Hawai‘i Community Foundation Request for Proposals

Download a PDF Version of the RFP

MEDICAL RESEARCH
2020 Request for Proposals – Round 2

Overview
The Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s (HCF) Medical Research program makes grants annually to support basic and clinical research conducted in Hawai‘i. The overall goal of the program is to support a robust local medical research community that benefits the people of Hawai‘i. Grants were awarded through a competitive grantmaking round held from March – May 2020. A second grantmaking round is being held in response to community need. Award recommendations are made by the Medical Research Advisory Committee (MRAC).

The Medical Research program is supported by several funders including: the George F. Straub Trust, the Victoria S. and Bradley L. Geist Foundation, and multiple funds at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation.

The following are the program’s areas of focus for this grantmaking round:

• Clinical/basic research – Alzheimer’s disease, mental or physical diseases related to old age
• Clinical/basic research – cancer or heart disease
• Clinical/basic research – immunology, genetics, or the medicinal uses of Hawaiian plants
• Clinical/basic research – prevent blindness, with particular emphasis on macular degeneration
• Clinical/basic research – type I diabetes (juvenile diabetes)

Grants in these areas are up to $50,000.

Note: Clinical/basic research for lung disease and general are not areas of focus for this grantmaking round.

• Research infrastructure – This priority area is not a research project, per se, but is intended to improve Hawai‘i’s research organizational effectiveness. For example, support of organizational change, support new or existing research systems, or assist with inter-organizational collaborative efforts.

Grants in this area are up to $25,000.

Priorities
The intent of the Medical Research program is to support research proposals that are based on strong science and use proper protocols, and assist in advancing Hawai‘i’s medical research community. Priority is given to research projects that advance as many of the following elements as possible:

• Articulate biomedical relevance and potential to impact health care delivery to benefit the people of Hawai‘i.
• Are likely to lead to increased competitiveness for national funding by providing seed funding for gathering preliminary data.
• Support junior faculty.
• Support a new line of research in Hawai‘i.
• Are a collaborative effort in Hawai‘i-based research.

Award Period

• Researchers will have eighteen (18) months to complete their research project.

Eligibility
Organizations are eligible to apply for a grant if:

• Organization is a 501(c)(3) organization or a unit of government.
• The PI is based in and is conducting their research in Hawai‘i.
• The PI is at least equivalent to an Assistant Professor, including Assistant Research Professors and non-tenure track (clinical) Assistant Professors. Lecturers, Instructors, Junior Researchers, or post-doctoral researchers are not eligible.
• Only one (1) grant proposal submission per PI will be accepted. This includes being identified as a Co-PI.
• All previous grants must be complete with the submission of a final report, including a narrative and financial report, before a PI is eligible to apply for a new grant.
• A PI can receive no more than 2 grants within a 6-year period.
• A PI who became an Assistant Professor within the past five years is considered junior faculty and must identify a mentor based in Hawai‘i with research experience and submit a Mentor Statement and Letters of Support.

Please note: The MRAC that reviews all proposals includes scientists from a variety of disciplines in both basic and clinical research. Since your proposal may not be reviewed by a researcher in your specific discipline, the writing should be tailored for a more general medical/scientific audience.

Online Submission
Applications will only be accepted online. Principal Investigators who have an account may use their user name
and password to access the online application. Principal Investigators who do not have an account should
complete the following steps to establish an account:

1. Email the following information to medicalresearch@hawaiicommunityfoundation.org (Note: This email address will be deactivated on 10/1/2020):

• Full Name of Principal Investigator
• Principal Investigator’s academic rank and position title
• Principal Investigator’s Department
• Principal Investigator’s Mailing Address
• Principal Investigator’s Email Address
• Research Organization’s Name
• Research Organization’s Mailing Address
• Chief of Research Organization’s Full Name
• Chief of Research Organization’s Email Address

Note: Principal Investigators submitting medical research proposals cannot register for an online account at the new user registration area of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation Nonprofit Gateway.

