Pilot Funding Opportunities

Required Interest Letter (IL): Each interested applicant must submit an IL by March 8, 2019, @ 5 pm Pacific. Upload your via the button below. You will also be asked to input the following:

• Title of proposed activity
• PI Name, Address, Phone Email
• Mentor Name, Address, Phone, Email
• Other Key Personnel
• Participating Institution(s)
• Requested Budget (maximum of $30k total costs)

Your One-Page IL (limited to one (1) page**) should include:
(Please also include your name (last name, first name) in the header)

• Specific Aims
• Background/Evidence Gap
• Significance to palliative care community
• Study Design/Method
• Study population & setting
• Planned use of PCRC resources (list out options XYZ)
• Plans for future extramural funding from this work

**References are not required in the ILs.

The PCRC was established in 2010, with foundational funding by a cooperative agreement from the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR; U2CNR014637). The PCRC exists to lead, catalyze, and empower a community of investigators who are developing an evidence base to ensure high-quality care and optimal well-being for persons with serious illness and their caregivers. 

Scope

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages small pilot research grant applications focused on generating pilot data and supporting investigator development for building the science of palliative care.

Purpose of the PCRC Pilot Awards

The goal of the PCRC pilot awards is to provide seed funding for future research activities through the Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group (PCRC). Additionally, the awards will offer opportunities for investigators to participate in investigator development activities and be mentored/coached by senior investigators in the field.

It is recommended that topics of interest align with the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) Innovative Questions. For the purpose of this pilot award, research evaluating medication efficacy or health services interventions is discouraged. Projects proposed in response to this FOA should be able to be accomplished in 12 months (June 30, 2020). We will be unable to grant no-cost extensions for these pilots.

Projects that generate pilot data that support future extramurally - funded studies involving the PCRC will be prioritized.

Topics of Interest include, but are not limited to:

• Experience and outcomes of caregivers in hospice and palliative care.
• Trajectories of symptom experience, patient functioning and relationship to interventions delivered in hospice and palliative care settings.
• Populations in need of palliative care research, including: pediatric populations, caregivers, underrepresented minorities, those who are economically disadvantaged, and those with multiple chronic conditions.  
• Portfolios of nonpharmacologic interventions used in hospice and palliative care.
• Defining patient populations in the PCRC that can be enrolled in future studies.
• Pilot‐testing interventions and study procedures in preparation for future PCRC studies.
• Projects using the PCRC Data Repository to engage in measurement development/validation and secondary data analysis.

Any individual with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research is invited to submit an Interest Letter. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Eligible applicants

Eligible applicants must be out of training (i.e., not a fellow) and are investigators who have not yet competed successfully for a substantial, NIH research grant, such as independent-level R01 or PCORI award. K awards are acceptable. Applicants must be a PCRC member or have applied for membership at the time of grant submission. To become a PCRC member, please complete an online application. All pilot project applications should include a mentor with extramural funding, and projects must be completed in one year.

*Please note individuals who are currently on a training award (e.g. T32, F awards) are not eligible.

Foreign Institutions

• Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.
• Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.

Number of Applications

Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.

Mentorship

All applicants must identify a mentor with extramural funding. A number of PCRC mentors are available; investigators are encouraged to involve senior investigators from the PCRC with relevant expertise in their pilot projects.

The 2019 PCRC pilot program includes awards of up to $30,000 total costs (inclusive of indirect/F&A costs):

Awards are designed to support:

• Background and pilot data for future PCRC studies
• Pilot-testing clinical research study procedures and interventions in preparation for future
• Secondary data analyses
• Defining evidence gaps in palliative care to be addressed by PCRC-supported studies

Adherence to PCRC standards is critical for high-quality data that are comparable across studies. In order to achieve this, any applicant who applies is agreeing to the following, if funded:

• To follow PCRC standards and processes in their project including the use of measurement instruments and standard data elements, Data Sharing Agreements and participation in the PCRC Data Repository.
• All publications will adhere to the PCRC Authorship Guidelines to ensure consistent approaches to assigning authorship including acknowledgment of PCRC support in all publications and presentations.
• Submit all planned abstracts and publications to the PCRC Publication Committee for review.
• Review by the PCRC Data, Informatics and Statistics Core (DISC) prior to study initiation to ensure highest methodological standards.
• Quarterly updates on study progress and ad hoc, informal updates throughout the funding period.
• Consistent process for declaring and managing Conflict of Interest to ensure transparent and credible research.
• Approval by the appropriate Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) in order to proceed. IRB approvals must continue throughout the study period. The PCRC will require appropriate documentation of ongoing IRB approval. The human subjects sections of the pilot studies (DSMP), will be approved prior to receipt of pilot grant funds.
• Submission of a manuscript and an application for extramural funding based on the data gathered through the PCRC project within a year of completion of the pilot.
• Submission of de-identified data set to the PCRC Data Repository after 1 year of completion of the award or after findings are published.
• Notification of the PCRC regarding relevant presentations, publications and submitted/funded grants that were informed by the funded PCRC pilot study.
• Acknowledge the PCRC and the National Institute of Nursing Research in all public communication of work resulting from this grant, including presentations, published studies, media communications, and Internet-based communications. [“This project is supported by the Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group funded by National Institute of Nursing Research U2CNR014637”]

As a national research collaborative, the PCRC maintains a variety of resources for Investigators (Note: Summaries of each of these guidelines and protocols are available on the PCRC website: www.palliativecareresearch.org or upon request).