Apply by Feb. 17, 2025, for PennCHOP Microbiome Pilot and Feasibility Grant Program

Faculty members in the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania scientific communities are invited to apply by Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, for the PennCHOP Microbiome Pilot and Feasibility Grant Program. The PennCHOP Microbiome Program facilitates inter-campus research focused on understanding the microbiome and altering its activity to improve health.

Pilot and Feasibility Grants are designed to bring together microbiome investigators and to stimulate other researchers to enter the field and investigate the influence of the microbiome in their subject areas. Projects can focus on the microbiota at any human or animal body site and can focus on composition and/or function of bacterial, fungal, archaeal, or viral communities as well as their physiological and pathological effects on their hosts.

Eligibility

Applicants must be a U.S. Citizen or have a permanent resident visa and hold one of the following credentials: MD, PhD, MD/PhD, or DVM.

All eligible faculty members, including instructors and research associates, of the University of Pennsylvania and CHOP scientific communities are invited to submit proposals.

Applications are encouraged from:

• New investigators who have never held extramural support (R01 and/or P01)
• Established investigators in other areas of biomedical research who wish to apply their expertise to a problem involving microbes.
• Established investigators in the microbiome field who wish to study an area that represents a significant departure from currently funded work.

Amount for Award

Up to five awards will be granted for microbiome pilot projects, each with up to $50,000 total costs. Pilot projects are one year in duration and awardees can apply for a second year of funding that will be competitively reviewed. Awards will be announced in April 2025. The project period is July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.

Apply

Complete proposals in PDF format are due Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, by 5 p.m.

Submit proposals through the online form.

Contact James Burns with questions. Download the grant program pdf for complete details.

Proposals must for formatted as follows:

• Cover page:
  • Title
  • Abstract of up to 250 words
  • List of approved or pending IACUC/IRB protocols pertaining to the proposed pilot.
  • NIH biographical sketch
  • NIH other support
  • Budget and justification
• One year, $50,000, one page only
• Salary support of $10,000 or less allowed (but not for the PI).
• Main proposal
  • Four pages total, including references.
  • Background
  • Preliminary results
  • Estimated PennCHOP Microbiome core usage*
  • Research plan
• A future directions paragraph must be provided at the end of the proposal articulating how this pilot award will provide necessary data to obtain extramural funding
• • Senior Investigators should indicate how this project represents a new direction in their research.

*All pilots are required to use at least one of the Program's Cores. Visit the PennCHOP Microbiome web page for information about specific services offered.

Awardees are required to:

• Inform the PennCHOP Microbiome Program in the event that the Pilot/Feasibility Project receives external funding during the project period.
• Submit a final progress report is due one month after the close of the project period containing a one-page synopsis of scientific progress and a list of resulting collaborations, microbiome program core utilization, publications, and grants.
• Submit a two- to five-minute, non-confidential video explaining their microbiome work at a non-specialist level for public disclosure.
• Provide brief interim reports concerning research activities, resulting publications, and fundraising that may be highlighted at the annual PennCHOP Microbiome Program Symposium.

The PennCHOP Microbiome program will announce project titles and PI names on its website with the exclusion of financial and project details.