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McKamish Family Foundation Cardiovascular Innovator Awards

These awards are made possible through a generous donation from the McKamish Family Foundation that began in December 2021. The goal of these awards is to fund the most promising collaborative projects within HVI/VMI. The mission is to advance innovative cardiovascular research at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and catalyze collaborations between basic-translational scientists and clinicians in the cardiovascular space.

Mission

Advance innovative cardiovascular research at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and catalyze collaborations between basic-translational scientists and clinicians in the cardiac space. This is made possible through a generous donation from the McKamish Family Foundation to the HVI.

What

Up to $50K, one-year seed funding for an innovative collaborative project with strong potential to lead to extramural funding. Up to 5 applications can be funded annually.

Who

Project must be a study involving two faculty members, one being a clinician-researcher the other a basic/translational scientist, both faculty members being in either HVI or VMI.

How

Applications must include:

  • Cover Page – name of faculty PIs, academic degrees, departments, contact information, budget period (not to exceed one year and to start four weeks after submission date at earliest), requested budget (not to exceed $50K)
  • Proposal – Maximum of 3 pages (+ 1-page bibliography) narrative addressing research rationale, aims/hypotheses, approach, expected results and plan for extramural funding
  • Budget – one-page budget describing distribution of funds. Note:
    • Money can be used to support staff and postdocs, but not faculty salaries
    • Money cannot be used to buy equipment
    • Money can support only direct costs (no indirect costs)

The completed 6-page document should be saved as a single PDF and submitted to Patty Neary, Administrative Assistant to Dr. Saba (nearypl@upmc.edu) with a cc to Kim Finch, Administrative Director of HVI and VMI, (finchka@upmc.edu).

Expectations

Successful applicants are required to provide a report at the end of the one-year funding period to the internal advisory board of the McKamish Family Foundation Cardiology Innovator Awards describing their findings, which will be shared with the McKamish Family Foundation. They may also be asked to provide a short presentation to representatives of the McKamish Family Foundation. All publications supported by these funds should acknowledge the McKamish Family Foundation for its generous support.

Review Process

Applications will undergo peer review by non-conflicted investigators from the University of Pittsburgh and/or UPMC. Recommendations made as a result of the peer review process will be forwarded to the internal advisory board of the HVI for final selection of grants to be awarded.

 

Review Criteria

  • The project is novel and innovative
  • The cardiovascular question is relevant and prevalent
  • The results have impactful implications mechanistically and/or clinically
  • The project is feasible and experimental approach is rigorous
  • The project has potential to lead to more comprehensive studies
  • The project has potential to yield to extramural funding