CFAR International Pilot Grants

UCSD CFAR International Pilot Grants

International Pilot Project Grants in HIV/AIDS

Download a grant application in Word (NOTE: Electronic submission of applications is required.)

Requests for submission of international pilot project grants will be advertised through the CFAR Administrative Core and online twice a year, for funding in May and November. Deadline for grant submission is 4:00 p.m. April 1 and October 1. If either date falls on a weekend, applications will be due the following Monday.

Please contact the International Program Coordinator, Bryna Block, if you have questions regarding the application procedure.

AIMS

International pilot project grants are designed to assist and encourage investigators in developing nations, including Brazil, India, Mexico, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe to develop new ideas related to HIV/AIDS research. The intent of these awards is to provide financial support and resource support from the CFAR Cores. The hope is to permit international investigators to begin research and generate data. These data should help the investigators submit more substantial and competitive proposals for peer-reviewed research.

REQUIREMENTS and RESTRICTIONS

Post-doctoral fellows are not eligible to apply, nor may these grants be used to support post-doctoral fellows.

Eligible applicants must be investigators at institutions located in Brazil, India, Mexico, Mozambique, South Africa, or Zimbabwe. The applicant must have a current or planned collaborative relationship with at least one member of the UCSD CFAR and/or its affiliated institutions (the VA San Diego Healthcare System, the La Jolla Institute of Allergy and Immunology, the Scripps Research Institute, and the Salk Institute). One or more CFAR members must be listed on the application, but salary support for these investigators is not required or expected. Collaborations will be verified for each application.

Applicants must send their CFAR collaborator a draft application for review at least two weeks before the due date to allow for their guidance and input. This would be in mid-March for an April due date, mid-September for an October 1 due date.

Awarded international pilot projects grants that require IRB approval must be approved by the IRB of the CFAR collaborator as well as an IRB with a federal-wide assurance in the host country. In Brazil, the Ministry of Health must approve any international pilot project before the study is initiated. Similarly, the Indian Council of Medical Research must approve any international pilot project grantbefore it is initiated in India.

It is strongly recommended that applicants submit their projects for IRB approval in their host country at the same time as they apply for the international pilot project grant. This will save time in the event the grant is awarded. Applicants are encouraged to ask their CFAR collaborator to review IRB materials before submission.

Awarded international pilot project grants cannot be funded until all required approvals are received. The approval process may take several months.

Funding is for one year, which will begin after all project approvals are in place. Any monies remaining after the year must be returned to the UCSD CFAR. Overspending on the award must be avoided. If it occurs, overspent funds must be repaid to the UCSD CFAR.

U.S. State Department clearance is required to transfer funds to internationally based programs.

Successful applicants must write progress reports for the CFAR annual report to the NIH.

Successful applicants must provide to the UCSD CFAR administration a list of publications and peer-reviewed funding resulting from their pilot project awards. Successful applicants must also cite CFAR support in publications generated with or related to research performed using CFAR international pilot project funds.

AVAILABILITY and AMOUNT

Deadlines for international pilot project grant applications are 4:00 p.m. U.S. Pacific time April 1 and October 1. If either deadline falls on a weekend, the applications will be due the following Monday.

Applications must be submitted as an attachment via email to cfar@ucsd.edu.

The research plan of the application should not exceed four pages (references do not count toward the page limit).

Additional supporting materials may be submitted, preferably by e-mail to cfar@ucsd.edu.

If e-mail is not possible, send a copy of the application and optional supporting materials to the UCSD CFAR Administrator, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Mail Code 0716, La Jolla, CA, 92037, U.S.A.

A maximum of $30,000 USD will be awarded for each international pilot project grant.

Should peer-reviewed funding be awarded to the successful applicant, unused international pilot project grant awards must be returned to the CFAR.

REVIEW PROCESS

A CFAR international pilot project Grant Review Committee has been established, composed of senior researchers at UCSD. Individual reviewers are selected from faculty at UCSD and other U.S. institutions.

The applications are distributed among reviewers according to expertise and lack of conflict of interest.

Each application will receive at least two primary reviews.

Reviewers will make constructive, typed comments and suggestions that will be sent to the applicants.

For funded applications, suggestions will be made to improve the science and aid in generating peer-reviewed funding.

For applications not funded, suggestions will be made to improve the proposal and facilitate a resubmission at the next application deadline.

Notices of grant awards will be mailed out within four weeks after the application deadline, along with the reviewers’ comments (reviewers’ names are removed).

Successful applicants are strongly encouraged to undertake the necessary approvals (e.g., NIH, IRB) as soon as possible to avoid a delay in their project start date. Applicants may submit their projects for IRB approval in the host country at the same time as they submit their grant application.

REVIEW CRITERIA

Reviewers rank applications and make recommendations for awards to the CFAR Director and International Core Co-Directors. The following criteria are considered for each application:

Scientific merit--the quality and thoroughness of the proposed research

Relevance of the study to HIV/AIDS research and the setting in which it will be undertaken

Fulfillment of the CFAR objective to support new investigators and investigators new to HIV/AIDS research

Link1 and Link 2 are for test purposes only. Do not use.

CFAR CORE RESOURCES

The UCSD CFAR has developed specialized research Cores to provide a range of efficient and cost-effective specialized HIV research techniques. International pilot project applicants are encouraged to use these Cores when appropriate. If it is more efficient to perform such services locally, applicants are welcome to use the Cores for centralized purchasing of standardized reagents and/or technical consultation and technology transfer. The CFAR has allocated funds for short-term travel to or from the U.S. Applicants are encouraged to contact the appropriate Core Director regarding questions related to CFAR Core utilization. Please visit the Web sites of these Cores and contact the directors if you have questions about accessing their services.

Molecular Biology Core (David Looney, Director)

Flow Cytometry Core (Celsa Spina, Director; Richard Kornbluth Associate Director)

Clinical Investigation Core (Chris Mathews and Richard Haubrich, Co-Directors)

Genomics Core (Christopher Woelk, Director)

Viral Pathogenesis Core (Davey Smith, Director)

Protein Expression and Proteomics Core (Bruce Torbett and John Elder, Co-Directors)