Funding Opportunities

Pilot Grant Application System

Application due date: Friday, March 8, 2024 at noon

The Center for Human Phenomic Science (CHPS) will soon be accepting research proposals to be considered for the Junior Investigator Preliminary/Feasibility Grant Program (JIPGP).

The primary goal of the CHPS Junior Investigator Preliminary/Feasibility Grant Program (JIPGP) is to encourage junior investigators to develop clinical research projects that will ultimately lead to competitive extramural funding and a career in Clinical Translational Research Center-focused clinical investigation.  The awards are designed to allow junior faculty members and M.D., Ph.D. or D.M.D post-doctoral trainees with appropriate mentors to obtain funds for pilot projects that are investigator-initiated, human-based, CHPS studies that will enable an applicant to obtain preliminary data.

The grants will be available at each institution effective July 1, 2024.

Award Dates:

• Application Deadline: March 8, 2024 at noon
• Notification of Award (tentative): April 19, 2024
• Funding Period: July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025/2026

JIPGP Guidelines and Submission Instructions 2024 (pdf)
Please see the attached full announcement for eligibility criteria, proposal instructions, documents (accessed by clicking on the paper clip) and additional details.

CHPS/ JIPGP 2021-2024 Awardees

Application due date: Friday, March 1, 2024 at 5 PM

The Community Engagement and Research (CEAR) Core of the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) at the University of Pennsylvania is making pilot grant funding available for research with public and community health relevance. This year’s priority theme is place-based research (related to geographic neighborhoods or communities) with a health equity focus.

This call for proposals is open to faculty and postdocs with significant public and community health-related experience at Penn and is intended to:

• Foster interdisciplinary research in public health at Penn that will have meaningful results at the community level.
• Assist in garnering external support for large-scale studies in the field of public health.
• Encourage additional faculty and staff at Penn to become involved in public health research.
• Identify the innovative methodologies in the field of public health that have the potential of informing local, state, and national policy and programs.

CEAR Call for Proposals

All applications must be submitted electronically using the ITMAT Pilot Grant application system: https://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/itmat/pg/.

Applications are due March 1, 2024 for a June 1, 2024 start date. Awarded grants will be in the range of $5,000 to $20,000. Any questions should be directed to Krista Scheffey (krista.scheffey@pennmedicine.upenn.edu) and Emma Soliva (emma.soliva@pennmedicine.upenn.edu).

 Application due date: Wednesday, December 6th, 2023 at 12PM.

"The ITMAT-CTSA Program in Comparative Animal Biology (PICAB) announces a pilot grant program between the School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) and the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) aimed at better understanding of the mechanisms of pathology in animal diseases that are appropriate models for human diseases.  The purpose is to facilitate interdisciplinary investigations between comparative and human medical scientists to advance understanding of diseases. 

"The project must have one co-PI from the School of Veterinary Medicine, and one co-PI from the Perelman School of Medicine. Additional faculty may be part of a proposal as co-investigators. Projects may be in any area of medicine. Two pilot grants of up to $30,000 each is available start date of February 1, 2024. Grants are due at noon on Wednesday, December 6th, 2023."

Investigators who would like advice on potential partners in the other school may contact Dr. John H. Wolfe via Emily Benenhaley at 215-590-7030 or ebenen@vet.upenn.edu.

•  PICAB Instructions
•  PICAB Application
•  PICAB Budget Template

 PICAB 2015-2024 Awardees

Application due date: December 8, 2023 at noon

The Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT) invites proposals from ITMAT Members and ITMAT Associate Members in the Research Associate or Instructor A category or higher. It is not too late to become a Member or an Associate Member if you would like to apply for the grant and meet membership criterion. If you are interested, please visit the membership section of our website for details.

The proposals must center on the translational space – from proof of concept in cells or model systems through to mechanistic studies in humans elucidating human physiology or mechanisms of disease or, in drug development, parsing sources of variability in drug response and/or understanding mechanisms of drug action in humans in Phase II. Programs that plan to progress within that space and which deploy technologies and approaches conventionally segregated from each other within the traditional boundaries of academic medicine will be especially favored. Proposals that focus on translational therapeutics or on bridging the pediatric to adult divide are particularly encouraged.

