The Penn Achilles Tendinopathy Center for Research Translation is accepting applications for its inaugural Pilot and Feasibility Grant Program. This grant program will support investigators to capitalize on novel hypotheses, emerging methodologies, or fundamental concepts that will uncover the mechanobiologic basis of Achilles tendinopathy, which is the focus of the Center. Pilot grants are due on Thursday, May 31, 2023 by 5pm with a planned start date of January 1, 2024. We are expecting to award 1-2 grants in this round.

Potential applicants are encouraged to send a short e-mail to Lou Soslowsky (soslowsk@upenn.edu), with your name, a rough project title, and a sentence or two (at most) describing the global hypothesis or objective. I would appreciate receiving this e-mail as soon as possible, so I can advise and guide you on the appropriateness of your application idea within the framework of the overall Center. 

Eligibility

• The program is not meant for large undertakings where an extramural research grant could reasonably be submitted, nor is it meant to provide supplemental funds for ongoing research.

• Budgets will be for $20-60,000 for one year.

• It is expected that Pilot grants will lead to extramural funding. Therefore, in addition to scientific merit, the likelihood of future extramural funding is an explicit evaluation criteria for each proposal.

Format

Applications should be formatted in the style of an NIH R01 grant (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/pa-20-185.html), though much shorter. The main body of the application (Specific Aims through Approach: sections 4-7 below) should be no more than 3 pages total. The format is:

1) Cover Page (not NIH face page) with grant title, PI name, affiliation, contact information

2) Budget and brief budget justification (Please use form PHS398, Page 4)

3) NIH Biosketch of PI (in the new NIH format)

4) Specific Aims

5) Significance

6) Innovation

7) Approach

8) Brief Statement of How this Funding will lead to other Extramural Funding

9) Human Subjects and/or Vertebrate Animals Subjects (if applicable)

10) Consultants (if applicable)

11) Literature Cited

12) Certification of Patient Oriented Research (if applicable)

The complete proposal should be submitted by Thursday, May 31, 2023 by 5pm via email as a single PDF file to patcort@pennmedicine.upenn.edu. Please contact me with any questions or comments.