the intersecting impacts of poverty and other social determinants of health.

The networking event on Poverty and Health, to be held on January 30, 2026, will bring together researchers from across disciplines to foster collaboration and generate innovative project ideas intended to inform a larger proposal. Teams that form during or after the event are eligible to apply for pilot awards through this FOA, as long as the contact PI attended the event.

Examples of responsive projects include, but are not limited to:

• Projects investigating policies, interventions, or programs that address the health impacts of poverty or improve access to health-promoting resources among those experiencing poverty.
• Research that evaluates novel lifestyle interventions that address poverty and chronic disease, with a particular emphasis on interventions that translate to real-world clinical or community settings.
• Research that employs community-engaged approaches to address the physical and mental health consequences of poverty.
• Research that explores protective factors and resilience among individuals or communities experiencing economic hardship.
• Studies addressing economic determinants of health at all levels including (at the macro level) neighborhood economic context, housing affordability, area unemployment, or income inequality and (at the individual or household level) employment and income, housing instability, or food insecurity.
• Studies addressing the intersectional health effects of poverty and other social determinants of health.

This award will not fund projects that:  

• Exclusively address social determinants of health other than poverty.  

• Are not related to human physical or mental health outcomes. 

• Solely focus on observing or quantifying the extent of a health or poverty-related problem. Projects should aim towards examining underlying processes, making causal inferences, or improving or mitigating the impact of poverty on health. 

It is extremely important for applications to include a plan to pursue external funding following the completion of the pilot study. Prior to submission, applicants should identify potential funding mechanisms and/or funders whose goals, missions, and funding history are in alignment with their project. Please read the instructions in the application guide carefully regarding how the planned pilot project will inform future extramural funding applications.  

We have included below some funders and funding mechanisms that may be relevant to applicants. These mechanisms may also help applicants consider how funders frame and approach poverty and health research.  

• Research Grants on Reducing Inequality 

• Exploring Equitable Futures 

• APF Direct Action Visionary Grants 

• Health Equity Scholars for Action 

• Philanthropy: Grants in Oral Health 

• Advancing Healthcare for Older Adults from Populations that Experience Health Disparities 

• Technologies for Improving Minority Health and Eliminating Health Disparities 

• Innovations for Healthy Living - Improving Minority Health and Eliminating Health Disparities 

• Risk and Protective Factors of Family Health and Family Level Interventions 

• Seeking Products to Address Social Needs impacting Substance Use Disorders 

• Population Approaches to Reducing Alcohol-related Cancer Risk 

• Interventions to Reduce Sleep Health Disparities 

• Basic Research in Cancer Health Disparities 

• The Role of Work in Health Disparities in the U.S. 

• Interventions to expand cancer screening and preventive services to ADVANCE health in populations that experience health disparities 

• Interventions on Health and Healthcare Disparities on Non-Communicable and Chronic Diseases in Latin America: Improving Health Outcomes Across the Hemisphere 

• Unveiling Health and Healthcare Disparities in Non-Communicable and Chronic Diseases in Latin America: Setting the Stage for Better Health Outcomes Across the Hemisphere 

• Interventions to Address Disparities in Liver Diseases and Liver Cancer 

• Health Equity Grants for Addressing SDoH   

Use the Application Guide below. Make sure to complete all sections, save the document to your computer, and upload via the application below.

• Format: Proposals must be single-spaced, in Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri font size no smaller than 12-point type, left-aligned with one inch margins. Do not include appendices.Your proposal should be collated and sent as one PDF document including letters of support and biosketches. Proposals that do not conform to guidelines will be returned to the PI.
• Writing Style: Remember that many members of review committees will not have specific expertise in your area and that proposals should be written for a broad academic audience.
• Protection of Human Subjects and Animals: Investigators are expected to receive approval from the IRB for human subjects or from IACUC for animal model studies before beginning their study.

Have you been awarded extramural funding within the last 5 years?

