Community Health Partnerships (CHeP) Trailblazer Award Grant

Community Health Partnerships (CHeP) Trailblazer Award Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI)
Amount: Up to US $25,000
Last Updated: April 01, 2026

Summary

The Community Health Partnerships (CHeP) Trailblazer Award invites proposals for community-engaged research projects aiming to enhance health equity and address social determinants of health. With funding up to $25,000 over two years, the award supports collaborative efforts between university and community partners. Key focus areas include substance use, obesity prevention, and health disparities in rural areas. Projects should demonstrate sustainability and community engagement, ensuring all participants are committed to improving health outcomes in Indiana.

Overview

Community Health Partnerships (CHeP) Trailblazer Award The Indiana CTSI Community Health Partnerships (CHeP) is soliciting proposals for collaborative, community-engaged research projects focused on topics that have potential to improve health, examine social determinants of health (SDoH), or enhance health equity. Examples of work we are interested in funding include substance use/misuse, obesity prevention, maternal and infant mortality, chronic diseases and health care challenges, as well as disparities in rural areas. This RFA encourages and prioritizes projects that have outlined a sustainability plan using existing Indiana CTSI infrastructure (i.e., Connections IN Health, Monon Collaborative, etc.) and/or connections to statewide health initiatives. Eligible projects will propose to: implement exploratory research that has the potential to identify or reduce health inequities, or impact SDoH;evaluate a program that has the potential to improve health equity or impact SDOH; orimplement and do a preliminary evaluation of a health-related program. Health equity, briefly defined, is “achieved when every person has the opportunity to ‘attain his or her full health potential’ and no one is ‘disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances’” (CDC). Projects that propose to achieve their objectives by changing (or demonstrating the potential to change) policy, systems, and/or the environment are encouraged. Funding Funding may be requested up to $25,000 over two years. Budget allocations must be split between the community and university partners (minimum 25% to each partner). Faculty salary may be supported up to $5,000 (including fringe and benefits) total per project with appropriate justification. There is no limit to non-faculty salary support. An estimated effort for both supported and in-kind work is expected in the budget, and effort committed cannot be covered by other federal support. You may reimburse for personnel time required to complete CITI training, CIRTification training, or equivalent.The proposed budget must be justified, including all planned expenditures. Please indicate if there are other resources committed to the project in the total budget. Total project costs may exceed $25,000 when other funding entities have committed to the project.Funds cannot be used to purchase equipment greater than $5,000 per piece. All hospitality expenses must be justified. Travel expenses (in-state only) are limited to those necessary to achieve the aims of the proposed project. Please use the current state of Indiana reimbursement rates (not the university or federal rates).The proposed project period cannot exceed 24 months.

Eligibility

We've imported the main document for this grant to give you an overview. You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. There must be both:a university partner andThe University Project Lead must be a “full-time” (>80% FTE) faculty member employed by a college, university, or other academic institution located within the state of Indiana.a community partner for the project.The Community Project Lead must have ≥80% of their work assignment based in the community. Examples of communities include but are not limited to:geographically-based groups;condition-specific groups (e.g., patients with diabetes, hypertension, STDs, etc.);self-characterized communities (e.g., African American, LGBTQ+, Hispanic or Latino, etc.);community-based hospitals, clinics, health departments, or other health facilities; orneighborhoods, grass-roots organizations, faith-based organizations, and community organizations interested in health. If a community partner receives salary support from an academic institution, specifically acknowledge and justify the community partner’s role in the community. Both partners must currently be employed in an Indiana-based organization.All individuals listed on the application in any role are required to join the Indiana CTSI Community Health Partnerships Network.Applicants must address a community-engaged research question that is significant and relevant to both the community and university partners. Applicants must demonstrate how the proposed project incorporates community engagement and provide evidence of shared control of the research question by both partners.

Ineligibility

Individuals who have received salary support from Indiana CTSI Community Health Partnerships (other than previous Trailblazer Award support or Purdue Extension Educator cost-shared support) in the 24 months prior to the submission deadline may collaborate on the project but may not serve as a Project Lead.Postdoctoral students, fellows, residents, adjunct professors, visiting professors may collaborate on the project, but are not eligible to serve as a University Project Lead. Staff members are not eligible to serve as the University Project Lead. However, they are permitted to, under guidance from a research faculty member designated as the University Project Lead, serve in a leadership role for the project.Out-of-state travel cannot be included in the budget.