Announcement

Request for Proposals

Center on Biodemography and Population Health (CBPH)The USC/UCLA CBPH invites interested investigators to submit proposals for twelve month pilot research projects. Projects will begin on July 1st, 2023 and end on June 30th, 2024.

Please share this announcement with researchers who might be interested. Download the PDF version.

Research Focus

The USC/UCLA CBPH is funded by the National Institute on Aging (P30 AG017265). Its aims include promoting research that

  1. integrates epidemiological, medical, and biological information into investigation of population health outcomes in order to better understand health differences across socioeconomic, race/ethnic, and demographic subgroups of the population and across international populations
  2. develops models of population health outcomes that will clarify the effects of changes in risk factors and interventions on trends in population health.

Research should be relevant to health outcomes that are important in the aging process but is not limited to research on older samples. We have a particular interest in promoting the development of novel biomarker measures for use in populations. Current focus of CBPH pilots is novel biomarkers for health outcomes at older ages, epigenetics, transcriptomics, telomeres, markers of immune function and senescence and MRI markers. Pilots are expected to lead to subsequent NIH funding.

More information on activities of the CBPH at https://gero.usc.edu/cbph/

Budget

Investigators can be from institutions other than USC or UCLA but the budget constraints differ. Investigators may request costs up to $25,000 per year for pilot projects. This amount must include Direct Costs and F&A for investigators outside of USC and UCLA. For pilots at USC or UCLA the Direct Costs can be up to $25,000. Funds can be used for research assistance, salaries, laboratory assays, travel, supplies and data collection.

Timetable

  • March 1 – Submit Proposal – Cover page, Abstract, Specific Aims, Innovation, Research Design (3 pages total not including abstract), NIH Budget pages, NIH Biosketch. File should be in Word Format. Send to Crimmins (USC), crimmin@usc.edu; and Seeman (UCLA) TSeeman@mednet.ucla.edu.
  • Request Human subjects approvals if needed.
  • March 20 – Notification of review committee decisions;
  • April 15 – IRB approvals due (all proposed projects must show IRB approval for submission to NIA by our April 23 submission of proposals to the National Institute on Aging)
  • July 1, 2023 – Funding begins (Approximately, date could be affected by issues beyond our control) – Projects begin after notification of approval from NIA.

Duration of pilot projects is 12 months. Project report provided to CBPH upon completion. Pilot outcomes such as resulting proposals, research funding, and publications must be reported and are expected outcomes of support. All research resulting from the pilot work must credit NIA grant P30AG017265. All publications must be submitted to Pubmed Central.

Format of Proposals

PHS 398 Cover page, an abstract which clarifies the value of the research, NIH-biosketch for all key-personnel, a PHS 398 budget page, plus 3 page proposal covering specific aims/hypothesis, preliminary studies and methods, expected outcomes. All proposals using human subjects will need institutional IRB approval before we can send to NIH for review. If a project involves a sub-contract, you need to also include a signed PHS 398 face page from the sub-contractor and a letter signed by the sub-contractor. A proposal with a foreign component needs special approval from NIA.

Please supply proposal in Word format as we need to cut and paste proposed projects into our annual report.

Selection Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated for (a) the quality and importance of the proposed research; (b) relatedness of research to mission of the Center; (c) likelihood that proposed work will result in R01 funding within 2 years; (d) likelihood the research will result in important publications with insights into population health; (e) credentials of investigators – new investigators and investigators in underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

For more information about CPBH see the website (https://gero.usc.edu/cbph/) or contact Eileen Crimmins, Jennifer Ailshire, Teresa Seeman, or Steve Cole.

Eileen Crimmins, Director USC, crimmin@usc.edu
Teresa Seeman, Director UCLA, TSeeman@mednet.ucla.edu
Steve Cole, Director UCLA, steve.cole@ucla.edu
Jennifer Ailshire, Director USC, ailshire@usc.edu