• The proposed project should represent a new study or direction of research for the PI(s). This award cannot go towards funding a portion of a project that has already been awarded external funding.

If you have not been awarded external funding in the last 5 years

• If it has been several years since you were awarded external funding or have never been awarded external funding, InCHIP offers extra support that aims to improve, tailor, and structure proposals toward this funding mechanism and ultimately the targeted external agency.
• To access this support, please submit an “Intent to Apply” form a minimum of 4-weeks prior to submission making sure to select that you are asking for support.

Information for New Investigators and/or Early Career Faculty:

• New investigators are faculty who have never been awarded an external grant with a budget greater than 500K/year.
• Early Career status indicates that the faculty member completed their terminal degree within the last 10 years.
• Funding for Mentoring- For those who meet one or both of these criteria, we encourage you to make use of this pilot funding opportunity to establish a relationship with a new research mentor who is an established investigator working in your research area. Need help finding a mentor? Contact Greidy Miralles at greidy.miralles@uconn.edu.

• The Principal Investigator (PI) must have an advanced degree (e.g., PhD, MD, PharmD), have an eligible faculty appointment at UConn Storrs, UConn Health, or one of the regional campuses, and be eligible to submit external grants through InCHIP or UConn Health. To view the complete list of faculty eligible to act as a PI, please see this list from the OVPR.
• Leadership Roles: While research teams can include students, post docs, faculty from other institutions and other external collaborators, our goal is to support interdisciplinary teams led by UConn faculty. For this reason, team leaders should be UConn faculty with continuing appointments who meet the OVPR’s PI criteria (see above).

InCHIP invites proposals with budgets up to $30,000. Seed Grants are awarded for up to two years after award.

Allowable Costs

• Personnel who are essential for conducting the research project, such as graduate research assistants, student labor, and postdocs (postdoc stipends should follow the NIH NRSA stipend levels).
• Individuals who are not on the regular state payroll (i.e., consultants and other off-campus assistance) may be hired to perform special research-related tasks as needed.
• Resources that require fee-for-services within UConn.
• Participant incentives for recruitment or study participation.
• Out-of-state travel that is necessary to conduct the research.
• Equipment necessary for conducting the research (“equipment” is defined as an article of tangible, non-expendable personal property that costs $5,000 or more).
• Project supplies, including drugs and services.
• Other specifically authorized expenses essential for carrying out the project.

Not-Allowable Costs:

• The salary of any Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator, or other faculty member who has an appointment at UConn Storrs, UConn Health, or any of the UConn campuses. This includes Connecticut Children’s faculty with joint appointments.
• Living expenses.
• Laptops or desktop computers, unless used exclusively for the project and not for any other activities.
• Service/maintenance contracts on equipment.
• Laboratory renovations or other infrastructure renovations.
• Institutional and/or individual memberships in professional organizations.
• Travel to professional meetings to present the results of the research, or any conference attendance.
• Indirect costs, including clerical and administrative personnel salaries.
• Costs associated with the publication of results of the research, such as the purchase of reprints.
• Investigator training costs, including tuition.

Download Budget Template

The awarded PIs are responsible for obtaining all required approvals for the research from their relevant IRB(s). Please visit the UConn IRB website for more information on IRB approval for research conducted at the UConn Storrs Campus, the five regional campuses, the School of Law and the School of Social Work. For more information on IRB approval for research conducted at UConn Health, please visit the UConn Health IRB website.

Awardees will be required to submit a brief progress report after 6 months, a final report at the conclusion of the project or award period, and periodic check-ins over the following 5 years to track external grant applications/awards stemming from the seed grant. Changes to the project’s objectives, PIs, and budget will require prior approval from InCHIP staff.

Detailed awardee instructions/requirements will be distributed to seed grant winners when they are notified of the award decisions. All awardee requirements described above are subject to change in accordance with updated institutional procedures (e.g., routing requirements).