Research Advancement

Yes. To apply for this pilot award, you must first become a UC San Diego DISC Member or Investigator. To learn about the many benefits of the UC San Diego DISC membership and to fill out the membership application form, click here.

Faculty, Project Scientists, Research Trainees, Postdoctoral Fellows and Scholar & Community Practitioners at UC San Diego and UC San Diego DISC/ACTRI partner institutions (La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, Salk Institute, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical, Discovery Institute, San Diego State University (SDSU, J Craig Venter Institute, Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, VA San Diego Healthcare) are encouraged and eligible to apply as principal investigators (PI).

We are looking for projects that develop, select, or study strategies that can facilitate or examine the factors that are associated with the successful dissemination, adoption, implementation, and sustainment of an evidence‐based intervention in a given setting. We are not looking for studies that test whether a specific intervention is efficacious or effective.

• How to adapt public health interventions to the needs, resources, and contexts of specific community contexts such as faith-based organizations or community resource settings?
  
• Are there costs‐benefits of one implementation strategy over another?
  
• What are implementation strategies that can be used to increase the uptake of evidence-based screening recommendations in Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers (FQHCs)? How can we use meaningful stakeholder engagement to develop and refine these strategies so they can be feasible and acceptable across diverse FQHCs?
  

   

Our goal is to support research that reflects priorities of local stakeholders and governmental agencies including COVID-19 related projects and projects that address risk factors and/or resulting diseases or conditions identified as priority focus areas in the most recent County of San Diego Community Health Assessment (CHA). We also aim to fund projects focused on reducing health inequities and health disparities in San Diego and Imperial County.

No, you may select methods and designs that are most fitting for your research question such as quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods and cluster randomized trial, stepped-wedge design, pre-post design. However, it is important to note that many D&I projects require multiple methods to approach the question from different angles and capture the rich context of implementation.

We will review project proposals at any stage of the research process. Projects in formative and developmental phases are appropriate for D&I study. We also understand that pilot proposals need to have appropriate scope and feasible aims for the 1-year duration.

It is strongly recommended that pilot proposals include an implementation science theory, model or framework. D&I science is complex so incorporating a published D&I framework is recommended and can bolster your project. D&I frameworks help researchers articulate their aims and help the reader understand the connections between your proposed methods, strategies and/or constructs.

In order to be most fair to our DISC community, we are not providing 1:1 consultation ahead of the proposal deadline. We encourage you to network with fellow researchers and colleagues to get feedback on your proposal.

The deadline for 2021 applications is December 7th at 12pm PST.

Yes, your awarded funds may be transferred outside of UC San Diego. Subcontracts may be eligible for indirect or overhead costs. In those circumstances where indirect costs are required by subcontracting agencies or institutions, a maximum of 10% overhead will be provided. Requests for overhead must be included in the initial budget request.

There are three types of ACTRI pilot grants with differing aims and eligibility criteria: 1) DISC D&I Pilot Grant Awards, 2) ACTRI’s Clinical and Translational Research Pilot Grants, and 3) ACTRI Academic-Community Partnership Pilot Project Grants.

• The purpose of the DISC D&I Pilot Funding is to 1) support pilot projects to increase the dissemination, adoption, implementation, and sustainment of evidence‐based interventions and 2) to advance implementation science and address barriers that inhibit rapid translation of evidence-based interventions to patients or community members in San Diego and Imperial County. Faculty, Post-docs, and Community Practitioners from a DISC/ACTRI partner agency (La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, Salk Institute, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical, Discovery Institute, San Diego State University (SDSU, J Craig Venter Institute, Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, VA San Diego Healthcare) are eligible to apply. 
• The ACTRI’s Clinical and Translational Research Pilot Grants are focused on early stage clinical and translational research projects with preference for those projects that will yield important new information, technology, service, or new federal funding. PI-eligibility is restricted to faculty (i.e., Post-docs and Project Scientists are not eligible). Professors are not eligible to apply as PIs unless they are switching to a new research field. 
• The ACTRI Academic-Community Partnership Pilot Project Grants are intended to support projects conducted with community-based agencies with the goal of fostering a mutually-beneficial research agenda, developed in full collaboration with community-based agencies/individuals. Competitive applications will strengthen investigators’ capacity to conduct community-based participatory research. Research scientists and all Professor Series Faculty members including Adjuncts are PI-eligible.
  

Funds may be used for staff support, project materials, technology needs, statistician support, publication expenses and subcontracts. No funding will be provided for travel, clerical help, office supplies, or books.

You do not need to have a D&I scientist on your proposal to be successful. Once your proposal is funded, you will obtain support from the DISC Consultation team to refine your D&I methods and ensure your proposal is clear and comprehensive.You will also have an opportunity in the application to show how you will take advantage of the DISC trainings, workshops, Journal Club and Works in Progress meetings and other resources to increase your D&I expertise.