The Global Cardiovascular Health Program—a joint collaboration of the Division of Cardiology and the Department of Global Health—was established in November 2021 to harness interdisciplinary expertise on campus to drive innovation that will improve cardiovascular health outcomes in diverse settings around the world.
The GCHP’s pilot award funds Interdisciplinary Team Science Pilot Grants which will stimulate new inter- and trans-disciplinary collaborations in the field of global cardiovascular health. The 2024 RFA is now live.
- February 15: RFA issued
- April 19: Deadline to submit proposal
- May 31: Final funding decision made and dispositions sent by email
- July 1: Funding starts
Each application must have a multi-principal investigator (MPI) structure. Co-PIs must be faculty members from two (or more) different departments or disciplines within the University (Examples: Nursing and Medicine, Cardiology and Endocrinology, Bioengineering and Global Health). At least one of the PIs must have a primary or joint appointment in the Department of Global Health or the Division of Cardiology. Post-doctoral fellows, residents, graduate students, and research associates are not eligible to apply, but may be part of the research team.
Additional MPIs or co-investigators from other countries are strongly encouraged in order to ensure equitable and engaged local partnerships.
Research across the entire spectrum of translational science is permitted, from basic discovery to clinical research to population health and implementation science; however, investigators should clearly demonstrate the potential global cardiovascular health impacts of the proposed research. Projects that involve global to local reciprocal innovation are also within scope.
All applications must be single spaced, 11-point Arial Font, 0.5-inch narrow margins. An application will consist of a title page, budget, research strategy, biosketches, and letters of support as described below.
Title Page
- Principal Investigators’ Names, School/Department/Division, and email addresses. Please indicate who is serving as the “contact PI”.
- Lay summary: 3-4 sentences written at 7th grade language level or below
- Provide a 12-24 month budget not to exceed $50,000 total along with an accompanying budget justification. Please describe the source of any matching funds or existing grants on which the proposal will build. The following limitations will apply to any pilot funding requested for this application (does not apply to existing or matching funds):
- No faculty salary support is allowed, but support for post-docs or research assistants is not restricted.
- Funds cannot be used for equipment >$5,000
- A fee of 5% is required as a gift assessment for these funds, please include this in your budget. More info can be found at https://www.washington.edu/giving/assessment/
The following sections must be included (not to exceed 6 pages total):
- Specific Aims (~ ½ page)
- Background and Significance (~ 1 page)
- Approach (~ 2 pages)
- Impact and targeted future funding sources (<½ page)
- Structure of the study team, including individual investigator roles/responsibilities and any career development opportunities for junior investigators (<½ page)
- Equity and Inclusion (<½ page). Please describe how this project will foster equitable relationships with partners in other countries and/or promote the diversity, equity, and inclusion goals of the University.
- Timeline and deliverables (<½ page)
- Literature Cited (~½ page; not included in 6-page limit)
- Please submit an NIH format biosketch for each of the MPIs and any other key personnel
- Each co-PI should submit a letter of support from their department chair, division chief, or dean. The letter should attest to the environment and resources available to the investigators (including any matching funds or in-kind contributions) as well as the value of this proposal to stimulate new collaborations in global cardiovascular health. Additional letters of support from co-investigators, country partners, or other key stakeholders are allowed but not required.
We will fund one award of up to $50,000 annually. Please see the application format above for guidelines on providing a budget in your application.
All proposals will be reviewed internally by a panel of cardiology and global health reviewers. Applications will be prioritized according to these criteria:
- Scientific impact on cardiovascular health globally
- Feasibility of success (approach, investigative team, record of PIs, intellectual and physical environment)
- Likelihood of impact on future extramural funding of applicant and team members
- Likelihood of fostering new and/or sustained engagement with the UW Global Cardiovascular Health Program
Grantees are required to submit an interim progress report mid-way through the grant funding period and a final report after completion of all study activities. A reminder and template for this reporting will be provided at the appropriate time.
Timeline:
- February 15: RFA issued
- April 19: Deadline to submit proposal
- May 31: Final funding decision made and dispositions sent by email
- July 1: Funding starts
Please submit applications to globalcardio@uw.edu in the form of a single pdf file by e-mail.
Past Awardees
Title: Systems Analysis and Improvement Approach to Optimize the Delivery of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Care and Prevention (SAIA-T2D)
Year: 2023-2025
Contact PI: Sarah Gimbel, BSN PhD MA MPH, Professor, Department of Child, Family & Population Health Nursing (sgimbel@uw.edu)
Co-PIs: Kenneth Sherr, PhD MPH, Professor, Department of Global Health (ksherr@uw.edu)
Ana Mocumbi, MD PhD FESC, Affiliate Associate Professor, Department of Global Health (amocumuw@uw.edu)
Project Summary: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2D) prevalence among adults in sub-Saharan Africa is high and growing faster than in any other region, while knowledge of diabetic status in the region is the lowest globally. Low-income countries such as Mozambique, face systems-level challenges, (eg. insufficient staffing, medications, funding, limited health information to track patients) that weaken their capacity to prevent, diagnose and treat chronic conditions. The Systems Analysis and Improvement Approach (SAIA) is an evidence-based systems engineering and process improvement strategy designed to improve chronic care services. Our proposal will collect baseline data to adapt and assess the usability and acceptability of SAIA to optimize T2D care in two urban health centers in central Mozambique and also support collaboration with AMODIA (Organization of Mozambican Diabetics), to conduct detailed assessments of the food environments (targeting sodium) of three distinct government cafeteria settings (main hospital, health department and railways department) to inform development of a healthy food procurement policy, critical to support diabetes prevention efforts.
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Title: Early Structural Heart Disease and HIV in East Africa
Year: 2022-2024
Contact PI: Saate S. Shakil, MD, Acting Instructor, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine (saates@cardiology.washington.edu)
Co-PI: Tecla M. Temu, MD PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Global Health (ttemu@uw.edu)
Project Summary: Heart disease is the top cause of death in the United States. Heart disease can be caused by diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and sometimes HIV. In Africa, many people are living with HIV and other risk factors, but heart disease is not as common as in the United States. We want to know if people living in Kenya with risk factors and HIV have early signs of heart disease. If they do not, their environment may protect them from heart disease. Studying these groups and environments could help us find new ways to stop heart disease all over the world.