Award Amount: Proposals requesting a one-time budget of up to $35,000 will be considered. It is anticipated that three proposals will be funded. Overview Scope of Eligible Activities Eligible Applicants Proposal Preferences Application Instructions Budget Guidelines Evaluation and Funding of Proposals Progress Reports
Therapeutics Catalyst Grants
Application Due Date: November 1, 2020
The Center for Genomic Medicine and the College of Pharmacy are pleased to announce the availability of Therapeutics Catalyst Grants to support early-stage therapeutic development, and to encourage initiation of therapeutically-focused projects across the University. We are particularly interested in projects aiming to solve key problems in diseases with a strong genetic component, or that use genetic or genomic approaches as part of their therapeutic development strategy.
Therapeutically-focused projects are eligible. Competitive projects will propose to make critical advances in the discovery or early development of innovative therapeutics. Proposals involving small molecule or biologic therapeutics are both eligible for support. Proposals that seek primarily to study disease mechanisms or validate therapeutic targets will not be prioritized. Eligible projects might include (but are not limited to):
• Developing and piloting a high-throughput screen
• Conducting a high-throughput screening campaign
• Optimizing potency or pharmacological properties of a candidate through medicinal chemistry
• Conducting critical tests of a candidate therapeutic’s pharmacokinetics, safety, or animal efficacy
• Development of an animal model required for validation of a candidate therapeutic
• Only one research proposal per principal investigator will be reviewed.
• PI must be a member of the Center for Genomic Medicine. If you are not already a member, you may join by completing a brief survey. Please contact Ashley.Kapron@hsc.utah.edu if you have any questions.
• PI must be a tenure- or career-track faculty at the University of Utah.
Preference will be given to projects that:
• Relate to genetic discoveries from the University of Utah, solve key problems in diseases with a strong genetic component, and/or use genetic or genomic approaches as part of their therapeutic development strategy.
• Have significant scientific merit.
• Have a high potential for extramural funding, preferentially from the NIH.
• Are not currently supported by extramural funding.
• Are from young investigators or new collaborative teams.
Applications and all supporting documents to be submitted via InfoReady by November 1, 2020 as a single PDF entitled “PI Last Name_Catalyst2020.pdf”. Font and spacing should be NIH compliant. Grant administration is the responsibility of the principal investigators.
All applications must include each item in the following order:
1. Cover page. PI, co-investigators, project title, 150 word lay summary of the project and its potential impact, IRB/IACUC approval numbers if relevant.
2. Narrative of the proposed project. This will start with a summary of the clinical need and opportunity being addressed, including a description of currently available therapies and therapies in development for the target indication (suggested: ½ page). The main proposal will consist of background, aims, and experimental plan. Please address timeline, deliverables, and plan for external funding. The limit for all narrative sections is 4 pages.
3. References
4. Budget and justification.
5. NIH biographical sketch for investigators (current and pending support; 5 pages)
6. List of investigator’s past University of Utah pilot grant funding (title, amount, dates, resulting publications and external grants).
Project support may be used for activities within a University of Utah laboratory or to support activities at a University core or external contract research organization as appropriate. Support may be used for salaries and benefits of non-faculty project personnel, supplies, miscellaneous expenses, and services. Funds cannot be used for faculty salaries, travel that is not directly related to project research (e.g., conferences cannot be supported by this grant); consultants; or office equipment, including computers (unless specifically justified).
Proposals will be reviewed to assess innovation, scientific merit, and likelihood for success and external funding. If human subjects or animal research are involved, one copy of the IRB or IACUC approval will be required prior to release of funds. Anticipated start date for awarded projects is January 1, 2021.
The following reports are required from all awarded PIs. Templates will be provided.
6 months
Progress report will be required for review by the research committee to assure adequate scientific progress.
1 year
Progress report describing the results and deliverables of the research, future directions, and plans to secure additional funding.
Up to 3 years
Report of outcomes, diagnoses/clinical impact, publications or extramural funding stemming from the work.
Questions? Administrative inquiries may be addressed to Ashley.Kapron@hsc.utah.edu. Scientific inquiries, including questions regarding the suitability of your project to this RFA, may be addressed to Eric Schmidt (ews1@utah.edu).