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A Penn State Nittany Lion statue is seen in the courtyard of Penn State College of Medicine in Summer 2016. The statue is in focus toward the right side of the image. Out of focus in the background, green plants and trees are visible in the courtyard.

Funding and Grant Support

Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute supports funding opportunities throughout the year and shares information on other University funding available to investigators.

The Institute and the College of Medicine’s Research Development office work together to provide a variety of information on creating successful grant proposals.

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Funding Opportunities

Institute Funding Opportunities Expand answer

Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute administers or assists with several internal grant programs, including Bridges to Translation and Community-Engaged Research Core Faculty Fellowships.

Institute funding opportunities are listed here.

Explore federal, commercialization, philanthropic and internal funding opportunities

Inter-Institutional Program for Diversifying Research (IPDR) Expand answer

Building sustainable, durable bridges and interdisciplinary collaborations with Minority Serving Institutions

Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), in collaboration with the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), Materials Research Institute (MRI), the Institute of Energy and the Environment (IEE), the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS), the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), and the Cancer Institute (CU), is offering a new interdisciplinary seed grant program aimed at developing new or leveraging existent strategic partnerships and alliances with Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs): the Inter-Institutional Program for Diversifying Research. The goal of the IPDR is to perform collaborative work that advances research development capability as well as student and faculty training needed to support such research collaborations.

Applications for funding needed to assist Penn State investigators in collaborating with investigators at MSIs to develop or strengthen joint research capability and undertake focused collaborations in complementary and alternative interdisciplinary research. The intent of this seed grant program is to provide support for up to two years to encourage and foster research collaborations that will lead to the submission of competitive grant applications for interdisciplinary research.

CTSI Awardees

The following CTSI and Cancer Institute co-sponsored projects have been selected for funding through the IPDR initiative:

Informatics methods for identifying and overcoming cancer screening disparities

  • Penn State Researchers:
  • MSI Researcher:
    • Carla Gallagher, PhD – Chairperson of Chemistry and Physics, Lincoln University
  • The goal of this project is to establish an educational and research partnership with Lincoln University. The major objective is to conduct a critical assessment of factors that are associated with the underutilization of cancer screening methods by racial minorities with an emphasis on Black Americans. The specific aims are to 1) educate and train students with an interest in health care as well as faculty in understanding the empirical data that underlie cancer screening recommendations, and risk data, and 2) learn how to develop methods and awareness in overcoming these barriers through novel research methods, education, community involvement and physician-tailored education 3) provide opportunities to develop original research ideas and peer-review them for merit and 4) support seed grants, where possible, to conduct original research projects related to these aims and 5) develop a publication in the area of informatics and cancer disparities.

Interdisciplinary Partnerships to Foster Health Equity in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (RGV)

  • Penn State Researchers:
  • MSI Researchers:
    • Cesar H. Gutierrez Martinez, MD, Department of Internal Medicine University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
    • Joseph B. McCormick, MD MS, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics & Environmental Sciences UTHealth Houston School of Public Health Regional Academic Health Center
    • Susan Fisher-Hoch, MBBS MSc MD, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics & Environmental Sciences UTHealth Houston School of Public Health Regional Academic Health Center
    • Miryoung Lee, PhD MPH MS, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics & Environmental Sciences UTHealth Houston School of Public Health Regional Academic Health Center
  • More about the project:
    • In Cameron County, Texas, it is estimated that 27% people live below the poverty threshold, compared to 14% national median. 42% of the population is living with obesity and 18% with diabetes, compared to the 36% and 10% national medians. This study aims to elucidate the root causes of disease burden in Cameron County and inform interventions on disparities plaguing society more broadly. The project will advance the field’s understanding of the interconnectedness of the structural determinants of health and individual biology and inform future precision medicine initiatives. Additionally, this project will seek to unpack the so-called ‘Hispanic paradox’ or ‘healthy immigrant paradox’ observed by comparing the health profiles of US immigrants to their US-born peers. Despite their low average socioeconomic and high cardiometabolic burden (e.g. obesity, glycemic dysregulation), Hispanic/Latino adults experience less cardiovascular diseases than non-Hispanic Whites. Lastly, this project will leverage cardiometabolic studies in the RGV to address the under-representation of Hispanics (and their diversity) in Omics research.
Bridges to Translation Pilot Grant Program Expand answer

The long-range goal of Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute is to develop, implement and make available to the community at large new methods to promote health and predict, prevent and effectively treat human disease. The Institute funds novel projects through its Bridges to Translation Pilot Grant Program to encourage collaborations and work to overcome roadblocks to taking research in the laboratories to patients in healthcare clinics.

View the latest Bridges to Translation Pilot Grant Program RFA

Translational Science Pilot Funding Program Expand answer

Penn State CTSI is the home of the National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) at Penn State University. One of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) goals is “More Treatments for All People More Quickly.” Achieving this goal is made possible through translational science. As such, this funding mechanism seeks to fund translational science pilot projects aimed at generating scientific and operational innovations to overcome longstanding barriers to translational research. The goal of these projects may include developing innovative approaches or methodologies in a new environment or addressing a common barrier to the translational research pathway to improve efficiency and decrease the failure rate of the research process.

View the latest Translational Science Pilot Funding Program RFA

Grant Support

Boilerplate Language for Grants Expand answer

Penn State College of Medicine’s Research Development office provides a library of boilerplate language to assist in writing grant proposals. Investigators are advised to tailor boilerplate language to reflect the specific aims of their research project.

Get CTSI boilerplate for use in grants

Proposal Development Resources Expand answer

Research Development at Penn State College of Medicine offers a collection of resources to help investigators with proposal development.

See proposal development information