2. After this information is submitted, the Principal Investigator will receive an email containing their user name and password. This may take up to three business days so please establish your account early to allow ample time to complete your application and submit it by the deadline. This user name and password may only be used for Medical Research and Leahi Fund applications.

Submit your online application at https://nexus.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/nonprofit, or click on “NONPROFIT GATEWAY” toward the bottom of the HCF home page. Once logged in, you will be able to access the Medical Research application from the “Available Online Applications” page.

Deadline
Submit your proposal online by 4:00 p.m. HST on September 30, 2020. Applicants will be notified in December 2020.

Online Application
You will be asked to provide the following:
(Note – The online application system is unable to accept Hawaiian diacritical markings consistently. Please do
not include markings in the proposal abstract and lay summary – it may cause errors in the character counter and
how the online system processes.)

1. Proposal Abstract (3,000 character count max.)
   Short description of the technical study that also includes study title, institution, and PI’s name.
2. Lay Summary (3,000 character count max.)
   Short description of the study written for the general public that also includes study title, institution, and PI’s
   name.
3. Project Personnel (2,000 character count max.)
   All key personnel (name, title, affiliation) involved in the study and their roles/responsibilities.

Documents:
You will be asked to upload the following:

1. Proposal Narrative (maximum of eight (8) pages, single spaced, using Times New Roman font, and a font size of not less than 12 pt.)

• Name(s) of PI(s).
• Research Plan that outlines the significance of the research, specific aim(s), methodology and preliminary data.
• Significance of project, including how the research will benefit the people of Hawai‘i, document a need and relate to the field of medicine, and how project findings will be disseminated.
• For Clinical Research, the proposal narrative must also include the following:
  • How patients will be recruited.
  • Detail on the research procedures that will be used.
  • Detail on how the research will be analyzed.
  • Status of IRB approval.

2. References Cited (maximum of 50 citations)

• Provide a numbered bibliography of references cited in the Proposal Narrative. Each reference must include the names of all authors (in the same sequence in which they appear in the publication), the article and journal title, book title, volume number, page numbers, and year of publication.
• DO NOT submit actual papers or research documentation as part of your proposal.

3. Budget

• Grant funds may be used for salaries, supplies and other expenses directly related to the proposed project. Funding may support PI(s) salary. However, the parent institution must confirm the availability of the PI’s time. A limited amount of equipment essential to the proposed project may be funded provided sufficient justification is included. Grant funds may be used for travel expenses provided justification is sound and reasonable.
• Project Budget – Provide details of the total cost of the project.
  • Identify the amount requested from this grant and which expenses the grant funds would cover.
  • Identify in-kind contributions, both revenue and expenses, that will support the project (if applicable).
  • The project budget should reflect the total effort for PI(s) committed time to the project and show whether it is a grant expenditure or in-kind cost.
  • List all the sources of funds to cover the total cost of the project including those that have been secured and are currently unsecured.
• Budget Justification – Provide justification for all of the expenses attributed to the research that this grant is being requested to support. For salaries, please provide the title for each person and formula for deriving the budgeted amount (i.e. hourly rate x # of hrs. dedicated to the project).
• Indirect Costs – For grants to the University of Hawai‘i that are awarded through the Office of Research Services, a flat rate of 10% of total direct costs will be allowed. For other institutions, indirect costs are allowed on a direct personnel costs basis only and are calculated as follows:
  • 40% of the project’s direct personnel costs for studies with a total project budget below $10,000
  • 30% of the project’s direct personnel costs for studies with a total project budget of $10,001 – $20,000
  • 20% of the project’s direct personnel costs for studies with a total project budget of $20,001 and over
• Other Funding Sources – Include a list of current and pending requests for this and all other research projects of the PI and co-PI(s) including name of agency, title of project, amount requested and period of support. Indicate whether the application is for an identical or similar project and where the proposed study fits with current or pending funded research. For scientific or budget similarities between this and funded projects, provide an explicit description of why this funding would not be considered overlap. For pending requests, provide an explicit description of potential budget/project overlap or why this funding would not be considered overlap. Also include the abstract or specific aims of all active or pending grants that involve research activities thematically related to the application and might be seen by the advisory committee as potentially having overlap.

