The Ellison Medical Foundation Global Infectious Disease Program supports biomedical research on molecular and cellular mechanisms of disease, informed by the vision of how this can contribute to the amelioration of some of humankind's most pressing problems.

Within the broad scope of infectious disease research, the Global Infectious Disease Program, intends to focus its support by placing emphasis on:

	Those intractable or emerging parasitic and infectious diseases, caused by viral, bacterial, fungal, protozoal, or helminthic pathogens of major global public health concern, that are relatively neglected in federally funded research within the U.S.
	Innovative research that might not be funded by the traditional sources because of its perceived novelty or high risk, or because the principal investigator is moving into a new research area.
	Aspects of fundamental research that may significantly impact the understanding and control of global infectious diseases, but have not found a home within traditional funding agencies.

Eligibility

Investigators at least 4 years beyond their post-doctoral fellowship , employed by U.S. 501C3 institutions, or U.S. colleges or universities, are eligible to apply. Whereas the foundation only makes awards to U.S. nonprofit institutions, the Global Infectious Disease program encourages formation of research consortia between U.S. institutions and those in other disease-endemic countries, as through a subcontract mechanism, when such collaborations will benefit the proposed research. Current or past Senior Scholar Awardees are not eligible to apply.

Applicants for the Senior Scholar Award are expected to furnish evidence of substantial prior scientific creativity and productivity not necessarily targeted to global infectious disease heretofore. Evaluation by the Global Infectious Disease Initial Review Group and by the Scientific Advisory Board will be based upon the applicant's submission re: scientific contributions to date, the quality of publications, and the importance to global infectious disease of the proposed new research. The Global Infectious Disease Initial Review Group and the Scientific Advisory Board will pay close attention to arguments as to why the work does not or would not qualify for support from established sources such as the NIH. Except for compelling circumstances, the awards are not intended to supplement ongoing, already funded programs but, instead, to inspire new directions, which may entail substantial risk. There is no limit on the number of Senior Scholar letters of intent from any one institution.

Letter of Intent for Submitting an Application - Instructions

Download for Letter of Intent Instructions and Cover Page.

Letters of Intent to submit an application must be received before 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) March 9, 2005 at The Ellison Medical Foundation address below. Letters of Intent received after March 9 will be deferred to a future round as and when it is announced. Letters of Intent are limited to two pages. Letters of Intent and the cover page (see link above) should include a brief description of the proposed research, a brief description of the applicant’s current research, and a statement of the relevance of the proposed research to infectious disease. A one page bibliography of prior works (do not include reprints), and a one page C.V. for the applicant (including current support with titles, source, duration and level of support), should be appended to the Letter of Intent. The original plus twelve collated paper copies of all items and one diskette (floppy, CD or zip) copy of the above as a single file should be submitted. Acceptable formats are MS Word, WordPerfect, and RTF (rich text formatted). If you send a PDF file, please make sure to also include the source file from which the PDF was created. Files coming from Windows, Macintosh, DOS, or Linux are acceptable.

Applicants invited to submit a full application will be notified of their selection and provided with application forms about (to be announced). Applications will be due in The Ellison Medical Foundation office by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on (to be announced).

Terms of the Award

The Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Awards in Global Infectious Disease will be issued in early October 2004. Up to ten awards are anticipated in 2004. Each award will be made for up to $150,000 per year direct cost, with full indirect cost at the institution's NIH negotiated rate added to that, for up to four years. Funding for years two, three and four is contingent upon submission of an acceptable progress report.

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 Scholars Program Office. Full indirect costs at the NIH negotiated rate will be provided. The Ellison Medical Foundation does not permit indirect costs on equipment or movement of indirect costs to direct costs.

As applicable to the individual project, the Foundation will require the following documentation before an award can be made:

1.Human subjects:

a. 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).
b. Documentation from the applicant institution that the principal investigator has completed training on the protection of human research participants.

2.Animal subjects:

a. 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:

a. A letter of support from the collaborating in-country 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
http://www4.od.nih.gov/oba/rac/guidelines/guidelines.html.

a. A copy of Institutional Biosafety Committee approval.

For further information, contact:
Richard L. Sprott, Ph.D.
Executive Director
The Ellison Medical Foundation
4710 Bethesda Avenue
Suite 204
Bethesda, MD 20814-5226
(301) 657-1830 (Phone)
(301) 657-1828 (Fax)
Contact Dr. Sprott