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UCLA Clinical and Translational Institute Connections
Funding

Core Voucher RFA 

Application period for 2023 is now closed.

Eligibility

Review Criteria

Requirements

Deadlines

Contact Info

List of Cores

The UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) provides the infrastructure to translate scientific discoveries into innovations that improve health in Los Angeles and the nation. To achieve its mission and advance translational research, the CTSI periodically awards vouchers to defray the cost of core services. Under this RFA, the CTSI T1/T2 Accelerator Program (previously known as the Core Voucher Program) will award vouchers worth up to $10,000 in core services to investigators with a faculty appointment at a CTSI partner institution (UCLA Westwood, Cedars-Sinai, Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA, and Charles R. Drew University).

Eligibility

Principal Investigator

  • UCLA Westwood: All full-time faculty with appointments in any of the Professorial Series, as well as clinical instructors in the School of Medicine, are eligible to apply. Junior Investigators (within 5 years of their academic appointment) will receive priority consideration. More information regarding the Professorial Series may be obtained at: https://apo.ucla.edu/content/professorial-series.

    Investigators with appointments in the Professional Research Series (defined at: https://apo.ucla.edu/policies-forms/the-call/professional-research-series/professional-research-series) may apply by one of two mechanisms. (1) Those participating in supervised research should apply under their lab mentor’s name as a Co-Investigator. (2) Those requesting support for projects that are independent of their lab mentor may be eligible to apply directly, but must first contact CTSI T1/T2 Accelerator Program no later than Monday, March 20, 2023, prior to submitting their application.

  • Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA: All full-time investigators are eligible to apply; junior investigators (within 5 years of their academic appointment) will receive priority consideration. For questions, please contact Raquel Gutierrez (gutierrez@lundquist.org).

  • Cedars-Sinai: All Cedars-Sinai faculty are eligible to apply; junior faculty (Assistant Professor or equivalent) will receive priority consideration. For questions about eligibility, please contact Lydia Rosenbaum (lydia.rosenbaum@cshs.org).

  • Charles R. Drew University (CDU): All CDU faculty are eligible to apply.

Each eligible Principal Investigator may submit one and only one application.

Co-Investigator (1 per application)

  • Non-faculty researchers (professional researchers, project scientists, research scientists, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students) are eligible to be listed as a Co-Investigator on a faculty member’s application. Please note that a faculty member may still only submit one application.

Previous voucher recipients may apply only if a different proposal is being submitted. Continuations/extensions of previously awarded proposals are not eligible.

Review Criteria

Proposals will be reviewed and ranked based on:

  1. Translatability – Does the proposal directly address a significant problem in human health? Is the intention of the project to provide information that could have clinical impact in the foreseeable future?
  2. Innovation – Does the project use a conceptually or technically innovative strategy? This component is given the highest priority.
  3. Approach – Is the approach scientifically sound and likely to yield interpretable results?
  4. Core Utilization – Can this project utilize core services immediately at time of award? Can the requested core services be completed within the next 6 months? (Communication with core directors regarding timeline feasibility is highly encouraged.) If your research requires IRB and/or IACUC approval, are the necessary protocol approvals in place?

Applicants are highly encouraged to discuss their proposals and budget with the relevant cores and core directors prior to submitting the application.

Application Requirements and Processes

All applications must be submitted through the online system. Applications may be submitted March 1 – March 29, 2023 at 5:00 PM PT. The application period is now closed. Please carefully follow all instructions on the application.  

Applicants must have a UCLA logon ID (previously known as BOL) to access the online application. One may be obtained at: https://accounts.iam.ucla.edu. Applicants are encouraged to complete this process well in advance of the application deadline.

Investigators must be pursuing a project that could immediately benefit from access to the more than 65 cores located on the Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA, Cedars-Sinai, or UCLA Westwood campuses. A partial list of cores can be found here. For questions about cores not listed, please contact the CTSI T1/T2 Accelerator Program.

Applicants must provide the following:

  • Project description demonstrating need for specific core(s). (maximum 2000 characters including white spaces, ≈ 300 words)
  • Budget justification for the requested core(s). More than one core can be selected if the total amount is ≤ $10,000, and if the requested services support the same project/proposal (maximum 500 characters including white spaces, ≈ 80 words)
  • Description of the availability of samples, specialized reagents, constructs, technology, IRB/IACUC approvals, etc. required for the core services requested. If not currently available, describe the timeline for obtaining such material. (maximum 500 characters including white spaces, ≈ 80 words)
  • For previous voucher awardees, justification for any possible overlap between this proposal and previously awarded voucher. (maximum 500 characters including white spaces, ≈ 80 words)
  • Current NIH biosketch(es) that includes a list of current funding in PDF format – please merge Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator biosketches into one PDF file, if applicable.

Applicants must adhere to the strict character limit and biosketch file format to ensure a successful submission.

An acknowledgment e-mail will be automatically sent once an application is successfully submitted.

Additional Requirements

Awarded investigators will be required to provide their NIH eRA Commons ID, their field of specialization, and their IRB, IACUC, and/or ESCRO numbers if applicable. Proposals must be ready to begin using core services as soon as vouchers are awarded - all IRB, IACUC, and ESCRO approvals must be in place at the time of award.

Voucher awards must be expended within 8 months of award notification. Recipients must disclose the UCLA CTSI grant number UL1TR001881 as a funding source to the IRB and/or ARC as applicable, and must cite the grant in all publications that result from this CTSI-supported research. In addition, voucher recipients must report the following information to the UCLA CTSI by November 30 each year:

  1. All publications that resulted from CTSI-supported research with PubMed ID
  2. All PHS and non-PHS federal support that contributed to the CTSI-supported research

Deadlines

Completed applications must be submitted March 1 – March 29, 2023 at 5:00 PM PT. Awards are expected to be announced by July 2023.

Contact Information

For questions regarding the content and scope of this RFA, or faculty eligibility, please contact:

For technical difficulties regarding the online application process, please contact:


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