Health research grants available to nonprofits, government agencies

The National Institutes of Health-funded Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) partnership between Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, Carilion Clinic, and Inova Health System is now accepting applications for a grant opportunity that connects community organizations in Virginia with researchers.

Locally, the CTSA partners administer the grants through the Integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV). Community organizations located in Northern, Central, Southwest, and Southside Virginia are invited to partner with researchers from any iTHRIV institution on 12-month research projects.

Multiple grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 will be awarded, and a total of $75,000 will be issued.  Proposals must be submitted from a team that includes at least one research-based and one community-based partner that is a registered 501c3, nonprofit, or government agency.

Proposed research projects may address a wide range of health-related topics including health outcomes or, on a broader scale, social determinants of health, such as educational opportunities, employment, and economic development. Projects with direct health outcomes will be given priority.

Applicants are encouraged to participate in an informational webinar on Oct. 10, 2019, to learn more about the opportunity and application process. Awards will be announced in January 2020, and projects are anticipated to begin in March, 2020.

Multi-institutional teams that previously received iTHRIV community research grant funding in 2019 are addressing a wide range of health-related questions, such as the benefits of walking in cities, and ways to improve access to autism spectrum disorder services, low-cost colorectal cancer screening, and postpartum mental health disorder support resources.

iTHRIV aims to promote interdisciplinary research projects that help bring scientific innovations from the lab into clinical practice. iTHRIV also strives to address social equity, with the goal of implementing research that will benefit underserved populations across Virginia. The institute is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, through award number UL1TR003015.

For more information and the request for proposals, please visit the iTHRIV website.