Clinical Research Funding

Translational Science Pilot Projects

Our Translational Pilot Project Program allocates awards up to $50,000 to support collaborative scientific studies for one year, the goal being to develop foundational, preliminary data for future translational research grant applications.

Members of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute Community Advisory Board may also apply in partnership with NYU Langone faculty investigators. 

Students, residents, and beginning postdoctoral fellows may not apply for the Translational Pilot Project Program.

FHC Learning Health System Projects

The Family Health Centers at NYU Langone (FHC) in partnership with the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) seeks applications for a pilot project focused on innovations in health care service delivery in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). The intent of the FHC Learning Health System Pilot program is to provide up to two years of support for pilot studies with the potential to improve access to and quality of care, advance health equity, and contribute to developing a learning health system in the FHC’s safety-net health care setting. The FHC is one of the largest FQHC networks in New York, providing community-based health care and family support services to diverse communities in underserved neighborhoods in Brooklyn and vulnerable populations across New York City. 

As a FQHC, the FHC’s mission is to deliver high-quality primary care to vulnerable individuals and families and use quality improvement (QI) practices to improve care quality and reduce health disparities. As a learning health system, we want to encourage health services and implementation research that is informed by FQHC QI priorities and can lead to sustainable interventions with generalizable findings and best practices that can potentially be disseminated to other FQHCs in the region and nationwide. While we seek to make progress comprehensively on metrics outlined in the Uniform Data System (UDS) guidelines for federally funded health centers, we highlight five priority areas in this inaugural Request for Applications (RFA) for the FHC Learning Health System Pilot Award. 

The priority areas are locally important for the FHC and nationally significant in efforts to improve population health and health equity. 

1. Improving depression remission
2. Operationalizing an Advanced Pediatric Primary Care Model at the FHC, which includes a focus on family-centered pediatric care
3. Reducing disparities in HIV testing and treatment
4. Reducing obesity prevalence
5. Improving oral health equity via integration of care

We invite proposals for pilot projects in these areas. The project should be conducted at the FHC and engage relevant FHC clinicians and staff in study planning, analysis, and writing. The FHC will help to identify an FHC clinical champion and facilitate connections between the research team and FHC leadership, clinicians, and site staff as needed. The project should respond to one of the identified thematic areas of focus. Early stage investigators are prioritized. Two projects will be selected. Projects may be for studies of either one- or two-year duration. Awards will be made for one-year projects of $25,000 or two-year projects of $25,000 each year (total up to $50,000), with funding in the second year conditional on award progress. Extensions will not be permitted. See detailed instructions below.

FHC Communities Served and Patient Demographics

Primary service areas include Sunset Park, Flatbush, Park Slope, Borough Park, Bay Ridge, and Kensington (all in Brooklyn). In Sunset Park, 40% of residents identify as Asian, 39% as Latinx, and 16% as white (source: Community Health Needs and Assets Assessment, 2022).

• 110,000 unique patients served each year
• 650,000 patient visits budgeted each year
• 44% of patients based served in a language other than English
• 64% of patients enrolled in Medicaid or Medicaid managed care program

Criteria

The primary criteria for funding of these awards are:

1. Impact of the proposed research on health of the populations served by the FHC
2. Extent to which the project integrates implementation science to inform QI practices at the FHC
3. Potential of the project to leverage and integrate existing FHC services and resources, including community-based and family support services
4. Potential of the project to involve FHC clinicians and staff as collaborators in a learning health system
5. Potential of the project to advance health equity in FQHCs
6. Extent to which the project tests feasibility and proposes ways to sustain interventions in an FQHC. For example, how does the project address questions around serving uninsured or uninsurable individuals? Is the proposed intervention or service billable for FQHCs?
7. In accordance with the objectives of the CTSAs, priority will be given to the development of novel technologies, methodologies and feasible approaches that test generalizable solutions to improving quality of care in FQHCs.
8. Quality of the science proposed
9. Potential of the applicants to acquire future independent funding, intellectual property, or third party licensing for the project

Eligibility 

This competition is open to all investigators at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, as well as to the other schools and colleges of NYU, members of NYC Health and Hospitals (H+H) with NYU faculty appointments or who are working in partnership with one or more NYU faculty investigators, researchers at the Nathan Kline Institute, and clinicians at the FHC. Additionally, it is open to members of the NYU CTSI Community Advisory Board in partnership with one or more NYU faculty investigators. Eligible applicants include all faculty members and post-doctoral research fellows. Students and residents are not eligible. We strongly encourage early career investigators and individuals who are underrepresented in medicine to apply to the program. 

Submissions are limited to one application per PI. Additionally, preference will be given to applicants that have not already received CTSI pilot funding in the past three years.

Resource Allocation Vouchers

Eligible applicants include all faculty members, postdoctoral research fellows, and clinical fellows. Researchers at NYU Langone Health and NYU schools and colleges, researchers at NYC Health + Hospitals who have NYU faculty appointments or who are working in partnership with NYU faculty investigators, and researchers at the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research are eligible to apply. Early career investigators may require the approval of a mentor. Students and residents may not apply.

Purchase of Service 

Investigators who have existing funding for a study must submit a purchase of service application to pay for Clinical and Translational Science Institute resources and services. 

Voucher Request

Investigators who need to supplement their study budget may submit a voucher request application to cover up to $5,000 in expenses related to Clinical and Translational Science Institute services. Applying for these vouchers is competitive and may only be awarded to non-industry studies. Vouchers are not available for international projects. Only one voucher at a time can support a study.

Resource Allocation Application Requirements 

All researchers must obtain a feasibility status and quote from the provider that administers the research resource or service needed and submit a project proposal to the resource allocation review committee for approval. 

If you are submitting a Resource Allocation Program application, it must be submitted by the first Friday of the month. If you require these services over multiple years, you must submit an application before each year for which you need these services. You can access instructions for initiating a new application (new users) or initiating a new study (existing users). You can also access instructions for renewing existing studies (those who have previously applied). 

Research Subject Protections

We require you to describe plans for participant protection, biostatistics, and informatics in your project proposal and encourage you to consult with NYU Langone’s Applied Bioinformatics Laboratories, Institute for Computational Medicine, and Human Research Regulatory Affairs to ensure the success of your project and compliance with federal research regulations. 

Investigators submitting proposals involving human subjects or experimental animals must obtain approval from an institutional review board or our Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee before funding can begin, but need not be approved prior to applying for a resource allocation voucher.