Boerger Research Fund in Alzheimer’s Disease and Neurocognitive Disorders — $75,000
The American Society of Neuroradiology funds imaging-based research that advance our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, help identify new treatment strategies, provide information to improve care for people with dementia, and further our knowledge of brain health and disease prevention.
This grant supports investigators at every professional stage and is specifically designed to help talented young scientists establish careers in Alzheimer’s imaging research. All proposals must have a clear focus on Alzheimer’s disease and may also include other neurodegenerative diseases. Ultimately, the goal of this program is to translate the research into strategies to increase understanding of the mechanism of Alzheimer’s disease to help stratify populations and possible treatments. Therefore, animal studies are not appropriate for this request for applications (RFA). Submissions from collaborative research that have experience across aging and neurodegenerative diseases are strongly encouraged. Novel and creative ideas are sought, and proposals should also demonstrate feasibility.
All Applicants must be members of the ASNR in good standing. A candidate must have completed an MD, DO or PhD (or equivalent) degree in engineering, computer science or allied fields in science and engineering. Physician applicants must be board-certified or board-eligible in Radiology by either the American Board of Radiology or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RSPSC) and must have completed a residency in Diagnostic Radiology and be enrolled in or have completed an ACGME-approved fellowship in Neuroradiology or a fellowship in Pediatric Neuroradiology by the grant period. Junior faculty are encouraged to apply.
If a junior faculty, the candidate must be under the direct supervision of an ASNR Senior Member, who is willing to act as mentor and project supervisor.
A. The grant will be approved for one year.
B. Preference will be given to innovative proposals that are felt likely to advance the field of neuroradiology or our understanding of fundamental aspects of physiology or pathophysiology through neuroradiology Research may involve any aspect of neuroradiology and may include for instance projects related to: technology assessment, patient outcomes, health services research, physiological neuroimaging using PWI, fMRI, DTI/HARDI, ASL, MR spectroscopy, PET, MEG, CT or MR related techniques and multimodal technology; or the development or evaluation of interventional and therapeutic procedures in neuroradiology. Meta-analyses will also be considered. Retrospective reviews will be considered less favorable.
A list of prior grantees may be found at: https://foundation.asnr.org/page/grant-recipients/2016-alzheimers-imaging-research-program-grant-recipients/
C. The research proposal must have a clearly stated, testable hypothesis and well-developed aims.
D. An itemized budget is required as part of the grant proposal submission. Funds (up to the maximum of the grant) may be apportioned as required by the investigator but must be briefly justified in the application. Examples of fund use might include but are not limited to: (I) salary support for protected research time for the investigator, (ii) salary support for associated staff (e.g. research assistants and/or PhD collaborators), (iii) appropriate equipment and/or scanner time access, and combinations of the above.
Expenses for physical infrastructure to support the proposed research (for example, desktop or laptop computers, monitors, GPU cards, memory, or other physical devices) are considered indirect and supported by the host institution and should not be included in the budget.
E. If applicable, the ASNR Senior Member who is the mentor should be an individual with expertise in research or teaching in health services research, functional neuroimaging, interventional neuroradiology, or other area related to the proposed project. This mentor will serve to guide the project and must be willing to take responsibility for its performance and completion. A letter of support from the mentor detailing the program should be submitted with the application.
F. The goal of this program is to seed fund investigators with a long-term goal of sustained federal or foundation funding. Applicants should carefully review the requirements for NIH awards on the following website: http://grants.nih.gov/, before submitting the application for the Foundation awards. Preference will be given to those projects which demonstrate potential for external funding beyond the Foundation funding period.
A. Strong consideration will be given to applicants from departments and institutions that show a commitment to the applicant’s career development.
B. The parent institution must demonstrate adequate resources and facilities to carry out the terms of the project. Specific involvement by experts outside of Radiology will be looked upon favorably. A letter of support from the Department Chairman is required.
A. The total grant amount is up to $75,000 per year (direct costs only), which will be paid in two equal installments on July 1st and January 1st of the year of the grant. Any portion of the grant not utilized should be returned to The Foundation of the ASNR. The proposed allocation of grant resources (salary support and other research costs) should be specified in a detailed line-item budget submitted with the full proposal.
B. The funding will go directly to the Institution or the department of Radiology as direct costs only. No overhead or indirect costs are provided.
