Team Science Pilot Grant Program
Funded by the BU Clinical and Translational Science Institute (BU CTSI)
Request for Applications
Deadline: EMAIL APPLICATION SUBMISSION: Deadline Monday, October 12, 2015 by 11 PM
Purpose of the RFA: To stimulate and support teams of faculty researchers engaging in
multidisciplinary translational research at Boston University. All areas of translational research related
to the prevention, diagnosis, and management of human disease will be considered. In addition,
some funds will be dedicated to specific research areas:
 Community-engaged research
 Dissemination, implementation, and improvement science
 Research on health across the lifespan
Funding Objectives: Pilot grants are intended to stimulate new projects, leading to follow-up
external funding and/or to commercialization of an innovative technology. These grants may NOT be
used as bridge funding or to extend an existing project.
Objectives for specific focus areas include:
 Community-engaged research: These projects must be designed to stimulate communityacademic partnerships with the goals of catalyzing innovative translational research that is
responsive to community health needs. We define our community as the diverse, vulnerable
populations served by Boston Medical Center and our affiliated community health centers.
 Dissemination, implementation, and improvement science: These projects must conduct
research on the dissemination and implementation of translational research findings or on the
process of conducting translational research and how to improve this process.
 Research on health across the lifespan: These projects must conduct research on children, the
elderly, or individuals across the lifespan.
Eligibility: The principal investigator must have a primary, full-time faculty appointment at Boston
University, and the research to be conducted by the faculty research team must be based at Boston
University and/or its affiliated teaching hospitals and health centers.
Community-engaged Research: To qualify for funding in this category, a project must include a
community-academic partnership and have a community stakeholder collaborator as an equal
partner. The content of research should be responsive to some identified community health need,
such as defined by the BMC Community Health Needs Assessment
(http://www.bmc.org/Documents/BMC-Community-HealthNeedsAssessment-HNA.pdf ). Methods should
employ community-engaged research methods (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/communityengagement/ )
including but not limited to a dissemination plan that ensures findings are shared with the target
community.
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Funding Available: Direct costs up to $20,000 may be requested. The award period will begin
approximately November 1, 2015 and will end on March 31, 2016 with no carry-over permitted.
The level of funding awarded to successful applicants will be determined after review of the budget
request and budget justification. Funds may be used for any purpose to support the proposed
research. Typical expenses include laboratory supplies, small equipment, patient recruitment costs,
consultants, or support for pre/postdoctoral students, technicians, or research assistants. Awards are
not transferable to any other institution.
IRB, IACUC, IBC: No funding can be awarded until all relevant FINAL approvals such as IRB,
IACUC, and IBC are obtained; thus, it is recommended that applicants begin the process of seeking
approvals as early as possible, as no award can be made before final approvals, and no carry-over is
permitted.
Review Criteria: Applications will be reviewed and ranked for funding priority by a research review
committee. Review criteria include:
 Significance of the work in terms of potential health impact
 Scientific rigor and novelty of the proposed approach
 Multidisciplinary collaboration
 High potential for translation to the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of human health
conditions. Projects closer to translation will be prioritized over more preliminary projects that
are further from translation.
 Likelihood that the project will lead to subsequent external funding and/or commercial
development
 Qualification of the research team
 Need for the funding
 Likelihood that the project can be completed within the budget period noted above
 Although it is not required that applicants be junior investigators, the review process will take
career development into consideration.
 Although not required, other features that may increase a project’s priority include:
o A clear clinical focus, including a practicing clinician on the research team
o A well-defined role for a community-based partner
o Focus on diseases disproportionately affecting the BMC patient population.
Review Process: Applications will be competitively reviewed and ranked by a review panel made up
of BU faculty members, using a review process analogous to that of NIH.
Submitting an Application: To submit an application, use the application form that is included
as the last two pages of this RFA. On the application form, please make sure to check the award
category(ies) for which you wish to be considered. You may check as many categories as are
relevant to your application. The scientific plan portion of the application cannot be more than three
pages long (including all figures and tables), plus one page (maximum) of literature citations.
After completing and saving your application on your own computer as a single PDF file including
ALL application components (see application form below), please email your application to
(ctsipilots@bu.edu). Submissions emailed after the submission deadline will not be
considered.
Progress Reports: By accepting these funds, the applicant agrees to submit a brief progress report
mid-way though the grant period, and to submit a report after the end of the grant indicating key
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results and any publications, grant applications, grants that resulted from the project, new
collaborations, and other outcomes.
Where to Send Inquiries: We encourage inquiries concerning this RFA and welcome the
opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants. Direct your questions to:
George T. O'Connor, MD, MS
Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep, and Critical Care Medicine
Director, Clinical Research Resources, Boston University Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Boston University School of Medicine
Tel. 617-638-4470
Email: goconnor@bu.edu (Please also “cc” ctsipilots@bu.edu.)
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TEAM SCIENCE PILOT GRANT APPLICATION FORM
Please submit entire application as single pdf file including ALL application components, either by completing
electronically and converting to pdf format OR by printing, completing, and scanning into a pdf file. After
completing and saving your application on your own computer as a single PDF file, please email your application to
(ctsipilots@bu.edu).
Deadline: Submissions uploaded after the submission deadline (11 PM, Monday, October 12, 2015) will not be
considered.
1. PI information and application categories
Principal investigator name, degrees, academic title:
Project title:
PI Primary academic appointment (check one):
BUSM
BUSDM
Boston or Bedford VA
Other (specify:
)
BU Charles River Campus
PI School / Department / Division or Section:
PI Phone Number:
PI email:
Other members of research team - name, degrees, academic title, school, dept, division or section:
For review purposes, which of the following best describes your proposed project (check one)?
Laboratory-based research
Clinical, epidemiologic, and health services research; translational clinical studies
Community-engaged research
Dissemination, implementation, and improvement science
Research on health across the lifespan
Has an application for extramural funding has been previously submitted for this project?
No
Yes  if yes, please specify:
Funding agency:
Please check if already reviewed:
If reviewed, please attach review to the application form.
Have you previously received a BU pilot grant?
No
Yes  if yes, please provide details:
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2. Budget request
Total direct costs requested:
1-paragraph narrative budget justification:
3. Other Support for PI and Co-investigators in NIH Format
Please provide “other support” information for all for all key personnel using NIH format.
Format
NAME OF INDIVIDUAL
ACTIVE/PENDING
Project Number (Principal Investigator)
Source
Title of Project (or Subproject)
The major goals of this project are…
OVERLAP (summarized for each individual)
Dates of Approved/Proposed Project
Annual Direct Costs
Person Months
(Cal/Academic/Summer)
4. NIH-format biosketches for all key personnel (new 5-page maximum NIH format, please)
5. Scientific Plan:
The scientific plan portion of the application cannot be more than 3 pages long (including all figures and
tables), plus one page (maximum) of literature citations. The format of the scientific plan should be:
a. Specific aims
b. Background and significance, including discussion of translational significance
c. Preliminary studies (if applicable)
d. Research methods, including timeline
e. Intellectual property considerations (if applicable)
f. Commercial potential (if applicable)
g. Plans for future grant submissions or commercial development
(3-page limit for parts a-g)
h. Literature citations (1-page limit)
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