Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
Improving Mental and Behavioral Health / Cycle 1 2025

Key Dates

• Letter of intent deadline: January 14, 2025 (5 p.m. ET)
• Application deadline (if invited): May 6, 2025 (5 p.m. ET)
• Awards announced: November 2025
• Earliest start date: March 2026

Funding Details

• Funding amount: Up to $12 million in direct costs
• Duration: Up to five years

Purpose::
This funding aims to support high-quality research addressing critical clinical or care delivery challenges in mental and behavioral health. Proposals must compare two or more well-documented approaches for prevention, diagnosis, treatment or care delivery, supported by prior research, systematic reviews or clinical guidelines.

PCORI is particularly interested in research addressing the following special areas of emphasis:

• Mental and behavioral health of children and youth: Comparative studies on screening, diagnosis, prevention and treatment strategies for conditions such as ADHD, depression and anxiety.
• Suicide prevention and crisis response: Research on system-level approaches to detecting and addressing suicide risk across various settings.
• Strategies to improve mental health care access and delivery: Studies focused on overcoming barriers to care, including geographic, systemic, and stigma-related challenges.

---

Whitehall Foundation

Deadline: January 15, 2025, letter of intent
If invited, full application due June 1, 2025

Funding:
The maximum budget is $100,000 per year for the two- and three-year research grants.

Purpose:
Research grants are available to established scientists of all ages working at accredited institutions in the United States. Applications will be judged on the scientific merit and the innovative aspects of the proposal as well as on the competence of the applicant. Research grants of up to three years will be provided. A renewal grant with a maximum of two years is possible, but it will be awarded on a competitive basis. Research grants will not be awarded to investigators who have already received, or expect to receive, substantial support from other sources, even if it is for an unrelated purpose.

Eligibility:
The applicant must meet all of the following eligibility requirements in order to participate in the application process:

• Appropriate title – must be an assistant professor (or higher). If the institution does not use this title, a letter from the department chair confirming the applicant's eligibility is required.
• Status – must hold principal iInvestigator status.
• Independent – must be considered an "independent investigator" with their own dedicated lab space or with lab space independent of another investigator.
• The Foundation does not fund investigators who have substantial (approximately $200,000 per year) extramural funding. The Foundation uses the following formula to determine the PI's total extramural funding: Total direct per year plus total indirect per year less any PI salary taken from these grants. If this amount is greater than approximately $200,000 the PI would not be eligible for Whitehall Foundation funding. Startup funds and internal funding are not included in the calculation.

---

American Federation of Aging Research
Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research

Deadline: January 27, 2025, letter of intent
If invited, full application due late May 2025

Funding: $75,000

Purpose:
To encourage and further the careers of postdoctoral fellows who are conducting research in the basic biology of aging, as well as translating advances in basic research from the laboratory to the clinic. The award is intended to provide significant research and training support to permit these postdoctoral fellows to become established in the field of aging.

Eligibility:
The applicant must be a postdoctoral fellow (MD and/or PhD degree or equivalent) at the start date of the award (July 1, 2025).

Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation

Deadline: February 3, 2025, 5 p.m. ET, letter of intent. If invited, full proposal due April 7, 2025.

Funding:

• Drug development: Up to $5,000,000, multi-year
• Neuroimaging and CSF Biomarker Program: Up to $600,000
• Prevention: Up to $5,000,000, multi-year

Drug Development: The Drug Development RFP supports investigational new drug-enabling studies (or the international equivalent) and early-phase clinical trials that test promising pharmacological interventions and devices for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. This funding opportunity concentrates on diverse drug mechanisms and modes of action related to the biology of aging and other emerging therapeutic areas for dementia.

Neuroimaging and CSF Biomarker Program: The aim of this RFP is to further develop and validate established biomarkers for which there is a clear clinical need in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. This RFP prioritizes biomarkers with a defined context of use, a clear advantage over other relevant biomarkers, and a path to commercialization and/or clinical use.

Prevention: The ADDF seeks to support precision prevention studies, combination therapy studies and comparative effectiveness research that probe whether the use or choice of interventions may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. Studies that are not in humans will not be considered.

