Program Description

The Program for Research Leadership

The Program for Research Leadership is a Connecticut-focused grant program that will support transdisciplinary teams of health researchers led by a principal investigator who has demonstrated leadership in innovative and useful health research and in transferring knowledge gained from research into clinical and/or public health practice. This is a four year award granting up to $200,000 per year. The foundation will make one Program for Research Leadership grant award in 2011.

The overall goal of the program is to fund rigorous health research that incorporates effective approaches to translating research knowledge into practice. The program provides opportunities for the team members to enhance their expertise in transdisciplinary work and knowledge translation. The award will be made to a principal investigator who will serve as a leader of a transdisciplinary team. The primary determinants for awards will be the qualifications of the team leader and the team members, the alignment of the team’s proposed research topic with the foundation’s goals, and the opportunities created for the team members to increase their expertise in knowledge uptake, a Donaghue term that is defined as those processes and factors by which evidence derived from research makes its way into use to improve health.

 

PROGRAM TIMELINE

May 26, 2011

Letter of intent deadline

June 10, 2011

Responses back regarding LOIs

August 11, 2011

Applications due

January 2012

Grant term begins

 

WHO MAY APPLY

To be eligible to apply the principal investigator or at least one of the two co-principal investigators must hold an academic appointment at a university in Connecticut in one of these categories:

  • Tenured associate or full professor position or

Rank of professor with no term limit or

Clinical faculty member at associate or full professor level with 6 or more continuous years of extramurally funded research with a commensurate record of publications and an institutional commitment that extends through the 4 year period of the grant.

 

  • The application must include a team of two or three co-investigators. The team members may be from academic or nonacademic institutions or public or private sector organizations either inside or outside Connecticut.
  • The applicant institution must be a not for profit with a tax exempt status that will ensure support of the applicant.

The Donaghue Foundation reserves the right to solicit a letter of intent from investigators in academic institutions outside of Connecticut who meet the above eligibility requirements within their own institution; however, this solicitation will have no bearing upon the assessment of the submissions at either the letter of intent or the application phase.

 

PROGRAM COMPONENTS

This program will fund research that has the potential for making a direct, near term impact on improving public health, clinical practice or community health interventions.

The Program for Research Leadership will not fund basic or pre-clinical research or research using animals.

Applications to the Program for Research Leadership must contain the following components:

  1. A research plan for the four years of the grant, including the overall research goal(s), specific research aims, and a description of the methods that will be used;
  2. A description of the planned knowledge uptake activities;
  3. A plan for creating a shared learning environment for the assembled project team members.

PROJECT EXAMPLES

The following are examples of the kinds of projects that would be considered appropriate for this grant program. Please note these examples are not comprehensive. The foundations look forward to receiving and supporting a diverse set of project ideas from applicants.

  • Study the adoption, change, effectiveness and/or sustainability of research-based interventions following the conclusion of the research project
  • Design and test a specific clinical or public health intervention aimed at an at-risk population for whom current treatments or approaches are not effective.
  • Undertake research that demonstrates and shows how a studied intervention can be applied successfully in a naturalistic setting
  • Study the role of patient/clinician/systems in the adoption of best practice and test model(s) to improve adoption

For information about previous PRL awardees please click here (need to add webpage). 

STANDARDS FOR SELECTION  

The standards for selecting grants for the Program for Research Leadership will be based on the following criteria:

The proposed project includes an innovative and important topic, and the proposed methods for each component (research, knowledge uptake, and team building) are appropriate for the project goals and aims;

  • Each member of the team contributes essential and complementary expertise to undertake the project plan;
  • The project plan includes methods of knowledge uptake that extend beyond traditional academic dissemination methods;
  • The use of grant funds to support the knowledge uptake and team learning goals in innovative ways.
  • The principal investigator/team leader has demonstrated his or her ability to establish and maintain an effective team;
  • The principal investigator has a pattern of achievement that shows his or her commitment to promoting the practical benefit of research to improve health.

The Program for Research Leadership applications are rigorously reviewed for scientific merit by a specially designated committee consisting of experienced and distinguished scientists, content experts, and practitioners. Reviewers will include scientists with expertise in the research topics and methods reflected in the application pool, and individuals with expertise in knowledge uptake. The foundation wants to emphasize that each of the three components of this program (research, knowledge uptake, and team building) are important and will be reviewed and scored independently of one another.

Once a group of finalists has been selected, the trustees will interview finalists with the assistance of their advisers and foundation staff to answer the question: why should the Donaghue Foundation invest in a particular team of researchers for four years?

Application procedures are available on the Donaghue Foundation website under “Grant Programs.”

FUNDING COMMITMENT  

The funding will be for:

  1. Expenses related directly to the conduct of a four-year research project;
  2. Knowledge uptake activities;
  3. Creating, maintaining and enhancing a learning environment among the team members to leverage individual contributions and maximize the outcomes.

The trustees will commit to each selected principal investigator and his/her team $200,000 per year for up to four years, plus ten percent indirect expenses annually. Each award will be viewed by the trustees as continuous funding conditioned upon appropriate periodic demonstration of progress and budget justification.

