Foundation Policy

Award Agreements

The Ellison Medical Foundation fosters research by means of grants-in-aid on behalf of investigators to universities and laboratories within the United States . Awards are made to a single U.S. non-profit institution, although subcontracting is allowed. The awardee institution must provide The Ellison Medical Foundation with the most recent certification of its status as a Section 501(c)(3) organization with respect to which the gift is eligible for deductibility for federal income tax purposes pursuant to Section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

The award process is initiated by an award agreement generated by the foundation. No award will be made until the foundation has received a copy of the award agreement signed by an official authorized to make legal and financial commitments on behalf of the potential awardee institution. The awardee institution may not independently make changes to the agreement received from the foundation. The foundation will not support any project activities initiated or charges incurred prior to the submission of all required documentation and receipt of the signed agreement from the institution.

The Ellison Medical Foundation shall be indemnified by the awardee institution against any and all claims arising out of the project to the extent allowed by law.

New Scholar Awards

Conflicts - Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholars may, on one occasion, hold one similar award concurrently for up to one year . Similar awards are defined as career development or other awards focused at the level of junior faculty, made by a foundation or other non-governmental source. New Scholar awards will only be made for the full four-year term. If a conflicting award is accepted prior to the New Scholar award, this must be resolved by either declining the Ellison Medical Foundation award or arranging to terminate the conflicting award within one year. New Scholar awardees and awardee institutions are responsible for self-reporting the receipt of any conflicting award during the four year term of the Ellison Medical Foundation grant and consulting foundation staff to resolve the conflict.

Terms - Each award will be made for up to $50,000 per year for a four year period. Acceptable uses for award funds include salary, other personnel, equipment, supplies, resource acquisition and travel. The scholar's salary costs (including fringe benefits) may not exceed $10,000 per year. Carry-overs in excess of $25,000 must be approved by the Ellison Medical Foundation program office. Not more than 8% of the total award may be deducted for overhead costs.

Senior Scholar Awards

Conflicts – Current or past Senior Scholar awardees are not eligible to apply.

Terms - Each award will be made for up to $150,000 per year in direct costs, for up to four years. Acceptable uses for award funds include salary, other personnel, equipment, supplies, resource acquisition, and travel. Carry-overs in excess of $25,000 must be approved by the Ellison Medical Foundation program office. Full indirect costs at the NIH negotiated rate will be provided (see below).

Budget Projection

Multiyear awards will be paid in annual increments. The award (if renewed in its entirety) shall be in the aggregate up to the amount agreed upon by the foundation in the award agreement, inclusive of all indirect cost charges, administrative assessments, and overhead charges. Annual renewal is contingent upon submission of an acceptable annual progress report and is subject to availability of funds. The amount of each annual award increment will not exceed that agreed upon under the award agreement.

Reporting Requirements

For multiyear awards, funding for renewal years is contingent upon submission of an acceptable annual progress report. For all awards, the awardee institution must provide final scientific progress and financial stewardship reports within 60 days of the termination of the award. Failure to submit final scientific and financial reports will render the institution ineligible for consideration of future funding by the Ellison Medical Foundation. More complete information on reporting procedures is available at Reporting Procedures

Indirect (F&A) Costs

Changes in indirect cost rate are allowed during the term of an award only if the change in negotiated rate is known at the time of the award and clearly shown in the original budget projection included in the award agreement.

The Foundation does not allow conversion between indirect (or facilities and administrative) costs and direct costs. The Ellison Medical Foundation does not permit indirect costs on equipment or movement of indirect costs to direct costs.

Although the foundation is flexible about deviations from the original budget projection with regard to use of direct costs, such changes may affect the allowable indirect costs. In the event that such a change would increase the amount of allowable indirect costs, the foundation will not approve an increase in the total award amount. In the event that such a change would decrease the amount of allowable indirect costs, the amount of the award initially specified for indirect costs must remain in that budget line. Unused indirect costs must be returned to the foundation at the end of the award.

Institutional Assurances

When relevant to the project, the foundation will require the following documentation before an award can be made. Annual updates, as applicable, must be submitted with progress reports.

1. Human subjects:
   1. Copies of the protocol submitted to the Institutional Review Board(s) and the notification of protocol approval from all relevant IRBs (for funded awards an annual update will be required at the time of the progress report).
   2. Documentation from the applicant institution that the principal investigator has completed training on the protection of human research participants.
   
   
2. Animal subjects:
   1. A copy of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approval for the proposed project (for funded awards an annual update will be required at the time of the progress report).
   
   
3. Foreign component:
   1. A letter of support from the collaborating in-country institution, signed by an appropriate official of that institution.
   
   
4. Biosafety: Research supported by The Ellison Medical Foundation is expected to conform to the relevant NIH Guidelines for biosafety, including those for handling of hazardous reagents and those for research involving recombinant DNA and gene transfer. (reference: http://www4.od.nih.gov/oba/rac/guidelines/guidelines.html and http://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/biosfty/bmbl4/bmbl4toc.htm )
   1. A copy of Institutional Biosafety Committee approval.
   
   

Intellectual Property

The Ellison Medical Foundation specifically desires that all research results shall be made available to the public as promptly as possible in keeping with the foundation's commitment to free and open publication of research results to both validate findings and to allow other scientists to further advance work in the field. The foundation recognizes and endorses the obligation of awardee institutions to take steps to bring the practical applications of its research forward to public use and benefit. Awardee institutions are expected to provide a prompt, written notice to The Ellison Medical Foundation upon the issuance of any foreign or domestic patent in respect of the research or other work performed