Eligibility:
Funding is open to researchers and clinicians worldwide at:

• Academic medical centers and universities or nonprofits. Industry partnerships are strongly encouraged.
• Biotechnology companies. Existing companies and new startups are both eligible.
• NOTE: Funding is provided through mission-related investments that require return on investment based upon scientific and/or business milestones

---

American Federation for Aging Research
Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Discovery Award

Deadline:
February 18, 2025, letter of intent. If invited, full application due: Early June, 2025

Funding: $525,000 over three years

Purpose:
The Glenn Foundation for Medical Research in collaboration with the American Federation for Aging Research, has established the Glenn Foundation Discovery Award. This award was created to support research projects with strong potential to develop pioneering discoveries for understanding the underlying biological mechanisms that govern normal human aging and its related physiological decline. Relevant proposals from any branch of biology are eligible. This funding program specifically seeks to include principal investigators who may not have previously worked in the area of aging, but whose research and expertise are applicable to understanding the biological mechanisms of normal aging and its relevance to age-associated health decline. Projects that characterize aging as a disease, or that focus on specific diseases are discouraged unless the research plan provides direct connections to the biology of aging and/or the prospect of a translational discovery relevant to improving human healthspan.

Eligibility:

• Must be a full-time faculty member at the rank of assistant professor or higher at the time of the LOI deadline. To be competitive at the assistant professor level, a candidate would be expected to have established R01 or equivalent funding. The Glenn Foundation Discovery Award does not substitute for the R01 funding mechanism, but supports new, rather than incremental, research projects in established laboratories.
• Must have a strong record of independent publication beyond the postdoctoral level.
• Cannot be a principal investigator supported through the Paul F. Glenn Centers for Biology of Aging Research.
• Must conduct the proposed research at qualified not-for-profit setting in the United States.

The Sontag Foundation
Distinguished Scientist Award

Key Application Dates:

• The application portal opens on January 13, 2025.
• The application deadline is March 12, 2025. The portal will close at 11:59 p.m. ET.
• Funding awards will be announced in the fall of 2025.

Funding

• This award is $750,000; $150,000 per year for a five-year period (*In 2023 the total funding award increased to $750,000 over a five-year period from $600,000 over a four-year period).
• Grant agreements will be issued in October/November of the award year.
• The funding period for 2025 grants will begin on or about October 15, 2025, and end on September 30, 2030.
• Not more than $19,500 may be allocated annually for facilities and administration charges or indirect costs. This amount is included in the annual payout of $150,000.
• Disbursements are made on a quarterly basis to the sponsoring institution for use by the award winner and are subject to annual review of their progress report.
• During the grant term, grantees are required to attend an annual scientific retreat held in February (all eligible expenses for grantee's travel, lodging, and meals are covered by the foundation).

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicants must hold a doctoral degree in a discipline with applicability to brain cancer research.
• Applicants must have received their first independent faculty appointment no earlier than March 1, 2020, and no later than January 1, 2025, at a tax-exempt academic, research or medical institution within the United States or an equivalent institution in Canada.
• If the institution grants tenure, the qualifying appointment must be on the tenure track.
• Applicant's career track and proposed research should demonstrate outstanding promise as contributors to science relevant to brain cancer research (basic science and related fields are encouraged to apply).
• More than one individual from the institution may apply for this award.
• Re-applicants are required to highlight substantive scientific changes from the prior research project, this must include:
  • Outlining changes in your introduction, summarizing substantial additions, deletions, and changes to the research project.
  • Identifying individual changes by using brackets, indents or change of typography in the text of the Specific Aims, Research Approach and Methods sections.
• This grant does not support clinical trials research.

---

Philadelphia Program for Mentored Research Training in Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases (PERFORM-KUH)

Key Application Dates:

• Application deadline: March 17, 2025
• Finalist interviews: May 1, 2025
• Admission decisions announced: June 1, 2025
• Fellowship starts: July 1, 2025

Funding

• PERFORM-KUH is accepting applications from predoctoral students, postdoctoral researchers and clinical residents for mentored traineeships in nephrology, benign urology and benign hematology research. These training fellowships provide salary stipends and access to tuition and other support administered via an NIDDK-sponsored NRSA institutional grant. They also provide a training environment enhanced for mentoring, networking and professional development.

About PERFORM-KUH

The program provides trainees and early-stage investigators the training and resources they need to become successful independent investigators in kidney, benign urology or benign hematology (KUH).

