Medical Research Grants

The Medical Research Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation offers two main funding opportunities aimed at supporting the biomedical research community in Rhode Island. These opportunities are designed to:

1. Provide seed money or pilot project support to new investigators. This is intended to help Assistant and Associate Professors at Rhode Island academic or hospital institutions, especially those who have received faculty level appointments within the past five years, embark on laboratory, clinical, and population-based research. The seed grants cover costs such as supplies, research animals, support personnel, and other operating costs, but generally exclude permanent equipment, equipment maintenance, travel, or printing unless it directly pertains to the research. Funding is one-time, with the grant period lasting 18 months from the time funds are disbursed.

2. Support the improvement of highly rated but unfunded NIH research proposals for re-submission. This is targeted at individuals with faculty level appointments who have previously submitted a grant proposal to the NIH, received a score in the top 50th percentile, but did not receive funding. These resubmission grants aim to make these proposals more competitive by funding activities that enhance the research, such as data gathering and equipment usage. This grant category excludes those in training positions and is awarded for a 12-month period.

Specific areas of interest for these grants include general medical research (with limited funding) and diseases such as infectious diseases, cardiac research, coronary artery disease, cerebral accidents, cancer, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, diabetes, allergies, and performance enhancing substances.