All UCSF faculty members with a primary appointment in the Department of Medicine faculty at any site are eligible to apply. Special consideration will be given to new or junior investigators with mentors who have relevant experience in the design, creation, and/or maintenance of patient cohorts.

Factors to be considered in the evaluation of proposals ranked in order of importance include:

1. Assistant or Associate Professor as of July 1, 2024 (offer letter required if appointment not yet official);
2. The opportunity for use of the cohort by other DOM or non-DOM investigators;
3. The prospect for sustained funding of the cohort;
4. The clinical importance and scientific value of the cohort;
5. The expertise to develop a cohort;
6. The feasibility of the plan for cohort development or expansion/improvement;
7. The significance/approach of scientific aim(s) that uses the new cohort;
8. Justified sample size for defined outcome for scientific aim(s);
9. Plan for follow-up to measure defined outcome(s);
10. Proper collection and storage of data and specimens and;
11. The qualifications of the investigators and, for new and junior faculty, of the mentor;
12. Contribution of cohort grant to advance applicant’s career.

There is no letter of intent for this round. Full applications (maximum 3 pages) are due Thursday, April 30, 2024, 5:00PM PST, and shall be submitted via online form. A PDF attachment of all required documents should be attached via the online application form. If you have questions, please send them to Alyssa Tecklenburg, at [email protected].

The complete PDF with application materials shall contain:

1. Biosketch. For the applicant and, when applicable, for the mentor, submit an NIH biosketch https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.html. As with NIH applications, applicants should use Section A (Personal Statement) to briefly describe why their experience and qualifications make them particularly well suited for their role in the project.

2. Abstract (<250 words on one page). The abstract should summarize the main goals, the importance of the proposed work, the plan for developing a new cohort or for improving the use of an existing cohort, and the departments or organized research units involved.

3. Background, Need, and Specific Aims (~1 page). Why is this an important proposal? What are the new programs that are being developed? What is the context (e.g. other cohorts of similar patients non-existent) and what makes this proposed cohort unique in terms of patient population, predictors measured and/or outcome/s evaluated? What are the opportunities for this patient cohort to make advances that will improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of disease or otherwise produce benefits for patient outcomes? How will others use the cohort? How can support from this grant leverage current support or lead to new support?

4. Methods and Plans (~2 pages. The total number of pages for this section combined with “Background, Need and Specific Aims” should not exceed 3 pages.) What do you propose to do? For either the development of new cohorts or the enhancement of existing cohorts, describe the patient population, including selection criteria and number of patients to be enrolled per year. Document the method for estimating patient availability and willingness to participate. What patient populations will be involved? What new or unique measurements will be made? How will these be developed and standardized and (if appropriate) validated? What biological specimens will be stored? What is the projected sample size for the defined outcome and what is the statistical power for the projected aims? How will information and samples from the patient cohort be made available to other investigators? How will the success of the cohort be measured? For new or junior faculty, what role will the mentor play? Describe milestones in the development and/or use of the cohort.

5. References (<1 page).

6. Proposed budget and budget justification. Use the NIH “Form Page 4” (detailed budget for initial budget period) at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html. A separate page may be used for budget justification and to list other sources of support (direct costs only). Plans for future grant support should be under Methods and Plans.  Funds are not to be used for space, biological assays, equipment, or data analysis. Justify all personnel effort, PI and other faculty co-investigators not to exceed 10% effort. Any expenses for travel or consultants should be carefully justified for the unique value that they would add to the development of the cohort. Evidence of support, intent to support, or interest in supporting this cohort from outside sources would be advantageous.

7. Mentor's Support Letter. New or junior investigators should include a one-page letter of support from their mentor describing the experience and resources that will be provided to the applicant to help guide the direction of the proposed research. The letter should also describe how the project would, if funded, help the applicant transition from a mentored award to independent support.

8. Other letters (maximum of 3). Letters from important collaborators may be appended to the application. To document the potential use of cohorts by other investigators, the application may include letters from investigators documenting their planned use of the cohort.