Workforce studies, commissioned by national nephrology, urology and hematology societies, express well-founded concern for sustaining an adequate research workforce in KUH. Given these challenges and building upon the complementary strengths of multiple academic institutions in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, PERFORM-KUH provides a comprehensive, integrated training program that encompasses research training in science related to kidney, benign urology and benign hematology across the lifespan. It provides an environment that enables training in state-of-the-art scientific principles and methodology, that encourages creativity, that guides professional development, and that provides mentoring and sponsorship that facilitates establishing independent career growth.

PERFORM-KUH is dedicated to stimulating early interest in KUH scientific careers from amongst a diverse population and will strive to lower perceived barriers to entering KUH career pathways. The PERFORM-KUH training community is assembled from talented trainers and trainees at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and affiliated Fox Chase Cancer Center, Jefferson University, and Drexel University.

Award Expectations

PERFORM-KUH supports four predoctoral-level and seven postdoctoral-level trainees each budget year. Trainees are supported for an initial 12-month appointment and will receive a second year of support contingent upon satisfactory progress during their initial appointment. A third year of support is possible in rare circumstances but should not be expected.

Appointments are supported by a Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award (NRSA) administered via an institutionally administered NIH TL1 grant mechanism. Trainees receive a monthly stipend, tuition support, and funds to purchase training-related items and cover travel expenses to present at scientific meetings or conferences at NRSA levels. Trainees are eligible to receive NRSA childcare support to defray childcare costs provided by a licensed childcare provider. Trainees are expected to comply with all applicable NIH policies and their institutional requirements associated with their appointment.

Appointed trainees are required to engage in research relevant to the mission of the Division of Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases (KUH) within NIDDK. This includes basic, translational and clinical research in any of the following areas:

• Kidney: All aspects of kidney-related science across the life spectrum
• Benign urology: Science related to normal urological function, non-cancer-related urological disease or clinical care across the life spectrum
• Benign hematology: Science related to normal hematological system function or non-cancer-related blood diseases across the life spectrum

Trainees will participate in an integrated didactic and cross-disciplinary mentored research program personalized to their individual needs and develop an Individual Development Plan that will be updated and discussed at regular progress meetings. Each trainee will have a mentoring team comprised of a primary mentor and one or two secondary mentors who are faculty at a PERFORM-KUH partner institution. Primary mentors will be accomplished KUH independent investigators who are committed to the career development of their mentees and who are PERFORM-KUH approved program faculty (trainers). Secondary mentors are established investigators from a discipline different than that of the primary mentor and are invested in and significantly enrich the experience and development of the trainee.

All trainees are expected to submit first-author manuscripts based on their mentored research project. Submission of an individual fellowship grant (NIH or other) is a requirement for trainees appointed for a second year.

All trainees are expected to actively participate in professional development and network activities designed to establish a city-wide KUH training community and enhance their knowledge of interdisciplinary research, such as professional development seminars, workshops and symposia, journal clubs, research in progress, peer and near-peer networking opportunities and program committee meetings. All trainees are required to participate in bioethics training and provide any requested information necessary for progress reports, etc., in a timely fashion. All trainees are also required to acknowledge this TL1 in any subsequent publications and notify the TL1 administrator.

Eligibility Requirements

The NIH requires that trainees are a citizen or a noncitizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of appointment.

Predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows with diverse backgrounds (defined as demographic and/or scientific diversity) or disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Predoctoral Trainees:

• Eligible students must have received a baccalaureate degree and be enrolled in a program leading to a PhD or an equivalent research doctoral degree program at one of the five Philadelphia PERFORM-KUH partner institutions.
  
• Students in graduate PhD programs must complete their qualifying exam or candidacy equivalent prior to receiving award.
  
• Students must be in good academic standing and have the approval of their program to enroll in this TL1 program.
  
• Appointment to PERFORM-KUH is expected to be full time for a continuous 12-month period. Trainees will receive a second and subsequent full-time and continuous 12-month appointment, assuming that they remain in good standing.

Postdoctoral Scholars:

• Postdoctoral scholars must have received, as of the beginning date of the TL1 appointment, a PhD, MD or comparable doctoral degree from an accredited domestic or foreign institution. Comparable doctoral degrees include, but are not limited to, the following: DDS, DMD, DC, DO, DVM, OD, DPM, ScD, EngD, DrPH, DNSc, DPT, PharmD, ND (Doctor of Naturopathy), DSW or PsyD, as well as a doctoral degree in nursing research.
  
