Hartwell Foundation - Individual Biomedical Research Awards | Research

External Deadline:

Sep 2024

Internal Deadline:

Jun 2024

External Deadline: Sep 2024 Internal Deadline: June 3, 2024

Instructions for electronic submission: To apply for the Hartwell Foundation, please submit the materials requested below to this link no later than June 3, 2024, at 11:59 PM.

Budget: $100,000/year for 3 years; no IDCs

Number of Applications: 3 applications from Cornell (including Ithaca)

Program Description:

The Hartwell Foundation seeks early-stage, innovative, and cutting-edge biomedical research (i.e., not an extension of previously funded efforts, or within an already established portfolio) that has not yet qualified for significant funding from outside sources and that should benefit children of the U.S. Preliminary data are not required. Innovation should be of sufficient novelty and risk that preliminary data is not possible to achieve or insufficient to support the hypothesis. Established preliminary data similar to what might be expected in a federal grant will be judged outside the call. As part of the evaluation criteria, the Foundation will look carefully for collaborations, technologies used, translational impacts, benefits to children, and how the pursuit of the research will make a difference to child patients either currently or in the future.

The Foundation will only consider biomedical research proposals that reflect relevance in terms of potential benefit to children. Fundable projects are from areas of natural and applied science related to children's health, including biomedical engineering. The Foundation seeks risk-taking innovation that addresses an unmet need and has the potential for clinical translation if successful. The Foundation seeks to fund new applications of an existing technology, and new technologic approaches to existing problems and where the current technology may be deficient. The Foundation does not fund basic research (scientific inquiry motivated by a desire to extend fundamental knowledge with long delayed or unpredictable benefits); or provide financial support to those in pursuit of commercial venture. Note that the Foundation does not fund research in public health epidemiology, social science, ecology, environmental impacts, botany, or anthropology. The Foundation will not fund “studies”, surveys, health services research or stand-alone clinical trials; and will not consider biomedical research in areas generally associated with adult health unless there is a readily apparent and particularly convincing benefit to children in the United States.

In selecting awardees, the Foundation takes into account: the transformative nature of the innovation; the extent to which a strategic or translational approach might accelerate the clinical application of research results to benefit children; might inspire a distinctive shift in perspective or provide a strategic benefit to other researchers; the extent of collaboration in the proposed research; the institutional commitment to provide encouragement and technical support to the investigator; the extent to which funding the investigator will make a difference in the trajectory of their professional careers; and whether they think that becoming a Hartwell Fellow will be transformative. The Foundation is particularly interested in candidates who can articulate a personal connection to the mission of the Foundation and the research that will be funded by the Foundation.

Please refrain from contacting the Foundation directly. Direct your questions to Florencia Marcucci (flm4001@med.cornell.edu) or BJ Hoerner (bjh256@cornell.edu).

For a recording of the 2022 Hartwell informational session, please click here.

Click here for Foundation website.

Eligibility

Institutions may not nominate the same individual in two consecutive annual competitions.
Candidates must be U.S. citizens, hold a full-time appointment, and must have adequate committed laboratory and office space to conduct the proposed research.
Candidates must hold a PhD, MD, MD/PhD, or equivalent doctoral degree. New: Please indicate in the Biosketch if the candidate has been admitted and passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school (e.g., MD, DO, DMD, DDS, MBBS, etc.).
Cornell is required to nominate one MD or equivalent professional degree or who have been admitted and passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school (e.g., MD, DO, DMD, DDS, MBBS, etc.).
If the nominee does not hold a MD or equivalent, at least one collaborator must be identified as a practicing physician, preferably in pediatric medicine.
Recipients must agree not to take a sabbatical during the 3-year funding period.
Nominee effort should be at least 15% to be considered for award.
Candidates must be able to attend the in-person interview during November 1- November 21, 2024.
Eligible projects must show an anticipated pathway for clinical translation.
Proposals that already receive or will receive significant extramural funding (e.g., NIH, NSF, DOD, commercial entities, other foundations, etc.) are ineligible for consideration.

Application Requirements

Cornell, including Weill Cornell Medicine, may submit up to three nominations. Institutions may not nominate the same individual in two consecutive annual competitions.

Department Chairs/Division Heads may submit no more than two nominations from their department. Note: Chairs/Division Heads submitting more than one nomination must send a statement to researchdean@med.cornell.edu commenting on the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two nominees.

Submissions should contain the following information. Please read the instructions carefully and make sure all components are addressed in the application:

1. Letter of nomination: One-two page letter of nomination from the Dept. Chair/Div. Head detailing why the candidate should be considered.

2. Summary of Research: One-page non-technical summary suitable for a lay audience, which specifically addresses why the research is early-stage, innovative, and cutting edge, and how it will benefit children in the U.S. Nominees must explain the unmet need that is addressed by the proposed innovation and how the pursuit of the proposed research will make a difference. Per the Foundation’s guidelines, nominees should use the phrasing: “My research is early-stage because ... ”, “ My research is innovative because ...”

3. Proposal: Two-page proposal describing the proposed research:

Introductions
Aims
Research Strategy
Contingencies
Timeline
How the PI has a personal connection to the research being proposed
Description of how transformative Hartwell would be for the applicant vis a vis their established/documented trajectory
A statement on the risk/reward of the proposed research

The proposal must justify why the research is pioneering and not an extension of previous research or incremental advancement. Outline aims and objectives, key collaborations, a timeline and reasonable milestones. Any references, figures, or images are limited to one additional page. The research design must include a backup strategy for any technical or feasibility limitations in the research, including contingencies related to collaborations.

4. Budget: Detailed budget in four-column format (Category, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3) showing major categories for each year of the project, as well as a paragraph describing the contemplated approach for seeking follow-on funding at the expiration of the award. Click here for the Hartwell budget template.

Important Budget Notes:

Hartwell does not accept NIH/NSF budget forms.
If any salary is taken by the PI it must be justified why it is necessary to do so and why no other salary options are available; percentage effort may not be used as a justification.
Justify the necessity for using any portion of funding for salary for any collaborators and key lab support personnel—describe explicitly the expected benefits from the contribution of all budgeted personnel and identify their percentage effort. Make sure all collaborators and key personnel are named in the budget.
Hartwell does not allow F&A costs.
The Foundation will only pay for non-discretionary government required tax deductions, Social Security, workman’s comp, disability insurance, and relevant medical insurance.
Specific line items – an explanation of how funds will be used is not a justification; offer a succinct explanation of how each budgeted item would make a particular difference in facilitating the proposed research and why no other options are available.
Justify the necessity of using any portion of the funding for travel. Only travel by the nominee may be covered by the Hartwell budget. Do not budget travel for the Hartwell Annual Meeting.
If student expense or tuition reimbursement is requested the reasons why the project cannot succeed without student participation must be provided.

5. Biosketch: Include all current research support (start-up and external) and pending support, including dollar amounts and start/end dates.

Instructions for Electronic Submission of Nominations:

Submit the above items here no later than June 3, 2024 at 11:59 pm in the order listed in one PDF file using this naming convention: PI last name-first initial_Hartwell2024.pdf (see example below). Margins should be at least one inch and font size not less than 11 point.

Example: Smith-J_Hartwell2024.pdf