GRANT PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Q: What are the basics of the grant cycle? 

A: A new grant cycle begins each July. Applicants are invited to send a Letter of Intent (LOI) which is a brief form outlining the research project. Members of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board (SMAB) and additional mitochondrial experts score the LOIs. Applicants are notified in late December as to whether they are invited to send a full proposal. A proposal is a much longer, more in-depth project description which includes methods, justification, goals, and detailed budget. Selected reviewers, including SMAB members and non-members, PhDs and MDs, review assigned proposals based on their own areas of expertise in relation to the proposals. They provide not only scores, but full page critiques. A face-to-face review meeting, involving all the reviewers, is held in late spring to further discuss each proposal, after which they are given a final score based on the discussion. Grant recipients are selected at this grant review meeting. A letter is then sent to each proposal applicant apprising him/her of the decision concerning his/her proposal, and includes the reviewers’ critiques, minus the reviewers’ names. Winners are awarded at the symposium.

A: In LOIs, the reviewers provide scores for scientific merit and viability, relevance to mitochondrial diseases and the mission of the UMDF, applicant’s qualifications and current or future impact in the mitochondrial field, and his/her mentor’s qualifications (if the applicant is a post-doctoral fellow).
In proposals, reviewers look for significance/impact on mitochondrial disorders, the applicant’s approach to accomplishing project goals, and the project’s feasibility.

A: There are two main categories of research: basic and clinical. It is true that most of the UMDF-funded projects are basic research. Researchers realize that, in order to “fix” a problem in the human body, they must first understand the basics: the structure and function of that system, organ, cell or organelle. Secondly, they attempt to determine what happens when some part of that structure or function is manipulated. Most of basic research falls into one of these two areas and forms the building blocks for clinical research. Because mitochondrial research is a newer field than some other research areas, there is still much to be learned about the basic structure and function of mitochondria. Clinical research focuses more on standardized testing and diagnosis, treatments, and eventually a cure. Approximately 10 percent of UMDF LOI applications are clinical.
One of the focuses of the UMDF is to support and encourage new researchers in the field of mitochondrial disorders. Once these researchers become established, it is then more likely they will be competitive for much larger grants through bigger organizations and institutions such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

For further information regarding the research grant process click here.

List of UMDF Research Funded Through 2008 (PDF)