Description:

Historically, women have been underrepresented in health research, leading to gaps in knowledge about sex-specific health challenges. Addressing these gaps through focused research is essential to developing effective treatments and improving health outcomes for women. This InCHIP seed grant opportunity aims to support pilot projects concerning women’s health that may employ a qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods approach. Research projects that focus on minoritized women are of particular interest. Projects that integrate community engagement are also eligible for this mechanism. Current NIH opportunities are listed below:

• Many NIH institutes fund work in this space, including NIDA, NICHD, NIDCR, NIDCD, ORWH, and NIMH. See the NIH Notice of Special Interest on Women’s Health Research and Notice of Special Interest on Health Influences of Gender as a Social and Structural Variable for additional NIH funding sources specific to each institute. Additionally, there are funding opportunities for Disparities in Maternal Morbidity and Mortality and Translational Research in Maternal and Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics via multiple institutes.

Potential Research Topics

Responsive topics include but are not limited to:

• Research that focuses on diseases and conditions that are uniquely experienced by women or are more prevalent in women, or diseases and conditions for which female morbidity or mortality is high. Examples include but are not limited to menopause, maternal health, pain, mood disorders, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, gastrointestinal conditions, substance use, Alzheimer’s disease, violence, and cancer.
• Research that addresses health disparities among women and ensures representation across various demographics, particularly those identifying with minoritized racial and/or ethnic groups.
• Research aimed at improving maternal health and pregnancy outcomes, that focuses on understanding underlying mechanisms, preventing adverse events (e.g., stillbirth and maternal mortality), and exploring various factors that impact maternal and fetal health at preconception, pregnancy, and post-partum.
• Research that harnesses an interdisciplinary approach to advance our understanding of women’s health.
• Research that develops, advances, or identifies models and mechanisms for improving women's health, particularly maternal health and menopausal mood disorders, demonstrating a clear path toward clinical and public health benefits.
• Research that develops and validates innovative interventions and assessment tools to improve women's health.
• Research that explores and documents differences between male and female health processes and outcomes, identifying the unique health trajectories for women with a clear application for how the results of the study will be used to advance the health of women.
• Research that informs or evaluates policy related to women’s health.

Proposal Guidelines:

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? 

• Expedited Process: For those with recent experience writing successful grant proposals, please feel free to request an expedited process for review. We ask for 2 weeks notice prior to submission.
• Please note- 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.

Review Criteria: 

• Innovation: Is this a new research area, project, or collaboration? Priority is placed on new ideas for projects that involve cross-department and/or cross-college (interdisciplinary) connections among UConn faculty.
• Significance: Does the proposed project make a significant difference to the field and/or human health? What problem does the proposed study solve? Or what gap in knowledge does it fill?
• Are the project's goals clear and in alignment with the planned activities? Proposals should have a well-articulated plan of activities that include an appropriate literature review, clear objectives, and a detailed, scientifically rigorous methodology.
• Does the team have a timeline and plan for achieving their goals? Proposals must include a specific product (e.g., external grant proposal) and a timeline for its attainment.
• Does the proposed project align with the goals of the FOA (see description above)? 
• To what extent is the proposal aligned with the mission of InCHIP? Projects should clearly demonstrate an examination of human health-related phenomena or health outcomes.
• Does the proposal provide evidence for access to the population of interest? For example, building partnerships with community organizations, clinics, or hospitals can demonstrate points of access. Likewise, for studies using secondary data analysis having a description of how the team will gain access to the data is vital.

• 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 Seed Grant proposals with budgets between $5,000 and $15,000. 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 and student labor.
• 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.

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).