MICoR Grant (Multi-Institutional Collaborative Clinical/Translational Research Grant)

MICoR Grant Overview

Purpose: Support multi-institutional investigation addressing key clinical and translational research questions that advance care for perioperative patients with cardiovascular and thoracic disease.

Background and Rationale

SCA funding of this project will:

• Offer opportunity for larger scale investigation directly relevant to perioperative patient care with cardiovascular and thoracic disease
• Support multi-center investigations that could not be accomplished by single institutions
• Include larger and more diverse patient populations to promote robustness and broad applicability
• Provide stepping stone to federal funding for academic-clinician SCA members
• Foster inter-institutional collaboration and resource sharing
• Raise profile of SCA through higher visibility research projects

Research Objectives and Priorities

• Focus on innovative collaborative approaches where scientific objectives require co-PI efforts
• Prioritized Areas:
  • Clinical trials and translational studies with associated mechanistic studies
  • Clear pathway and plan for federal funding application (NIH program project or equivalent)
  • Innovative applications of data science techniques or machine learning
  • Studies leveraging SCA/STS database as a resource

Investigator Requirements

• Co-Primary Investigators (Co-PIs):
  • Must be from two or more separate institutions
  • One co-PI must be underrepresented in medicine (women or racial/ethnic groups: Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander)
  • Must convey equal level of contribution; otherwise classify as collaborating investigators
  • Must hold faculty/staff appointments at their institutions at time of application
  • Minimum 20% non-clinical commitment required
  • Institutional commitment to support additional 20% non-clinical time beyond award funding allocation required
  • Co-PI at primary sponsoring department site must have been SCA member for 3+ years prior to application
  • All co-PIs must be SCA members throughout award period
• Inter-institutional mentor/mentee co-investigator relationships encouraged
• Investigators at secondary sites for patient recruitment/surgical case mix are not co-PIs

Funding Details

• Total Award: $200,000 x 3 years for total of $600,000 (including up to 10% institutional indirect costs)
• Award Duration: Three years
• Earliest Award Date: July 1, 2021

What SCA MICoR Will NOT Support

• Industry-sponsored studies or studies of investigational medical devices supplied/paid for by manufacturers
• Studies where any investigator, collaborator, study personnel, or other sponsor have conflict of interest

Contact Information

• Email: grants@scahq.org
• Address: 1061 East Main Street, Suite 300, East Dundee, IL 60118
• Phone: 855-658-2828
• Website: scahq.org

Application Process

1. Letter of Intent (LOI) - REQUIRED
   • Maximum length: 2 pages
   • Content requirements:
   • Proposed study including background, specific aims, study design
   • Target patient population or disease process
   • Description of any translational/mechanistic components
   • Roles of co-PIs, their backgrounds/connection to topic area
   • Key personnel description
   • Unique skills or resources each co-PI and their institutions bring
   • NIH format biosketch for each co-PI
   • Submission: Email to grants@scahq.org
2. Full Application (by invitation only)
   • Only invited applicants after LOI review may submit full application
   • Submitted through application portal (opens mid-January)

Timeline

• Letter of intent deadline: November 1, 2020
• Notification of invitation for full application: November 15, 2020
• Application portal opens: Mid-January 2021
• Application deadline for invited applicants: February 1, 2021
• Award recipients announced: SCA 2021 Annual Meeting