Dear Colleagues,

The Research Grants Program Office (RGPO)* at the University of California, Office of the President (UCOP) is making available up to $2 Million to immediately support urgent research to mitigate the pandemic.

Brief project proposals for a maximum of $25,000 direct costs and 6 months duration will be evaluated based on the potential to (a) generate rigorous, actionable science by qualified teams with essential infrastructure support; (b) yield measurable, short-term outcomes that, when taken to scale, can help blunt the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak; (c) address the needs of vulnerable populations, including those with the co-morbid conditions of HIV infection, COPD or other lung diseases, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or cancer, as well as the medically underserved.

To address the knowledge gaps identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and others that may inform immediate efforts to stem the COVID-19 outbreak, RGPO encourages the submission of proposals on topics that include but are not limited to:

• SARS-CoV-2 virus natural history, transmission, and diagnostics, including point-of-care tests
• Data collection and sharing tools (strategy, policy, and technology) that are the precursor to the ability to conduct urgent research on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19
• Epidemiological studies, including surveillance, contact-tracing, modeling to predict the patterns of the outbreak and risk mitigation efforts, particularly for those at greater risk for infection and adverse associated outcomes
• Clinical management, especially in patients with cancer, HIV/AIDS, or tobacco use and related diseases and its effect on disparities in healthcare access on the severity of the pandemic
• Infection prevention and control (e.g., health care workers protection, quarantine strategies)
• Development and testing of candidate therapeutics and vaccines for the novel coronavirus, including new immunotherapies, methods of boosting immune responses, virus and reagent mapping, and standardization of animal models to evaluate vaccine efficacy, among others
• Ethical considerations in COVID-19 research and outbreak response
• Behavioral and social aspects in pandemic response, prevention and risk mitigation, economic research, and considerations of the disproportionate including economic considerations and impact effects of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations and marginalized communities
• The impact of smoking and vaping on COVID-19 infection and disease severity
• Susceptibility to infection and severity of COVID-19 infection in patients with lung cancer, COPD, or other diseases
• Tobacco product, e-cigarette and cannabis use cessation during COVID-19 recovery

Applicants will be notified of their funding status within two weeks of submission. No written application critique will be provided. Some applications could be placed on a waiting list for possible later funding.

Successful applicants will be eligible to apply for continuation funding prior to the expiration date. These continuation applications will be more substantive and will undergo competitive peer review.

There is no deadline. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis starting immediately and ending when all available funds have been committed. The project start date is immediately upon notification of award.

The RFP can be viewed at: 

https://uckeepresearching.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/COVID-RFP-for-Publication.pdf

To apply, please submit proposals through SmartSimple (https://ucop.smartsimple.com/).

Thank you.

Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)

*RGPO manages the following programs:  California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP),Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP), California HIV/AIDS Research Program (CHRP)) and the Type 1 Diabetes Research Fund.