Fund Details

Charles H. Hood Foundation Major Grants initiative to Advance Child Health Spring 2020

Award Amount

$450,000 Over two years

Brief Description:

The Charles H. Hood Foundation 2020 Major Grants Initiative to Advance Child Health supports outstanding investigators conducting innovative and transformative research in child health. The overall goal of the Program remains the funding of translational or clinical research that will improve child health clinical outcomes, or improve health care access, affordability, and quality.

Description:

Neonatology

Although the incidence of prematurity has been declining, recent data shows that 10% of babies born in Massachusetts are premature, 7.7% weigh less than 2.5 kg, and 1.3% weigh less than 1.5 kg. These infants require complex and expensive medical care after birth and are at high risk for pulmonary disease, neurological conditions, developmental delay and other issues. Thus, improvements in neonatal care are likely to result in better health outcomes for the infants, and lower initial and lifetime health care costs.
Please note that research projects that focus on pregnant women and their fetuses will not be considered responsive to this RFA.
New England has long been a leader in neonatology research. Through the funding of the Major Grants Program in this area, the Hood Foundation hopes to continue this tradition of excellence.

Brain Science and Child Development

Groundbreaking work, beginning in the late 1990s, has demonstrated that childhood experiences determine important aspects of brain growth and development. There are at least two critical periods of rapid brain growth during childhood: the first three years of life and, again, during adolescence. In parallel with the rapid advance of brain science, a new pediatric subspecialty, Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, has begun to carve out its own research agenda.
Recent clinical and scientific advances in understanding children’s normal and abnormal development have arisen through a variety of approaches: from a basic science understanding of neural development to the epidemiology of the long-term health effects of children’s experiences. New England researchers have led many of these advances in knowledge. Therefore, this focus of the Major Grants Program will support continued innovations that will further the scientific understanding of children’s brain and behavioral development that may inform improvements in the treatment of children’s physical and mental health.
Innovations
The Major Grants are intended to fund innovative work that may be difficult to fund with traditional grant mechanisms. For example, relatively few child health researchers make use of advanced statistical and computational techniques, ranging from computational biology to health services research to geographic information systems. In addition to traditional project-related costs, all projects funded under this Program may include the use of funds to bring new techniques or novel collaborations into child health research.
Collaboration
The Charles H. Hood foundation encourages collaboration between investigators and institutions. If the project would benefit from a collaborative approach, please describe the nature of the collaboration and the scientific benefits. Although collaboration is not required for the 2020 cycle, evidence of meaningful collaboration will be considered in funding decisions.
Note: If the Hood Major Grant funds are intended to augment a currently funded study, clearly describe the additional research to be conducted with Hood funding.

Application Information:

Please fill out the online form and attach the following documents as a single PDF:
Summary of proposed research (limit 2 pages including images. A third page may be used for references)
Nominating letter signed by your department or division head.
NIH Biosketch, including past and pending sources of funding. For current funding include abstract and specific aims and indicate if there is any overlap with your proposal. (Limit 5 pages).

Style Requirements:

11pt font or larger.
No more than 6 lines per inch.
Color images are allowed, however any copies will be printed in Black and White.

Eligibility Criteria:

HMS faculty at all ranks are invited to apply, however, only one faculty member may serve as the Principal Investigator who will submit the application. Note that the PI, while responsible for the project, may include other investigators on the research team.
Grant Selection Criteria: The following criteria will guide the Hood Foundation in selecting which candidates to invite back for Full Proposal submissions:

Investigators: Qualifications of the Principal Investigator and evidence of exceptional creativity. Where applicable, the qualifications of the entire collaborative research team will be considered
Innovation: Research Project is highly innovative in methodology, research hypotheses, or patient population.
Impact: Successful proposals must describe research that would likely lead to important improvements in child health, knowledge of child health and disease, or children’s clinical outcomes or health care access, affordability, and quality.

Review Criteria:

The HMS Foundation Funds Committee advises department heads, mentors, and candidates to be particularly aware of the committee's selection criteria when making nominations:

A technically feasible research proposal
Applicants with the potential to successfully carry out the research described in the proposal
Relevance of the proposal to the mission of the foundation award
Career trajectory
Letter of support and institutional commitment to the applicant
Publications
Current funding

Additional Information, Related Websites, and Proxy Instructions:

HMS Quad faculty only. HMS faculty at the affiliated hospitals must apply through their primary institution.

Indirect Costs (institutional overhead): Up to 10% ($40,909) of the total Direct Costs may be used to cover Indirect Costs at the Award Recipient Institution. In instances where there is a subcontract, the combined dollar amount for indirect costs taken by both the Award Recipient Institution and contracting institution may not exceed 10% of total annual direct costs or $20,455 each year of the Two-Year Award period. The annual amount, including overhead, is $225,000 per year for a total of $450,000 over the two years.

Contact Information:

For questions about this application, please contact Clare Lamont at clare_lamont@hms.harvard.edu

Search Filters:

Institution

Harvard Medical School (Quad)
Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM)

Position

Instructor
Assistant Professor
Associate Professor
Professor

Type of Competition

Limited Submission