UC Irvine
Program Description
On March 11, 2020, WHO characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic. Researchers across UCI are searching for ways to contribute to the effort of slowing and stopping the spread of COVID-19 and minimize its negative impacts. In order to support these efforts in streamlined fashion, a UCI Joint Research Fund, supported by multiple schools and the UCI Office of Research, was established.
Meritorious proposals will have either immediate impact on efforts to treat or control the spread of COVID-19, or longer-term impact by preparing investigators to apply for extramural funding that is likely to become available. Applicants are encouraged to consult with research offices in their respective schools and/or visit the UCI COVID-19 funding opportunities webpage to identify relevant extramural funding opportunities.
Successful applications will be ones with demonstrated potential for positive impact on our mission to mitigate the impact and control the spread of COVID-19 including, but not limited to, topics such as transmission, sero-surveillance, epidemiology, rapid point-of-care and molecular diagnostics, testing, pathology, development of novel treatment and care strategies, social impacts, and data and network science relevant to this pandemic. Applications supporting basic, pre-clinical, population-based, and translational research including clinical trials are considered responsive to this call.
Eligibility Requirements
UCI faculty at all levels, in all series are eligible to apply.
Funding Information
Funding will be needs based, with a maximum of $60,000 per project (A greater amount may be considered for truly exceptional proposals with large potential). We strongly encourage proposals that are interdisciplinary and across UCI Schools.
Funds may be used for staff salaries, support of postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, equipment, and supplies. Funds may not be used to pay for faculty salaries or fellowships or for travel unless they are a necessary part of the research project.
Application Instructions
Beginning March 23, 2020, new applications for COVID-19 related research will be accepted on a rolling basis until funding is expended.
Applications should clearly delineate how the proposed research may mitigate the impact and control the spread of COVID-19, and include the following:
- Cover Page including proposal title, and applicant(s) name, faculty position, and Department
- Summary (half page)
- Proposal (Margins, 1” on all sides and font Arial 11 pt). Text excluding half page summary and references should not be more than three single spaced pages.
- Sections should be:
- Specific aims, including how this project will improve chances of obtaining future funding. If collaborating investigators are involved in this project, indicate their respective expertise and contributions
- Impact work would have on our efforts against COVID-19
- Likelihood of future extramural funding; include including reference to the respective agency opportunities
- Innovation
- Approach including how data will be evaluated for significance and reproducibility.
- Timeline for completion
- References
- Itemized budget not to exceed $60,000 and justification.
- Facilities and Resources that demonstrate the infrastructure available to the project that will allow the research proposed to start immediately.
- Biographical Sketch in NIH or NSF format for all key personnel
Applications should be contained within a single PDF and submitted via email to somrd@hs.uci.edu. Please note: Because of the short turn-around time, updates are not accepted; all submissions are final.
Review Process
Reviewers will evaluate proposals on the following criteria: (1) fit for the intent of the call and expected impact; (2) study hypothesis/objectives; (3) investigator expertise; and for clinical trials: (4) study inclusion/exclusion criteria, sample size, nature and plan for human subjects’ specimens to be obtained.
Applicants should make themselves available to respond to follow-up information requests from the committee.
Review Panel
The panel is led by Drs. Ruth Mulnard and Sid Golub. The table below specifies two subsets of reviewers: the CRAFT-COVID review panel—present and active in all reviews—and the COVID Disease-Oriented Translational Team (CDOTT)—present and active in reviewing clinical trial proposals (some committee members participate on both). Typically, there are two reviewers per proposal. In the case of resubmissions, one reviewer has reviewed the previous proposal and one is new. Reviewers submit written critiques and lead the discussion. All present members of the review panel vote on the final impact score. Conflicted members are excluded for the duration of the review, discussion, and voting.
NOTE: Applicants should not attempt to contact members of the review panel regarding any aspect of their application or its review. Please instead refer to the contact information below.
| Name | Credentials | Committee(s) | School/Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sid Golub | PhD (Co-Chair) | CRAFT-COVID | SOM |
| Ruth Mulnard | DNSc (Co-Chair) | CRAFT-COVID | Nursing |
| Dan Cooper* | MD | CRAFT-COVID | CoHS, ICTS |
| Hung Fan* | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | UCI Office of Research |
| Elizabeth Head | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | SOM |
| Alison Holman | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | Nursing |
| Michelle Khine | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | Engineering |
| Cynthia Lakon1 | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | Public Health |
| Melissa Lodoen | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | Biological Sciences |
| Tony Long | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | Biological Sciences |
| Shaista Malik | MD | CRAFT-COVID | CoHS, Samueli Integrative Health Institute |
| Jogeshwar Mukherjee | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | SOM |
| Larry Overman | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | Physical Sciences |
| Brian Paegel | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | Pharmaceutical Sciences |
| Suzanne Sandmeyer* | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | SOM Office of Research |
| Bert Semler | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | SOM |
| Veronica Veira2 | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | Public Health |
| Guiyun Yan | PhD | CRAFT-COVID | Public Health |
| Bruce Albala | PhD | CRAFT-COVID/CDOTT | SOM |
| Don Forthal | MD | CRAFT-COVID/CDOTT | SOM |
| Lanny Hsieh | MD | CRAFT-COVID/CDOTT | SOM |
| Saahir Khan | MD | CRAFT-COVID/CDOTT | SOM |
| Daniela Bota* | MD, PhD | CRAFT-COVID/CDOTT | SOM |
| Beverly Alger | MD | CDOTT | CCR |
| Alpesh Amin | MBA, MD | CDOTT | SOM |
| Diane Capobianco | RN | CDOTT | CCR |
| Daniel Chow | MD | CDOTT | SOM |
| Robert Edwards | MD, PhD | CDOTT | SOM |
| Richard Lee | MD | CDOTT | SOM |
* Non-voting member on CRAFT-COVID committee
1. Served through 4/7/2020
2. Service began 4/14/2020
Award Notifications
Awards are made on a rolling basis. Awardees will be notified via email and a video project summary for each awardee will be posted on https://news.research.uci.edu/researcher-resources/joint-research-fund/ for public viewing.
Reporting
Award recipients will be required to submit three quarterly reports and a one-page final report to the CRAFT-COVID Committee upon completion of the study or at the end of one year whichever is first. Details regarding the quarterly reports will be forthcoming. Final reports should include an abstract of the project, outcomes, resulting grant applications or publications, and a financial report detailing expenses incurred.
Contact Information (including decision appeal)
- For inquires related to submission:
Please contact Vice Dean for Research, Suzanne Sandmeyer sbsandme@hs.uci.edu. - For inquiries regarding the review process:
Please contact panel co-chairs Ruth A. Mulnard ramulnar@uci.edu and Sidney Golub sgolub@uci.edu. - For inquiries related to communication of results:
Please contact Maribel Jimenez mjimenez@uci.edu. - For inquires related to appeals to the funding panel decision:
Please contact Jill Kay kay@uci.edu.