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| Seed Grant Information
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| The Nancy R. Gelman Foundation (NRGF) has concluded its 2009 Seed Grant Program, and is excited to announce our 2009 grant recipients. We are extremely pleased to fund projects aimed at improving outcomes for women with breast cancer. We anticipate conducting a similiar Seed Grant program in 2010. In preparation for the 2010 program, you can download the 2009 application and detailed instructions below. We expect the application will be substantially similar next year. While we have not yet set a deadline for the 2010 program, we expect it will be at the beginning of July, 2010.
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| While we are in-between funding cycles, we are able to consider an extremely limited number of interim proposals. If you are interested in submitting a proposal for funding outside of our normal grantmaking process, please contact our President and Chair of our Medical Advisory board, Dr. Michael Gelman
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Projects for which a seed grant may be awarded must:
- Demonstrate a need for start-up, interim, or supplemental funding within the period of October 1, 2009 to September30, 2009.
- Not already be funded by other sources (projects which represent a clear new initiative extending beyond the scope of a currently funded project are permissible).
- Prospectively state an objective outcome measure which will be used to gauge project success.
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Grant applications will be evaluated by our Medical Advisory Board using a study section process, in which applications with similar goals are compared to and rated against each other and against proposals from previous years using an NIH-like systematic review template. Elements of the template include:
- Significance: How will this work lead to improved outcomes for patients with breast cancer?
- Approach: Are the methods proposed reasonable and likely to be fruitful?
- Innovation: How is this work new, how likely is it to open up new opportunities for future work?
- Investigators: Is the applicant qualified to perform the work? (This is primarily addressed by the biosketch and letters of support and does not need to be in the 4-page proposal)
- Environment: Does the applicant have the resources available to succeed? (This is primarily addressed by the letters of support and information need not be repeated in the 4-page proposal)
- Multiplier effect: How likely are the results from this project to attract further funding from other sources, and how likely are the results from this project to promote a change nationally or globally in the services provided to women with or at risk of breast cancer?
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Over the past four years, we have identified characteristics common to successful applications, as well as information that, when included, simplifies the process of evaluation. Applicants are strongly encouraged to include the following elements in their proposals.
For basic science (research) proposals:
- Describe in detail the research to be undertaken, its specific aims, and hypotheses to be tested. Relate the work to improving outcomes for women with breast cancer. The work described should be reasonably achievable by the personnel assigned to the project, within the time frame allotted.
- Cite appropriate published or unpublished precedents, and distinguish how the current research represents an advance or innovation. Reference list may not exceed 1 page and is not included in the page limit for the proposal.
- Clearly distinguish experiments that will be supported by the NRGF grant from those supported by other funding. Proposals for a clearly delineated project, where a seed grant of up to $1,500 will either have a clear effect or provide “keystone” funding that will make the difference between a project being pursued or not, tend to be more persuasive. Projects likely to be pursued regardless of funding, or requests for fractional support for a project with a much larger budget, are less likely to be funded.
- Enumerate line items on the budget report to a reasonable extent, including any indirect or overhead costs. Salary support tends to be less persuasive unless it represents clearly protected time to focus on the NRGF project. Similarly, once high-cost line-items (over 20% of total request) are cited, "supplies" may be broken down on a per-time basis according to usual costs for similar research.
- Describe existing institutional infrastructure (hardware and/or personnel) that will be used to support the project.
- Describe objective measures by which the success of the research will be determined, and plans to publicize the results (e.g., peer-reviewed journal publications, presentations at scholarly meetings, etc.)
- Describe (one paragraph) the next phase of the project if successful, and sources from which further funding will be sought based on results of this project.
For community-based proposals:
- Describe in detail the intervention to be undertaken, and its specific goals, or the information to be gathered (for projects designed to gather information).
- For interventional projects, describe and numerically estimate the target population of the intervention. For population-based projects, this could involve using statistics from census or public health department sources or from online sources, such as the Wolfram Alpha knowledge search engine. For health organization-based projects, organizational statistics on how many women are diagnosed with or treated for breast cancer per year may be available. For smaller focus or support groups, the size of the group should be estimated.
- For interventional projects, describe the desired outcome of the intervention and how it will be measured.
- Some outcomes may be measured objectively based on available statistics (e.g., an increase in the number of mammograms performed in the organization's catchment area). Other outcomes may need more active measurements that could require human-subjects approval (e.g., improved mood and coping skills among a group of breast cancer survivors). Numerical goals for outcomes, in light of the size of the target population, are encouraged.
- Because the focus of these grants is “to improve outcomes,” it is critical to measure the most “downstream” outcome accessible within the time frame of the project. For example, although a change in overall survival might not be seen within the one-year time frame, an increase in the number of clinical breast exams performed at a local clinic, or the number of cases of breast cancer diagnosed, could be measurable.
- Because underserved communities often have worse outcomes at baseline, it may be easier to see gains in these populations than in others.
- Describe similar interventions that have been undertaken in the past by your organization or by others, and describe how the current project is new or different from what has been done before, or how it seeks to reproduce or verify earlier results. For screening and outreach interventions, we expect you to show familiarity with relevant health communication literature and explain why your approach is more likely than alternatives to be successful.
- Describe how outcomes will be measured, and how you will disseminate the results of your work so that others may try to duplicate your success or compare their results to yours. This might include presentations to other organizations or to other chapters if your organization is chapter-based or part of a network, or publication of your results and materials online or in print.
- Ultimately, the largest “multiplier effect” for interventional projects comes from making improvements that can be put into practice in many communities. For example, direct funding for mammograms might not be as effective as training outreach workers using a curriculum that could then be adapted easily for other communities. A more compelling grant proposal will demonstrate how you are doing something in a new way, which could then be used to encourage other organizations to adopt your new way, leading to a change in practice on a larger scale.
