The Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology announces the following pilot project opportunity.  Applications are due Friday, November 1, 2019.

 

Focus Research Awards:
Applications related to the following thematic areas are currently being accepted:

• Air Pollution and Lung Health
• Environmental Exposures and Cancer
• Windows-of-Susceptibility
• Environmental Neuroscience

 

Applicants can request up to $50,000 for one year. No salary support for the faculty member is allowable. Any member of the standing or research faculty from any School may apply.

 

Other Eligibility Requirements:

 

The research being proposed cannot be funded by an external funding agency. Preference will be given to first-time applicants and senior faculty who wish to embrace environmental health or toxicology research as a new direction. Applications that are likely to lead to grant funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and use the facility cores of the CEET (Integrative Health Sciences Facility Core, Translational Biomarker Core or the Exposure Biology Informatics Core) are actively encouraged. To learn more about the facility cores please visit the CEET web-site.

 

If funded, a progress report is required within 3 months of the end of the funding period. The progress report should follow the same format as that required for an NIH R01 RPPR-progress report. Awardees must present their findings at a CEET Seminar within 6 months of the end of the funding cycle. The CEET must be acknowledged on all publications resulting from the supported research.

 

All IRB and IACUC protocols must be in place before the funding can be awarded. A copy of the approved protocols should be submitted to the CEET before an award notice can be issued.

 

Applications must be submitted in a single PDF for internal review to paula.williams@pennmedicine.upenn.edu. Please note that there are two attachments that accompany the application. Please contact Paula Williams, who will forward the attachments to you.

 

Complete applications must include the following:

 

• Title of Application Personnel information
• Name, position, title, and contact information
• New format NIH Biosketch (5 pages)
• List of Current and Pending grant support
• An abstract (no more than 300 words)
• A statement to indicate how this project would lead to extramural funding in the environmental health domain (not more than 1 page)
• Specific aims (not more than 1 page)
• Significance which must state relevance to environmental health**
• Preliminary studies **
• Methods (including statistical power and analysis)**
• A brief outline of how the results from the pilot study will enable the submission of a subsequent NIH grant and a detailed plan for this subsequent grant submission**

**Items should not exceed 5 pages

• References
• Budget – Items that can be requested include salary of support personnel, supplies and minor equipment. Travel is not allowed. Budget must be justified.

 

Applications using Vertebrate Animals or Human Subjects must also submit the corresponding sections required in an NIH grant (see below) and failure to do so will lead to the application being not considered for funding.

 

Vertebrate Animals:

 

• Proposed Use of Animals
• Justification for the Use of Animals
• Veterinary Care
• Procedures
• Method of Euthanasia

 

Protection of Human Subjects

 

• Human Subjects Questionnaire needs to be completed (please contact Paula Williams, paula.williams@pennmedicine.upenn.edu, for attachment)
• Study Population Characteristics

               2.2. Eligibility Criteria

               2.3. Age Limits

               2.4. Inclusion of Women, Minorities and Children

               2.5. Recruitment and Retention Plan

               2.6. Recruitment Status

               2.7 Inclusion/enrollment report

               2.8 Time Line

• Protection and Monitoring Plans

               3.1. Risks to Human Subjects

                      Human Subjects Involvement, Characteristics and Design

                      Study Procedures and Potential Risks

              3.2. Adequacy of Protection Against Risks

              3.3. Potential Benefits of the Proposed Human Research to
                      Human Subjects and Others

              3.4. Importance of Knowledge to be Gained

              3.5. Data and Safety Monitoring Board

              3.6. Clinical Trial Requirements (Please click here for more information)

 

All applications will be reviewed by a committee of CEET members and senior leadership and the earliest possible start date for successful applications will be December 15, 2019. For an award to be made all IACUC and IRB protocols must be in place. Please note that there are two attachments that accompany the application. Please contact Paula Williams, who will forward the attachments to you.

 

Please email paula.williams@pennmedicine.upenn.edu with any questions.