Annual Grant Funding Process

The Association begins its annual process of funding research projects by announcing a new Request for Proposals (RFP). This announcement, which usually takes place in January, is broadcast to thousands of medical professionals worldwide via the Association’s website, email and regular mail. The Association also distributes its RFP to a variety of professional medical services and groups and other nonprofit organizations for circulation to their membership, thus extending the reach of the RFP far into the world of research and science.

Grant Application Submission

Upon receiving the announcement, interested parties can download the official Grant Application from the Association’s website. The application details the requirements for submitting a proposal, or request, for funding; it also cites the deadline for doing so. A list of current areas of interest within the field of histiocytic disorders is included; however, all projects focusing on these rare diseases are encouraged and welcomed.

While applications may vary in length, scope and topic, they must all include the following information:

Applicant Data - contact information and institutional affiliation(s) for the primary investigator and any secondary investigators.
Project Information - the title of the project and amount of funding that is being requested.
Problem Formulation - a basic description of the question the project seeks to answer.
Specific Aims - the detailed data for the research project, including background and significance, preliminary work and findings, the precise research plan and the importance of such research.
Lay Summary - a synopsis that explains the research plan in ordinary, non-scientific terms; the Association uses this narrative to report to their non-medical Board members, as well as its membership.
Budget - a financial plan that describes how each dollar of the requested funding would be utilized.
Bibliographical Sketch - a detailed history of the work and employment of the applicant or applicants.
Other Support - any other forms or sources of funding that will, or might, support the project.

Grant Application Evaluation and the Peer Review Process

In order to accomplish its vision of a world free of histiocytic disorders, the Association selects research for funding based on the peer review process. Peer review is defined by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as “a process that is fair, equitable, timely, and conducted in a manner free of bias.” (http://www.grants.nih.gov/grants/peer_review_process.htm) This review process is utilized by the NIH, the largest supporter of health-related research in the world, and by the majority of nonprofit organizations that support medical research. This system is used to ensure an impartial and transparent process of funding research.

The peer review process is based on the concept that a larger and more diverse group of people not directly associated with the creation of a specific project are better able to identify strengths, weaknesses and errors in that project, and to assess its significance and potential impact, and thereby are better able to make a more impartial evaluation of it than the person or group responsible for creating the project. The peer review process ensures that decisions to fund specific research projects are made on the basis of the best science.

The Association’s peer review process utilizes scientific experts in the field of histiocytic disorders, the Histiocyte Society’s Scientific Committee, to review and prioritize research grant applications received each year by the Association; evaluation is based on scientific merit, relevance and feasibility.

The peer review process is the only accepted method by which the Association can ensure its donors and event sponsors that their funding is being used to support the most promising and scientifically valid research. The Association’s commitment to the peer review process reflects its commitment to the histiocytosis community to uphold the values of fairness, transparency and accountability in all of its activities.

Following its review of grant applications, the Scientific Committee makes funding recommendations to the Association’s Board of Trustees, who then analyze the applications for several, additional criteria, including:

Assessment of other funding already awarded and potentially capable of supporting the proposed work, as well as overlapping funding, if any.
Provision of seed funding for work that subsequently could be eligible for major funding by other organizations such as the NIH or equivalent agencies in Europe, etc.
Maintenance of the balance between new applicants and applicants who have previously received support from the Association, in order to encourage the entry of new investigators and ideas into the field of histiocytic disorders.
Observance of a balance of strategic priorities, specifically among the various histiocytic disorders.

Taking the above-listed elements and the recommendations of the Scientific Committee into consideration, the Association’s Board of Trustees then determines which applications will be approved for funding.

This multi-step process ensures that each project is both scientifically sound and aligned with the mission of the Association.

It is important to note that should any member of the Histiocyte Society Scientific Committee or the Association’s Board of Trustees be associated with any of that year’s applications for funding, he/she is excluded from the entire review process for that particular year. This practice helps to further ensure an unbiased approach to the grading and granting of applications.

Resolution to Fund Research

Once the Association Board of Trustees determines which applications are worthy of funding, it creates and then passes a formal resolution to award research grants for that fiscal year. The number of projects awarded varies each year and is determined by a variety of factors including the quality of eligible applications received and the availability of funds.

Occasionally, other histiocytosis-related organizations, like the Histiocytosis Association of Canada, collaborate with the Association to provide funding to a specific year’s program. The goal is to ensure funding for the projects identified as having the highest priority, and the Association is proud to have been able to achieve this each year since the program’s inception.

Funding Acceptance and Compliance

Once the Association Board of Trustees passes a Research Funding Resolution, applicants (hereafter referred to as investigators) are notified of their proposal’s acceptance or denial. The investigator must then sign a formal Funding Acceptance Agreement that stipulates the terms and conditions of the grant award, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

Funds received from the Association must be used specifically as defined in the original Grant Application; should the nature or scope of the project alter from its original intended use, the investigator must submit the proposed changes, in writing, to the Association for approval.
A written progress report must be submitted to the Association six months after the project’s start (based on the date funding is received), and then again at the conclusion of the project (anticipated to be one year after the project’s start). The annual report must also include a version written in layman's terms. If, for any reason, a report cannot be submitted, the investigator must petition the Association, in writing, for an extension to submit the report at a later date.
Any and all results, findings and/or conclusions culminating from Association-funded research must be made public.
Any published material or presentations referring to the information resulting from Association-funded research must acknowledge the support of the Association.
The funding period for a grant is one year. However, at the completion of the grant, upon review of the results, and provided the investigator can substantiate the need for and value of further scientific inquiry into the results of the project, then he/she is encouraged to submit an application for further funding, upon announcement of availability of Association grant funds.
While not mandatory, investigators are strongly encouraged to present the project’s conclusions and findings at an Annual Meeting of the Histiocyte Society.

Once a Funding Acceptance Agreement is signed by the project investigator and returned to the Association, an award check is issued and disbursed to the institution in which the research will take place. The Annual Grant Funding Process, from announcement of the Request for Proposals to the writing of the checks, is a year-long cycle that culminates with funding being distributed in December.