C. Bi-yearly updates due on the 1st of January and the 1st of July within the year of the grant cycle must be submitted in writing to The Foundation of the ASNR. These are not to exceed one page. The progress report should summarize the specific aims and the progressed achieved, explain any significant changes to the specific aims, new directions to be undertaken due to those changes, and expenditures to date. Any publications, patents, or other material related to the funded research should be included on a separate page and submitted separately. The final report should include the above with the additional summary if a publication, patent, or grant is being or will be prepared using the results obtained from this Foundation grant. In the final report, a second page should be submitted separately describing the clinical impact of the results of the research, the strengths and weakness of the Foundation grant program, and the role that the Foundation or ASNR had, has, or might have in their future. In addition, a Return on Investment Survey will be emailed to recipient 3 and 5 years after receiving grant.
D. The recipient will present his/her research at the ASNR 62nd Annual Meeting & The Foundation of the ASNR Symposium, May 18-May 22, 2024.
E. The American Journal of Neuroradiology (AJNR) welcomes the best science and encourages publication submissions to AJNR before considering other journals.
F. Applicants who have held any of the Foundation of the ASNR Research Grants, the RSNA Research Scholar, Research Fellow, or Research Seed Grant, GERRAF, or ARRS Grant in the past must declare their previous grants on the application. The applicant is considered ineligible if they are or will concurrently be holding any of previously mentioned grants, while applying to or holding a grant from the Foundation of the ASNR.
G. Note: while institutional IRB approval is not required at the time of grant proposal submission, IRB approval must be submitted to ASNR before fund disbursement for all grant recipients.
H. No grant will be made without prior confirmation from the Program Director or Department Chair that the applicant’s proposal will be supported in full by the host institution, including any issue related to cost sharing.
I. This grant may be transferred to another institution, following approval by The Foundation of the ASNR for the designated individual, provided the new institution abides by the original agreement and the grantee is able to carry out the proposed work in the new setting. This request must be submitted in writing to The Foundation of the ASNR at least 30 days prior to the transfer. Each institution sponsoring the grantee will receive a portion of the funding that is in proportion to the length of time that research was performed at their institution. If a decision is made by The Foundation of the ASNR not to allow transfer of the grant to another institution, the original institution sponsoring the grantee will receive funds that are proportionate to the length of time the research project was performed at that institution.
J. A No-Cost Extension of the terms of the grant may be requested to extend the research period up to 12 months beyond the original ending date. Approval of an extension does not include the granting of additional funds. A request for an extension must be made in writing to the Chairs of the ASNR Research Committee. The request must state the reason(s) for the extension, length of extension requested, and review the progress in the original grant period. Requests must be submitted at least 30 days prior to the original ending date. Interim reports must be submitted every six months during the extension period. Please note that only one No-cost extension request will be considered per project.
K. The grant is not transferable to another individual.
A. Grants will be designated and administered by The Foundation of the ASNR.
B. The Research Committee of ASNR, or its designate, will provide review and recommendations to the Foundation for the recipient of the grant. Preference will be given to innovative proposals that are felt likely to advance the field of neuroradiology or our understanding of fundamental aspects of physiology or pathophysiology through neuroradiology research.
C. The Boerger Research Fund Grant Review Scoring Scale can be found at the end of this prospectus or by clicking here.
D. Applications from senior and junior scientists will not be reviewed separately, but special consideration will be given to applicants who are within 5 years of their fellowship.
A. The deadline for receipt of submissions is 9:00 AM Central Standard Time (CST), Monday, January 23, 2023. Full proposals should be submitted via https://asnr.smapply.io.
Please visit https://asnr.smapply.io to submit your application by creating an account and logging-on to select the award for which you would like to apply.
B. Selection of grant recipients will be in early spring, with subsequent notification of the recipient and institution. All those with interests in the grant, or employees of an institution that may be involved in the grant, shall recuse themselves from voting on such applications. If applications are received from the institutions of the Research Committee Co-chairs, the Co-chair(s) will recuse themselves the responsibility of coordinating review of the applications from their home institution.
C. Please visit FAQ section of the Foundation of the ASNR website at https://foundation.asnr.org/page/awards-and-honors/frequently-asked-questions/ for further clarifications.
D. In May/June 2023, the Foundation Research Grants announcement will be made via E-News and posted on the ASNR and Foundation of the ASNR websites. The recipient will present their research at the ASNR 62nd Annual Meeting & The Foundation of the ASNR Symposium May 18-22, 2024, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, and receive an invitation to the President’s Reception for that meeting.
