Career Development Awards

Here are the guidelines for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation’s Career Development Awards:

 

Objective: Career Development Awards are mentored awards intended to facilitate the development of individuals with research potential to prepare for a career of independent basic research investigation in the area of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

 

Applicant Eligibility: *The Foundation is sensitive to personal matters that impact career trajectories. Applicants who have taken leave from their career (e.g., parenting of a child, childbirth, long-term care of a parent/spouse/child/dependent, personal health issues), or have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in a way that puts them outside of the eligibility time frame, should feel free to reach out to Foundation staff ahead of their application submission. We aim to be flexible and adjust these time frames if necessary and appropriate. This can be captured in the applicant's cover letter.*

 

Individuals who are already well established in the field of IBD research are not considered eligible for this award. Applicants should identify a senior investigator to act as a mentor to facilitate the transition to independence. At the time of application, applicants must be employed by an institution (public non-profit, private non-profit, or government) engaged in health care and/or health related research within the United States. Research is not restricted by citizenship; however, proof of legal work status is required. Applicants must hold an MD and/or PhD (or equivalent degree). Candidates holding MD degrees must have five years of experience after receiving their terminal degree—two years of which must be documented research experience relevant to IBD. Applicants holding PhDs must have at least two years of documented post-doctoral research relevant to IBD. Generally, candidates should not be in excess of ten years beyond the attainment of their doctoral degree.

 

Proposal Eligibility: Proposal MUST be relevant to IBD (Crohn's disease and/or ulcerative colitis) and must contain a career development plan detailing a training plan, mentorship plan, and describe how receiving this award will facilitate the transition to independence. Only one application is allowed per applicant per submission date. Simultaneous submission of a Senior Research Award and Training Award is not permitted.

 

Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation/NASPGHAN IBD Young Investigator Awardee:

A single awardee for the annual Crohn's & Colitis Foundation/NASPGHAN IBD Young Investigator Award will be chosen in late June/early July from both the Fall and Spring cycles.

 

This three-year grant, in partnership with the NASPGHAN Foundation and the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, is available to research fellows or junior faculty. Applications must propose original translational, epidemiological, or basic scientific research related to pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. Applicants must indicate in their submission for either a Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Career Development or Research Fellowship Award and that the submission is pediatric IBD-related.  This is important for the study to be considered for the joint Crohn's & Colitis Foundation/NASPGHAN IBD Young Investigator award.

 

Time Commitment: Awardees must devote a minimum of 65% of his/her professional time directly to the project.

 

Stipend & Institutional Allowance: Award salary will match applicants’ institutional salary (salaries may be supplemented by the applicant’s institution), depending on postgraduate year (PGY) level, up to $60,000 per year. Fringe benefits are allowed according to institutional policies, but must not exceed 25% of the salary award (up to $15,000 per year). The Foundation will also provide up to $27,500 to be used for non-salary/fringe expenses such as an MPH degree or equivalent tuition (all degrees must be completed within the three years of this award), statistical support, travel to professional meetings, professional memberships and textbooks. These funds may not be used to supplement awardee’s salary/fringe benefits.

  1. Salary: up to $60,000 per year
  2. Fringe: 25% of salary, or up to $15,000 per year
  3. Other than Personnel Service (OTPS): up to $27,500 per year
  4. Duration of Award: One to three years
  5. Total maximum award per year: $102,500 (subject to annual progress report approval).

 


 

New Opportunity for Foundation Awardees to Access IBD Plexus!

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation is pleased to inform researchers applying for its Career Development Award (CDA) that they may gain access at no cost to the biosamples and/or research-ready datasets housed within IBD Plexus as part of a newly funded CDA research project.

 

IBD Plexus™ was founded by the Foundation with a mission to advance science, accelerate progress towards precision medicine and improve the care of patients living with IBD. The multi-component IBD Plexus includes a biobank, pediatric and adult patient clinical data, patient-reported data, linked genetic and other molecular data and biosamples, central reference labs to generate molecular data (genetic, transcriptomic, microbiomic, etc.) from existing biosamples, as well as a data and analytical platform to house, organize, aggregate, and provide data for research.

 

Investigators who choose to convert biosamples to molecular data as part of their research proposal can use CDA funds to help defray those costs. Most molecular data generation is done at IBD Plexus central reference laboratories to promote standardization and the ability to pool results. Further, IBD Plexus functions under the guiding principle that researchers who take advantage of the resources will also contribute back the raw data (not the analyses) they derive from patient biosamples.

 

For more details about IBD Plexus data and samples, please review the high level overview, summary, and data/sample use agreements.

 


 

The Foundation uses the Proposal Central system for all grants submissions. Just select the program to which you are applying. All instructions and policies are available at this site. For matters related to submissions for the Career Development Awards please contact N'Dea Johnson at [email protected]. For post-award management questions: [email protected].

 

Application Deadlines:

Before submitting a Letter of Intent or a Full Proposal, please view the Career Development Award instructions and policies.

 

  Spring/Summer Fall/Winter
Letter of Intent

November 16th, 2023

11:59pm EST

May 6th, 2024

11:59pm EST

Online Application Submission

January 26th, 2024

11:59pm EST

July 19th, 2024

11:59pm EST

Applications Review April – May October - November
Decisions Announced Mid/Late June January