DEADLINE: September 4, 2007, 1:00 P.M. (Pacific Time)

Research Grants are designed to provide "seed money" for the support of new, not yet established investigators early in their research careers. Awards are intended to provide the opportunity to advance to the level where the researcher can attract substantial funding from other established and competitive sources. The major purpose is to support young investigators during the transition from research training to independent research as junior faculty.

These awards may be for laboratory, clinical, epidemiological, social sciences or other areas of investigation relevant to lung biology, health and disease. The ALAC-RP is interested in encouraging meritorious research in areas of lung disease including, but not limited to: (1) the health effects of air pollution, (2) asthma, (3) tobacco related lung disease, and (4) tuberculosis.

ALAC-RP and the National ALA have affiliated but separate funding programs. Eligibility requirements and award amounts differ between the two programs. The following information refers to ALAC requirements only. Please visit http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=33309 to determine whether you meet ALA eligibility criteria.

Note: ALAC-RP award amounts are higher than those for equivalent ALA categories. Applicants who receive support from ALA national will be considered for supplemental funding from ALAC-RP.

ELIGIBILITY

Education and Experience — applicants must:

• hold a degree of M.D., D.O., Ph.D., Sc.D., DN Sc., or comparable qualifications
• have completed a minimum of two years of research training
• hold an entry level faculty rank (e.g., instructor, assistant professor, or equivalent) or senior (4-5th year or longer) fellowship status at the time of award
• not be considered to be established investigators, as defined by attaining the rank of Associate Professor or having obtained NIH-RO1 funding or its equivalent as a PI or project leader

Citizenship: Applicants must be US citizens, or submit proof of one of the following visa immigration statuses: permanent resident, J-1, H-1, H-1B, TC, TN or O-1.

Grants shall be made only to applicants who will perform their work in California and to individuals in institutions identified as Equal Opportunity Employers.

Tobacco Policy: ALAC-RP will not fund any research that is also funded by tobacco companies or sources funded by tobacco companies. Any applicant or his/her sponsor who accepts concurrent funds from tobacco companies or sources funded by tobacco companies is not eligible for funding from the ALAC-RP. Publications that acknowledge support from tobacco companies or sources funded by tobacco companies may not acknowledge support from the ALAC-RP.

TERMS OF AWARD

Award Structure

Grants are for amounts up to $50,000 per year. No more than 50% of the budget may be used for salary (including fringe benefits) of the principal investigator. No allowance is made for overhead costs.

Duration

Awards are for a two-year term, provided that satisfactory progress is demonstrated and funds are available. Award payments are issued in mid-July and mid-January. Applicants may not receive more than two years of ALAC-RP grant funding.

Other awards

ALAC-RP will not fund anyone who is currently the recipient of any other Lung Association grant/award, except in those cases where ALAC may choose to co-fund or supplement a grant/award made by ALA (National).

FUNDING PROCESS

In order to increase the chances of funding, eligible applicants are strongly encouraged to apply directly to the national ALA program, using ALA instructions, award amounts, and guidelines. All eligible applicants from California will be considered by both ALA and ALAC-RP. Note that Research Grants from the national program are funded in amounts up to $40,000. In the event that an applicant receives national funding, ALAC-RP will consider providing a supplemental award to bring total funding up to the $50,000 level. Applicants who do not meet ALA eligibility requirements should refer to the "Application Instructions" section below to apply to ALAC-RP only.

All applications will receive peer review by the American Lung Association (National) and ALAC-RP. Applications are ranked on a scale of one to five (one being outstanding). Only applications that are approved by ALA are considered for funding by ALAC-RP. ALAC-RP will not consider grants with scores outside of ALA’s approved funding level.

The ALAC-RP score shall account for one-half of the final ranking score. The formula used to attain the final ranking score is ( ALA score) + (ALAC-RP score) / 2.

ALAC-RP POLICIES

Human/Animal Research/Biohazard Approval: A letter of approval from either the human research or animal research committee for all grants must accompany the application. If such approval is not needed, a letter to this effect must be included. Wherever applicable, research protocols will be reviewed and approved by applicant's institution biohazard committee and must conform to NIH guidelines.

Research Patent Policy: Any discovery conceived or reduced to practice in the course of research carried out under this award shall be the property of the institution or university, providing, however, that the institution or university shall seek patent protection thereon and make such discoveries available for commercial licensing upon reasonable terms and conditions. In the event the institution or university elects not to seek patent protection on such discoveries and to the extent that the institution or university has the legal right to do so, the institution or university agrees to assign all rights to such discoveries to the American Lung Association of California upon request.

Malpractice Liability: The American Lung Association of California Research Program will not assume responsibility for and the institution will indemnify and hold ALAC harmless from any lawsuit, claim, judgment, damages, awards, or malpractice arising from research or investigations related to an award.

Progress Reports: A brief, one page Report of Work Accomplished is to be submitted by the awardee no later than twelve (12) months following the termination of the award.

Publications: In publishing the result of the study, acknowledgment of financial assistance is required by inclusion of the footnote, "Aided by a grant from the American Lung Association of California Research Program." The Principal Investigator shall be requested to send reprints of published articles relating to the study to the ALAC-RP.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

All applications must be submitted online through proposalCENTRAL by 1:00 p.m. (Pacific Time)on September 4, 2007. The application site and detailed instructions can be accessed through the national ALA website at http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=33309.

Applicants who are eligible under both national ALA and ALAC-RP eligibility requirements should apply directly to ALA, using national instructions, award amounts, and guidelines. All eligible applications from California will receive consideration by BOTH funding sources. NOTE: Since ALAC-RP award amounts are higher than those for equivalent ALA categories, applicants who receive national support will be considered for supplemental funding from ALAC-RP. Applications submitted directly to ALA may not request a budget in excess of ALA’s $40,000 limit or 25% salary restriction. Submitting the wrong budget can be grounds for disqualification. You will be asked to submit a budget supplement at a later date to be considered for ALAC’s higher award amount.

Applicants who are eligible under ALAC-RP criteria only should apply directly to ALAC-RP by accessing the ALA online application site and choosing the category "LOCAL ASSOCIATION RESEARCH - CLINICAL." A local authorization code is required to complete the application process. The code for ALAC-RP is: ALA145CA. Local association applicants may request budgets up to $50,000.

In addition to the online submission, all applicants (for either ALA or ALAC-RP consideration) are required to submit a signed original, plus four copies of all application materials to ALA by the application deadline. Mail the completed and signed original application (be sure all forms, letters, etc. are correctly and sequentially assembled) and 4 clear, single-sided photocopies in one package to:

American Lung Association
Research Program Division
61 Broadway
New York, New York 10006

If you have any questions or need additional information, please call (510) 638-5864.