After an initial award, funding will continue annually upon receipt of an accepted annual report from the principal investigator, unless a clear reason for additional information or a reason for termination develops.

Grant funds may be used to support the principal investigator’s salary (consistent with the applicant institution’s policy), co-investigator’s salaries, project staff salaries, employee benefits, location where the research will be conducted, data collection and analysis supplies, modest publication costs, and other direct expenses including equipment and patient care expenses when they are essential or appropriate for achieving the goals of the program. Grant funds may also be used to further the expertise of the co-investigators in knowledge uptake methods and processes. Equipment purchases must remain proportionate to the overall budget, although the extraordinary purchase of specialized equipment may be considered.

Funds may notbe used for:

  • all or part of the salary and fringe benefits for secretarial or clerical assistance
  • any administrative costs including professional membership and subscriptions
  • new construction or the renovation of existing facilities
  • support of ongoing research projects not an integral part of the Investigator’s research program, except with express approval by the foundations
  • clinical trials of drugs, devices or procedures that are also supported by an organization which has or is expected to have a proprietary claim on that product

Funding improperly applied by the principal investigator or institution will be owed back to the foundation, which may conduct grant audits.

 

PROGRAM OVERSIGHT  

Accountability of a principal investigator and his or her team includes a commitment to report regularly to the Donaghue Foundation and may include:

  • Submission of a detailed budget for years three and four by the third quarter of the second year;
  • Annual written reporting to the foundation;
  • Annual face-to-face meeting or site visit to discuss progress on grant activities.  

CHANGE OF STATUS  

Grant awards are not transferable in the event the principal investigator elects to terminate his or her relationship with the applicant institution, except with the express written permission. Any unused funds must be returned, including any budgeted indirect costs calculated on a pro rata basis. It is the responsibility of the principal investigator and the recipient institution to notify the grants administrator of any change in the status of the principal investigator or his or her research program, including but not limited to sabbatical leave, in a timely manner and not less than 60 days prior to such change. The foundation will then promptly determine whether or not to allow the grant to continue.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY  

As a charitable trust providing money that may produce discoveries having both public and commercial value, the Donaghue Foundation requires the principal investigators and sponsoring institutions to provide timely and appropriate:

  1. public dissemination of useful knowledge derived from funded research;
  2. disclosure to the foundation of inventions and discoveries derived from funded research; and
  3. notice to the foundation of any proposed action having the purpose or effect of securing property rights in any product of funded research.

The Donaghue Foundation does claim an interest in intellectual property derived from the use of its funds but prefers to address specific property issues if and when they arise in specific cases. Grant recipients should inquire of the foundation as to any question regarding this general policy and, in particular, its interaction with policies of sponsoring institutions.

Acceptance of Donaghue Foundation grant support is an acknowledgment by grant recipients of the above policy and of the fact that, unless and until otherwise negotiated in specific cases, the Donaghue Foundation claims the right to a perpetual, fully paid, royalty-free, nonexclusive, freely transferable license to make, use and sell any invention derived from funded research, whether or not patented. Grant recipients who propose to transfer any rights to discoveries or inventions by license or otherwise must inform a transferee of this claim, which precludes passage of clear title.  

PUBLIC FUNDS FOR PUBLIC PURPOSE  

The Donaghue Foundation, as a matter of policy, disfavors the use of public trust funds for private financial gain except to the extent that such gain is a necessary, incidental and proportionate side effect of achieving a public purpose. By signing a Donaghue Program for Research Leadership application, an investigator is certifying that, except as otherwise disclosed and fully explained in writing to the foundation, (1) he or she has no inappropriate financial interest in any research project for which funding is sought, and (2) he or she has no financial connection with any business entity that may be involved in a project.  

INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT  

Because a principal purpose of the Donaghue Program for Research Leadership is to develop and expand knowledge uptake expertise among health researchers through a team model, the Trustees will place great emphasis upon the commitment of a candidate’s institution to the support of his or her research career and, in particular, the support of the investigator’s contribution to the proposed research program. A necessary part of an application will be an institutional recommendation, assessing the potential of the candidate and assuring that adequate time, space and resources will be available to him or her for conducting the proposed research program described in the application for the principal investigator and each of the co-investigators.

In addition, an awardees’ institution must submit to the foundation a Statement of Institutional Assurances. Awardees will acknowledge their understanding that any investigations conducted by them within the program will have approval of the appropriate Institutional Review Board before work is commenced. Copies of these approvals or consents will be made available to the foundation upon request.  

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS  

Any publications resulting from funded work performed during the grant period must acknowledge support from “The Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation.” The full title should be used because the foundation is a memorial to Ethel Donaghue’s parents.  

OTHER  

Please note that the Donaghue Foundation has established policies regarding changes in declared budgets, nepotism and use of interest earned, as well as various other matters. Grant recipients will be subject to such policies and are expected to direct any questions to the foundation regarding these policies.

For further information on application procedures and forms, please visit www.dongahue.org, or contact the Donaghue Foundation at (860) 521-9011 or leadership@donaghue.org.