Research Grant Information

Principal investigators, post-doctoral fellows, or grant coordinators can find the grant application packet below. Grant proposals may be submitted at any time throughout the year. Researchers should direct questions or concerns about the grant application process to Steven R. Ellis, PhD, Research Director of DBAF, srellis@louisville.edu.

DOWNLOAD: Grant Proposal Guidelines and Form

Submission of a Proposal

To submit a proposal for research support to the DBAF, investigators shall create a proposal using the current guidelines that can be accessed through the link titled Grant Proposal Guidelines and Form. Submit two (2) hard copies and an electronic version. Hard copies of the proposal shall be forwarded to Dawn Baumgardner, President of DBAF, 20 Tracy Lynn Lane, West Seneca, New York 14224. The electronic version of the proposal shall be sent to Steven R. Ellis, PhD, Research Director of DBAF, at srellis@louisville.edu.

Expert Review of Proposals

Proposals are sent out for review by experts in the field. In general, three reviewers are used for each grant. Typically, two of these reviewers work on DBA either in the clinical or basic science arenas. On occasion, the third reviewer may not be a DBA researcher but instead be an expert on either a model system being used or a specialized topic being investigated. For example, in the past few years we have received proposals using zebrafish as a model system for DBA and another proposal using very sophisticated mouse genetics, which many DBA researchers may not have felt comfortable reviewing. In these cases reviewers outside the DBA field have been used to determine whether these approaches were viable strategies for addressing research problems in their respective systems. It should be pointed out that the reviewers give their time and expertise without financial compensation.

Review Summary

Board Decision

The Board generally meets 4 times per year at which times the reviews are discussed and funding decisions are made.

Review criteria:

Relevance to DBA syndrome - either from a clinical or basic science perspective.
Scientific rigor - are the experiments or clinical trials well planned and based on sound principles?
Productivity of investigator - does the investigator have a solid record of scientific accomplishments?
Does the investigator has a strong commitment to the DBA syndrome field?
Does this proposal represent an opportunity to bring a new investigator into the DBA syndrome field?
Is this a young investigator (with fewer accomplishments to date), but has the long term potential to contribute to the DBA syndrome field?

The Board’s discussion may not only include whether or not to fund the proposal, but also whether the proposal should be funded in full or if cuts in the budget should be considered. After the discussion a motion is made to support or deny funding, and if the decision is to support funding, a decision is made concerning what level of funding. The motion is then put to a vote.

Communication of Board Decision

Once a funding decision is made by the DBAF Board the research director will communicate this decision to the investigator submitting the proposal. Any budget reductions requested by the Board are discussed with the investigator and once there is agreement on the level of funding, arrangements are made to send the funds from the DBAF to the institution where the investigator submitting the proposal is employed.