Pathology Research Pilot Grants

OVERVIEW

The Advisory Research Committee (ARC) of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UC Davis is currently accepting applications for the next round of Basic/Translational Grant funding. Our goal is to promote department research activity and to increase interdisciplinary collaboration in translational research amongst our department researchers.

ELIGIBILITY

All pathology department faculty members are eligible to apply for the Basic/Translational Grant. Faculty can receive one award per academic year; however, awarded lead PI’s can be collaborators or co-investigators on another faculty member’s proposal. The proposal must be novel projects or already developed projects for which more funding is needed.

FUNDING

Up to $30,000 each; intent is to fund up to two projects.

Multi-disciplinary collaboration within and outside of the Pathology department is encouraged. The proposal needs to be novel, high impact, translational, not limited to human studies, and there should be clear plans for a transition to NIH or similar application.

REVIEW AND REGULATIONS

Applications will be reviewed by nominated reviewers. The ARC members will nominate the reviewers and the applications to be awarded will be approved by the committee. Reviewers cannot be co-authors on any publications within the last five years and cannot be the PI or a collaborator on the application. Applications will be reviewed by NIH qualified reviewers outside the Pathology Department with preference for outside UC Davis reviewers.

Evaluation criteria include: scientific merit, impact on human health, scientific significance, qualifications and productivity of the applicant, collaboration amongst Pathology researchers, budget, time, and potential for publications. The potential for future NIH (extramural) funding will be evaluated. A modified NIH review form will be used for review.

Funding period: Projects must be completed in the designated 12-month period of the grant proposal. Carryover is not allowed for any type of award. Leftover funds will be returned to the pool and used for the following year pilot projects.

Grant funds may be budgeted for: supplies, core service expenses, personnel for research assistance, and one domestic meeting registration fee and abstract submission fee to present the research findings from the pilot grant.

Funds may not be used for: PI salary, travel, or indirect costs. The PI should designate effort even though no funds are requested. Projects that include animals or human subjects must be reviewed in accordance with the UC Davis’ guidelines.

Projects involving human subjects through intervention or clinical studies must be submitted to and approved by the UC Davis Institutional Review Board (IRB). Final approval is not required to submit an application; approval can be noted as “pending”. All projects involving animals must be submitted to the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Funds will not be released to the recipient until final IRB/IACUC approvals have been received.

Expectations: At least one abstract or paper is expected to be published by the recipients. Submission of external grant application is expected. A final progress report (one page or less) is due one month after the end date and a presentation of the research results within a department research seminar is required. If the post award requirements are not met, the applicant will not be funded on any applications submitted in following cycles.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

An application template is provided. Please follow the format detailed below and collate your application into a single PDF file according to the following order:

1. COVER PAGE: title, PI, co-investigators/collaborators, total budget amount requested, IACUC or IRB information, and previous Pathology grant funding information table
2. ABSTRACT: Provide an abstract or summary of the proposal. Less than one page
3. DETAILED BUDGET:  Prepare a detailed line-item budget for the contract period (not to exceed 12 months)
4. BUDGET JUSTIFICATION: Prepare a Budget Justification explaining the proposed costs.
5. RESEARCH PLAN: Up to 7 pages total—single spaced with 0.5 inch margins in size 11 Arial font. The proposal should contain a narrative containing Specific Aims (1 page) and Research Strategy (up to 6 pages). The Research Strategy should contain the following four sections:
   1. Significance (~1 page)
   2. Innovation (< ½ page)
   3. Approach: may include Preliminary Studies, Research Design and Methods, and Anticipated Results as well as Timeline.
   4. Immediate Future Plan (<1/2 page): Please describe how the pilot will lead to NIH awards/publications/clinical applications in the next two years.
6. LITERATURE CITED
7. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Prepare a NIH Biographical sketches for each investigator using most recent non-fellowship template available at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm
8. LETTERS OF SUPPORT: The application should include letters of support from all co-investigators.

Submit the application to Soledad Sanchez (pathresearchsupport@health.ucdavis.edu) and a confirmation email will be sent.

TIMELINE

Time Table

• Grant Submission Deadline: December 15, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time
• Grant Funding Start: 12 months after the IRB/IACUC approval date or the date of account set-up if IRB/IACUC is approved prior to application approval.
• Final Progress Report Due: 1 month after 12- month funding period