Request for Application: The Washington University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is soliciting applications for 2024 Cycle 2 of the L.A.B. Award internal pilot grants. The goal of this program is to promote research and grantsmanship by providing pilot funding for residents, clinical fellows, postdoctoral research fellows and associates, and junior faculty in the Department who have no startup or extramural research funding. Projects should be for clinical or translational research in women’s health that are not eligible for Just-in-Time funding through the Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences affiliated cores. The L.A.B. award will fund one-year pilot grants for up to $10,000 for all applicants.

Eligibility: 

  • Applicants must be a resident, clinical or postdoctoral fellow/associate, or faculty at the instructor or assistant professor level within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
  • Faculty must have no startup research package or extramural research funding.
  • Non-faculty must have an OB/GYN faculty sponsor and may identify a second faculty sponsor from any department (second sponsor is not required).
  • Two trainees may apply as co-PIs.
  • Any application proposing recruitment of human subjects should have a clinical faculty member as a mentor or co-investigator (or DCR Chief/Manager approves exception) and agree to use established services (clinic navigators, L&D research team) when applicable.
  • Applicants may only be the recipient of one L.A.B. Award per academic year and they may only submit one application each cycle.
  • Applicants graduating during the 12-month project period must have a trainee co-PI who will be present for the entire project period. This individual will transition to a sole PI role upon the applicant’s graduation. If the PI transition has not occurred by graduation, the LAB Award Committee reserves the right to withdraw funds.

Deadlines:

A meeting request with the DCR Manager must be made by Friday, August 23, 2024 at 5pm
An email with your intent to submit is due Friday, October 4, 2024 at 5pm
Applications are due by Monday, October 14, 2024 at 5pm

No exceptions to deadlines will be made unless there are extenuating circumstances reviewed and approved by the L.A.B. Award Committee.


Prior to Submission

All applicants must contact the DCR manager, Jaime Strickland (jaime.strickland@wustl.edu), to schedule a meeting. Meeting requests must be made by Friday, August 23, 2024.

Please have a brief synopsis of your proposed study prepared. In this meeting, the manager will discuss your study approach and feasibility, appropriate sourcing, and operationalizing your study plan. This meeting must be completed prior to submitting your full application.

Intent to Submit

An email indicating your intent to submit should be set to Rachel Paul (paulr@wustl.edu) and include the name of the applicant(s), faculty mentor (if applicable), and tentative project title. A formal letter of intent is not necessary.


Application:

LAB Award

The body of the application is limited to 3 pages using Arial 11-point font and ½ inch margins and should include: 

  • Title
  • Specific Aim(s)
    • There should be 1-3 specific aims that are feasible for the funding and project period of the application.
  • Significance
  • Innovation
  • Approach
    • The approach should specifically outline the study population(s), inclusion and exclusion criteria, recruitment and enrollment strategies (if applicable), data collection plan, and primary and secondary outcomes.
      • If an existing data source will be used for analyses, a description of the data source should be included.
    • Database development and data management & cleaning procedures should be clearly outlined, if applicable.
    • A section on statistical analyses should include a power calculation (including calculations for any subgroup analyses), and a detailed statistical analysis plan. Studies may be descriptive in nature but, if no power calculation will be undertaken, there should be a justification as to why this is the case. 
    • Justify the feasibility of your sample size. For example, if you plan to recruit 100 patients removing their LNG-IUDs, provide estimate numbers for how many patients meeting your inclusion criteria have LNG-IUDs removed in a month in the clinics you plan to recruit from.
  • Plan to address the social determinants of health (when applicable)

Binding

The applications will be reviewed using a double-blinded review process. Applicants will not know the identity of reviewers, and reviewers will not know the identity of the applicants or faculty mentors. The only component of the application that should include the applicant and mentor’s names is the faculty letter of support. This will be reviewed by the L.A.B. Award Program officer

Appendices

You may attach survey drafts or data collection forms as appendices at the end of your approach. The appendices do not count towards the 3-page limit.


Support Materials:

These supplemental documents should be submitted, and are not included in the 3-page limit:

  • Study Timeline (see example)
    • The timeline should outline the proposed progression of the project over one year. All submitted projects should be feasible to complete in a 12-month period.

Please discuss sourcing estimates for any staff time, data management, and statistical services in your preliminary meeting.

  • Salary support for the applicant and mentor (if applicable) should be in-kind
  • You may not request funding for conference travel and registration.
  • Budget Justification
  • Roles and responsibilities for each team member, including the applicant and faculty mentor (if applicable), should be clearly described. Refer to team members by their roles, and not by name.
    • For applications with co-PIs, roles, and responsibilities for each should be clearly delineated.
  • The justification for additional supplies, equipment, participant incentives, etc should be itemized (explain the need for each item separately, not as “supplies”).
  • Bibliography, using AMA formatting
  • Letter of support from faculty sponsor for non-faculty applicants
  • If the application is a resubmission, a ½-1 page summary of how the reviewer comments were addressed and changes that have been made to the application.

Document Format:

Please submit the documents in Microsoft Word or PDF format. You may submit as one document or each component separately.

Proposal Submission:

Applications should be submitted via email to Rachel Paul (paulr@wustl.edu). Applications are due Monday, October 14, 2024 at 5pm. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Review Criteria:

LAB Awards will undergo peer review by a committee according to the National Institutes of Health criteria (Significance, Innovation, and Approach) with emphasis on

1. Relevance to reproductive health

2. The feasibility of the scope of work as it pertains to the funding amount, project period, and existing obligations of the applicant

3. The likelihood of leading to a deliverable work output (manuscript, subsequent internal or external funding.

Interest in Reviewing Applications:

If you are interested in participating in a L.A.B. Award study section as a reviewer, please contact Rachel Paul, MPH, (paulr@wustl.edu). Faculty, clinical fellows, postdoctoral fellows & associates, and residents are encouraged to participate.

Funded Applications:

A narrative final report will be due at the end of the project period. Recipients of full LAB Awards will be asked to present their findings at a departmental meeting after the project period has concluded.

Questions:

Please direct questions to Rachel Paul, MPH, (paulr@wustl.edu).