4. Biographical Sketch (maximum of five (5) pages)

• Required for all PI(s) and co-PI(s) associated with the research. Please use the NIH Bio Sketch format. This format can be found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm (Use Biographical Sketch Format Page non-fellowship.)
• In the Biographical Sketch, PI(s) should include a URL to a full list of published work. The recommendation is to utilize NCBI’s MyBibliography (see Biographical Sketch sample found at the link above).
• Reviewers are interested in research that will be shared. The productivity of the PI in publishing results of previous research should be included.

5. IRB or IACUC Application Cover Page

• For research involving either human or animal subjects, the PI must submit the IRB or IACUC application cover page as documentation of a request for IRB or IACUC approval. Please do not submit the entire application. Applicants will be asked in the application whether IRB or IACUC approval is needed. If approved, the grant will be contingent on receiving IRB or IACUC approval.

6. Authorization Form (see application online to download form)

• Signed by research organization’s authorizing official.

7. Mentor/Co-Mentors Statement – required only for junior faculty

• Identify mentor and qualifications of mentor in the research field and previous experience as a research supervisor.
• Describe the nature and extent of supervision during the proposed award period.

8. Letters of Support – required only for junior faculty

• Submit a letter from the mentor/co-mentors to specify the type and extent of the mentoring of the applicant investigator.
• Submit a letter from the Department Chair describing how this funding will lead to the PI becoming an independent researcher, addressing:
  • Institutional space commitment
  • Type of position (tenure track, non-tenure track, explanation of rank)
  • Mentored investigator versus independent status should be stated
  • The development and/or mentoring plan for independent status should be explained

Format for Uploaded Documents

• Use 8 1/2” x 11” letter size
• Margins are not less than 1” on all sides
• All pages must be paginated and include the study title
• The font is Times New Roman and text font size is not less than 12 pt.
• Use the following descriptive file name format when uploading your files: HCF Online Application ID #_PI Name_Name of File (For example, ‘App467_JohnSmith_Narrative’ or ‘App455_JaneDoe_BioSketch’). Do not use apostrophes, #, or parentheses in your file name and each file must have a unique file name.
• Each file’s size should be kept below 500 KB
• Do not upload Word files with “Read Only” restriction

Proposal Resubmission
A PI who previously submitted a research proposal that was denied within the last twelve (12) months, and was encouraged to resubmit a proposal, may resubmit their proposal for review provided they adhere to the items
below. Resubmitting a proposal DOES NOT guarantee your research proposal will be approved.

• The proposal resubmission must adhere to the items requested above.
• In the Proposal Narrative, applicants should address all previous reviewer feedback point by point.

Compliance with Grant Terms
Grants are to be used only for the purposes outlined in project proposals. PI must contact HCF if the nature of
activities described in the proposal, the grant period, or the project budget are likely to change

Final Reports
A final report (consisting of a financial report from the fiscal sponsor and a programmatic narrative report from the PI) is due to Hawai‘i Community Foundation one month after the end date of the grant. A PI with an overdue final report will not have their proposal reviewed.

In addition, PI’s will be required to submit a post-grant report one year after the final report, to describe additional project funding, publications of research, and whether the preliminary data led to nationally funded research. This will be used in an ongoing outcomes evaluation of the HCF Medical Research Program.

Reporting guidelines are available at the Medical Research web page at www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org.

Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding the proposal, please contact Elise von Dohlen of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation at 566-5585 (O‘ahu), toll-free from Neighbor Islands at 1-888-731-3863 or email evondohlen@hcfhawaii.
org.

For technical assistance with the online application process, please contact our Help Desk at http://hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/ticket.