The application portal will be available beginning Monday, October 23, 2023.  The proposals are due by December 8, 2023, for a proposal start date of February 1, 2024.  LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED NOR WILL EXTENSIONS BE GRANTED.

• TAPITMAT Instructions
• TAPITMAT Excel
• TAPITMAT Application 

Link to funding opportunities: https://www.itmat.upenn.edu/funding-opportunities.html

• TAPITMAT Awardees 

Application or Funding Questions

Please direct any questions to Andrea Albelda aalbelda@pennmedicine.upenn.edu, or Charles Molli, cmolli@upenn.edu.

Application due date: Monday, August 14, 2023 at noon

The CT³N invites PENN and CHOP researchers to submit competitive proposals for Pilot Grants by Monday, August 14, 2023. The goal of these Pilot Grants is to support early‐stage experimental preclinical studies in targeted therapeutics and thus assist investigators in obtaining key data to seek extramural funding. Proposals will be evaluated based on their relevance to CT³N’s areas of interest, the interdisciplinary and collaborative character (including use of PENN and CHOP core facilities, such as for instance the Chemical and Nanoparticle Synthesis Core), and innovation and translational potential. The grants will be for $50,000 for one year, starting October 16, 2023.

Please refer to the detailed grant instructions and document templates provided below.

Scope:
Preclinical (animal, cell culture and in vitro) experimental studies focused on the design of systems for targeted delivery of therapeutics and/or imaging agents and the identification of molecular targets for site-specific medical interventions. Proposals in the realms of both adult and pediatric biomedicine, and especially bridging the adult/pediatric medicine divide, are welcome.

Eligibility:
Applicants must be based in the University of Pennsylvania and be a full‐time faculty of PENN/CHOP. Joint proposals by co‐PIs from PENN /CHOP and CT³N members from other institutions (Drexel, Temple, Jefferson, PSU) will be considered. Applicants must be members of ITMAT and CT³N, and be willing to present their work at ‘work‐in‐progress’ seminars. Researchers are allowed to be included on the team of more than one project submitted to CT3N, but their participation in the role of PI or co-PI is limited to one submitted proposal. Faculty members from all ranks and tracks are eligible to apply. Investigators in the rank of Senior Investigators and Research Associate may apply on the condition of providing approval letter from the Department Chair and a letter from the faculty member PI of the lab, assuring that a Research Associate’s project represents an independent new extension of the research area of this lab.

•  CT³N Application (doc)
•  CT³N Budget (excel)
•  CT³N Instructions (pdf)

Application due date: Thursday, December 7, 2023, at noon.

The Translational Biomedical Imaging Center (TBIC) was established under the leadership of the ITMAT in part "to broaden and accelerate translational imaging research through the development of a center to bring together investigators with diverse backgrounds that contribute to various aspects of imaging science and who share a vision of contributing to the advancement of clinical medicine." Among the approaches adopted by the TBIC to promote the use of imaging technology to facilitate translational research are the support of core facilities, collaborative imaging scientists, and retreats/seminars. Building on this foundation, the TBIC announces a new collaborative pilot grant program to help catalyze collaborations between primary imaging scientists and primary biomedical/clinical researchers that integrate novel imaging approaches to enhance translational science and medicine.

These proposals require at least two Co-Principal Investigators, one investigator whose primary research focus is in imaging methodology development and another investigator whose research is focused on biomedical science. At least one of the co-principal investigators should have a primary appointment in the School of Medicine. The TBIC adopts a broad definition of imaging science and seeks proposals that focus on anatomic or functional imaging approaches that span from the microscopic to in vivo regimes. Proposals that include a broad range of imaging methods including image acquisition techniques, image analysis, imaging probe development will be considered. Funding will be based on scientific merit, potential downstream clinical impact and the likelihood that the project will generate independent funding to sustain the effort. Post-pilot award outcomes will be surveyed. The deadline for applications is December 7, 2023, for an award start date of March 1, 2024.

For additional information, please visit our website or contact Drs. David Mankoff at David.Mankoff@uphs.upenn.edu, Mitchell Schnall at mitchell.schnall@uphs.upenn.edu, or James Gee at gee@upenn.edu.

•  TBIC Application (doc)
•  TBIC Budget (excel)
•  TBIC Instructions (pdf)

 TBIC 2016-2018 Awardees (pdf)