CIMIT Innovation Grants

6.22.10 Announcement:
CIMIT Announces $3 Million in Medical Research Grants
Awards will support projects targeting brain injuries, pain management, and innovations in healthcare delivery systems.

CIMIT Innovation Grants support early stage, collaborative research projects for improving patient care, with emphasis on devices, procedures, diagnosis, and clinical systems. CIMIT awards grants to principal investigators on faculty at the CIMIT Consortium institutions. Projects may include team members from other academic institutions and collaborators from industry.

Applications will be evaluated in two phases: a solicitation for two-page pre-proposals (due February 15, 2010) and a second phase for full proposals. Based upon a review and selection of the most promising projects in phase one, invitations will be extended to a limited number of applicants to submit full proposals during phase two (due March 31, 2010). Career Development Awards and other awards to individuals will be invited in a separate Request for Applications during Spring, 2010.

What’s new in the current Request for Applications FY11:

All awards will be for a performance period of one year (commencing on or about October 1, 2010).
Awards will be for up to $70,000, direct cost (up to $100,000 total cost)
Emphasis for a portion of the awards will be placed on:
- New approaches in neurotechnologies; the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI), neurotrauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and the evaluation and management of pain.
- Innovations to address clinical problems that would benefit from interoperability of medical data, devices and clinical systems and/or integration of clinical environments.
Review Criteria (see tabs below) have been updated to incorporated learnings derived through a comprehensive review of CIMIT’s activities during the past ten years.
CIMIT is keenly interested in proposals that show a high likelihood of rapid impact on patient care, including early “prove-out” milestones.

All investigators (especially first-time applicants) are urged to contact the CIMIT Site Miner at your institution and the leaders of CIMIT Program(s) most relevant to your application. Site Miner(s) can answer questions and connect you with CIMIT leaders and staff. All can help you network with other CIMIT institutions, suggest potential collaborators, and advise on developing your pre-proposal application.

Click through the tabs below for additional information.

Review Criteria
Proposal Process
Review Process

Review Criteria

FY11 Request for Applications is now closed.

Applications will be evaluated for fit with the CIMIT Mission, and

General Review Criteria:

Programmatic fit within an existing CIMIT program area, in the gaps between program areas or expand into a new area within the CIMIT Mission
Collaborative nature of the project (multidisciplinary/ inter-institutional)
High likelihood of rapid impact on patient care, with plans that include early “prove-out” milestones.
Other established funding mechanisms are not appropriate or available as a funding source and CIMIT support (including facilitation support) is essential to its success.
Potential exit strategies for the project including future alternative funding sources, contacts with companies, licensing and venturing opportunities.

Specific Review Criteria:

Importance of the problem (prevalence, morbidity, costs, inadequacy of existing approaches) and unmet clinical need.
Anticipated impact on patient care.
Improvements in safety, quality, efficiency, and cost; including potential benefits to an interoperable environment.
Novelty of the technology, or new medical application of existing technology.
Methods, including experimental design, animal/human models if required, test methods, and analytical techniques.
Work Plan: specific aims (including explicit metrics of success), milestones, and schedule.
Fit of budget to work plan.
Qualifications and track-record of the investigator and laboratory in this research area and prior CIMIT awards.
Intellectual property history related to the proposed innovation(s) and opportunities.
If appropriate, tangible evidence of institutional support.

Full Proposal Process

Full proposals (invited applicants only) are due March 31, 2010. CIMIT Site Miners and Program Leaders will be identified to help in full proposal preparation. Applications must be submitted through a web-based Submission Process. Instructions for completing and uploading applications are detailed on the submission site. PDF format is required for full proposal applications. Visit the How to Apply, Grants Forms, and Frequently Asked Questions pages for additional information.

Timeline:

Call for applications: Jan. 1, 2010
Pre-proposals due: Feb. 15, 2010
Invitations to submit full proposals: Feb. 25, 2010
Full proposals due: March 31, 2010
Notification of scientific review: June 22, 2010

Any questions regarding your submission or problems with the submission website, please email Kirby Vosburgh at kvosburgh@partners.org.

Full Proposal Review Process

All full proposals must be received by March 31, 2010. Proposals must be submitted through the web-based Submission Process. Instructions are available on the submission site. Expert peers will review all full proposals on a confidential basis. Two panels will review each application: first a panel selected by the US Army (which supports CIMIT), and then a CIMIT peer review panel. The Army panel will be chosen by the Army for their expertise in CIMIT Mission areas. Additional expert reviews may be solicited. All full-proposal applicants will be informed of review decisions by June 22, 2010.

All applications will be evaluated as written, so it is important that applicants seek out the CIMIT contact points identified in the invitation to submit a full proposal, in order to prepare the strongest proposal possible.

Other CIMIT Funding
Navigate to a different CIMIT Grant, Award or Fellowship