Additional pointers on grant proposal composition (answers to frequently asked questions):
- Executive summary paragraphs should be modeled after the descriptions of awardee and Honorable Mention projects below.
- Some proposals consist in large part of a description of the applying organization. Our board finds it easier to make decisions about the project if organizational information is focused on describing how the organization is well-qualified to execute the project, and the bulk of the proposal describes how the project will be carried out.
- Remember, the Seed Grant program does not fund operating costs, and the most persuasive proposals will describe how the project will become independent of NRGF funding (e.g., use evidence of seed grant project results to acquire funding from other sources for further development).
- A single individual should be identified as responsible for the overall conduct of the project, and should sign the face page as “applicant”. We will address our decision letter to the applicant, not necessarily to other personnel involved in grant writing. Individuals at an institution should have an institutional sponsor signature (by the writer of the institutional letter of support).
- Proposals involving human or animal research must be approved or declared exempt by an appropriate IRB or IACUC, respectively, before funding decisions are made in late February. Proposals under IRB/IACUC review at the time of submission should be accompanied by an IRB/IACUC letter giving the expected date of review, with a final approval/exemption letter required before funding is disbursed, ideally by September 15, 2009, but in extenuating circumstances a later date may be acceptable.
- Grants to institutions outside the U.S. should include an IRS certification that the institution is permitted to accept grants from U.S. 501(c)3 organizations. Many larger institutions will have such a letter on file with their development offices. Government entities are generally permitted to receive 501(c)3 grants.
- We are unable to provide grants to individuals for their breast cancer treatment.
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| Download Application
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 Download Application (Adobe PDF format)
Download Application Instructions(Adobe PDF format)
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2009 Medical Advisory Board
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Michael A. Gelman, PhD, Chair
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA
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Chloe Atreya, MD, PhD
University of California-San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
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Navneet Dhillon, MD
University of California-San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
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Carolyn Friel, RPh, PhD
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Worcester, MA
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Joseph M. Langenhan, PhD
Seattle University
Seattle, WA
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Raymond Liu, MD
Kaiser Permanente
San Francisco, CA
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Jane A. McElroy, PhD
University of Missouri School of Medicine
Columbia, MO
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Megan O'Meara, MD
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
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Kellie Rosinski
University of Washington-Seattle
Seattle, WA
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Steven Rosinski MD PhD
University of Washington-Seattle
Seattle, WA
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John Strickler, MD
Duke University
Durham, NC
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Leslie Walker, MD
Sapulpa, OK
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Shelly Wyrick, PT
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland, OR
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| 2009 Seed Grant Recpients
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| Awardee |
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Emily Eismann
University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Coping, Stress, and Health in Breast Cancer Patients
Emily Eismann, a doctoral student at the University of Louisville, performs research on the effects of mindfulness meditation on stress, health, and well-being. Mindfulness meditation involves the purposeful directing of attention to one’s breath and body. During the intervention, the participant is guided by an instructor to focus their attention on their breath as it flows in and out and to observe the activity of their mind as well as subtle changes within their body. This technique has recently evolved into a stress reduction program, entitled Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction |
(MBSR), and has been highly effective at improving the health of patients with a variety of medical conditions.
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With a 2009 Seed Grant from NRGF, Emily Eismann and her colleagues will conduct a pilot study where they will teach newly diagnosed breast cancer patients mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques through iPod mp3 players. They will collect information from the patients on their coping strategies, stress levels, sleep patterns, and well-being both before and after the intervention through questionnaires, saliva samples, and actigraph recordings. They hope that this intervention will provide the patients with simple tools to better help them cope during the stressful time between their diagnosis and surgery. They also hope to reduce the psychological and physiological stress of the patients, while improving their health, well-being, and quality of life. The success of this study would be of direct benefit to the patients who participate and would hopefully support the development of psychosocial interventions for cancer patients within health care centers nationwide.
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| Awardee |
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Khurshid A. Guru, M.D.
Guru Charitable Foundation, East Amherst, NY
Women's Health Initiative
The Guru Charitable Foundation (GCF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is undertaking its Women’s Health Initiative to educate women in Kashmir (India) about breast cancer, the method for performing breast self-examinations (BSEs),
and the importance of early detection. The efforts focused primarily on breast health will also include study of related epidemiologic and other women’s health issues. Education and door-to-door |
outreach will utilize video demonstrations, breast self-examination models, and breast cancer brochures written in the local language. The associated outcomes will be measured by the participants educated, the participants who are referred for and obtain additional care, and the total number of surveys completed. The outcomes will in turn create vital baseline data that will be analyzed and shared with healthcare providers in Kashmir and other regions internationally whose circumstances, such as widespread poverty and collective violence, mirror those in Kashmir. It is our hope that these efforts will be duplicated in other areas or that similar health interventions may spring from the epidemiological profile compiled.
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| Honorable Mention |
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Brazosport Health Foundation
Brazosport Regional Health System, Lake Jackson, TX
The Mermaid Project
The Mermaid Project began five years ago as a free mammogram program benefiting the medically-underserved women of Southern Brazoria County. Through local donations, grants, public support, and collaborations with medical professionals, the Project has expanded to employ a patient navigator and provide breast cancer diagnostics, treatment, breast cancer education and psychosocial support. The Mermaid Project will measure the attendees’ knowledge about breast health and breast cancer before and after the education sessions. Information |
about this outreach initiative will be shared with members of the Breast Health Collaborative of Texas. Successful outreach efforts can be shared with potential funders, both foundations and local donors, so as to earn other grants and financial support for the program.
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