• Trainees must commit an average of at least 40 hours per week to their research training with a primary mentor at one of the five Philadelphia PERFORM-KUH partner institutions. While clinical trainees must devote an average of 40 hours/week to research training, they can also devote time beyond this requirement to clinical training or care.
  
• Appointment to PERFORM-KUH is expected to be full time for a continuous 12-month period. Trainees are eligible for a second full-time and continuous 12-month appointment pending satisfactory progress during initial appointment.
  
• All appointed postdoctoral trainees must agree to a service payback obligation incurred during initial 12 months of postdoctoral Kirschstein-NRSA support. A second appointment year in PERFORM-KUH will serve to meet the payback obligation requirement.

Cardiovascular Medical Research and Education Fund
Improving the Treatment of Pulmonary Diseases

Deadline: Rolling

Funding:
Preference will be given to proposals that have budgets below $100,000 and timelines less than two years.

Purpose:
The CMREF mission of the fund is to support educational activities that will enhance the knowledge of pulmonary hypertension and research projects that may help uncover the causes and pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) in pursuit of the ultimate goal of its treatment and cure. The CMREF does not have a formal application process to fund clinical research or educational projects but is always interested in potentially providing full or partial support to initiatives that are novel, innovative or address the spectrum of unmet medical needs related to pulmonary vascular diseases.

Interested parties should submit a letter of intent (maximum of two pages) that describes the project sufficiently so that the Research Advisory Committee can understand the proposed goals and methods. In addition, the letter should mention the length of time of the project and an estimated overall budget.

How to Apply:
To submit your letter, please use the form on this page. Please be sure to fill out all fields and upload your letter before submitting. You can also email your letter directly to Patt Wolfe (executive director) at patt.wolfe@ipahresearch.org.

After you submit your letter, the CMREF will respond within four weeks to inform you if a full application will be requested.

---

American Federation for Aging Research
Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) Program

Deadline:
Interested students should be in touch directly with the National Training Centers to for the program deadline and application materials.

Funding:
The stipend level is approximately $1,980 per month; actual amounts will vary based on the specific appointment period of individual students. Award period: Eight to 12 weeks.

Purpose:
The MSTAR Program provides medical students with an enriching experience in aging-related research and geriatrics, with the mentorship of top experts in the field. This program introduces students to research and academic experiences early in their training that they might not otherwise have during medical school. Positive experiences in the MSTAR program have led many physicians-in-training to pursue academic careers in aging, ranging from basic science to clinical research to health services research. They have joined the growing cadre of physicians and scientists whose specialized knowledge and skills are in great demand as our population ages.

Students participate in an eight- to twelve-week (or two- to three-month, depending on the training site) structured research, clinical and didactic program in geriatrics, appropriate to their level of training and interests. Research projects are offered in basic, translational, clinical or health services research relevant to older people. Most scholars will do their training and research during the summer months. They will also be invited to submit an abstract to present a poster at the annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society.

Eligibility

• Any allopathic or osteopathic medical student in good standing, who will have successfully completed one year of medical school at a U.S. institution by June 2024. Evidence of good standing must be provided by the medical school registrar or dean when the student is notified of receiving the award.
• Applicants must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States, or must have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., in possession of a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card I-551, or some other legal verification of such status). Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible. Due to NIA restrictions, individuals holding PhD, MD, DVM or equivalent doctoral degrees in the health sciences are not eligible to apply to do the MSTAR Program.
• Additionally, applicants receiving a stipend or salary support from a federal source are not eligible for this program. Applicants may not hold another award or participate in another program concurrently with the MSTAR program, and must participate in the program full-time for a minimum of eight weeks and a maximum of 12 weeks.

---

Infectious Diseases Society of America
Grants for Emerging Researchers/Clinicians Mentorship Program

Career Stage: Medical Students

Amount: Not specified

Deadline: Ongoing

Description
The G.E.R.M. Program was developed to provide grants to medical students to support a longitudinal, mentored clinical learning and/or research project for up to a year on infectious diseases-related topics, including HIV, under the mentorship of an IDSA or HIVMA member. This program replaced the IDSA Medical Scholars and HIVMA Medical Students Programs.

Eligibility

• Graduate students
• Applicants must be medical students (first-, second- or third-year and those in combined degree programs, including MD/MPH and MD/PhD) from an accredited allopathic or osteopathic medical school in the U.S.