Grantsmanship in Eye Disease and Vision Impairment

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Grantsmanship in Eye Disease and Vision Impairment

• (Or, so you want to write a grant )
• Cynthia Owsley, MSPH, PhD
• Gerald McGwin Jr., MS, PhD

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Outline

• Initial Steps
• Structure of Application
• Tips

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The Idea

• Needing money to support your time is not a good
  reason to write a grant.
• Interesting idea, but be careful of excessive
  novelty.
• Good if next logical step in the science.
• Address pressing public health need.

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Selecting a Funding Agency 1

• How big is your idea?
• What sort of project is it?
• Large study or series of smaller studies?
• Secondary data analysis?
• Pilot/ preliminary project?
• Multi-disciplinary/highly collaborative?
• Career development/training?
• Research resource center vs. research project?
• Match your project to the grant mechanism.

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Selecting a Funding Agency 2

• Look for possibilities
• Talk to successful colleagues
• Web searches
• Theres NIH but dont overlook foundations.
• Do your homework on funding agency
• What do they like to fund.
• How much do they fund.
• Whos on scientific advisory board/review panel.
• Talk to program officer be prepared.

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Structure General

• Follow instructions.
• You are not special.
• Neatness.
• Spelling good grammar.
• You cant be too organized.
• Reference.
• Dont use first person.
• Clinical expertise is not scientific expertise.

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Structure Major Sections

• Variability across grant mechanisms and funding
  agencies, but popular sections are
• Specific Aims
• Background and Signicance
• Preliminary studies
• Research design and methods
• Human use issues
• References
• Other

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Specific Aims

• Also often called Purpose, Hypotheses, Questions
  to be addressed, etc.
• This is where you state what the primary aim(s)
  of the research plan are you hope to answer what
  questions?
• Be concise.
• If you dont grab your reader here, its not
  looking good.

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Background and Significance

• Also often called Rationale this is the why
  bother.
• Make the case for the public health need.
• How existing information falls short.
• These arguments must be evidenced based.
• If you havent made the case here, forget it.

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Preliminary Studies

• This is where you discuss your previous work in
  the field and how it has lead you to the current
  set of research questions.
• You must have preliminary experience in the
  field.
• Experience is defined as publications in major
  journals and abstracts at major meetings.
• Figures are nice.

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Research Design and Methods

• This is typically the longest part of the
  application and upon which everything else
  hinges.
• Several parts
• Study design
• Outcomes of interest
• Population
• Recruitment and retention
• Protocol
• Sample size/power calculation
• Data management and analysis
• Timeline

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Study Design

• Use appropriate terminology.
• Rationale for its choice.
• Why other designs are not preferred, possible, or
  will not meet the needs of study aims.

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Outcomes of Interest

• Primary outcome
• You should have one!
• See sample size power calculation later.
• State precisely what it is in terms of
  measurement tool.
• Secondary outcomes
• Most studies have these.
• Often HRQOL or some secondary endpoint or symptom
  of disease.

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Population

• Who are you studying/enrolling?
• Why are you defining it this way?
• You must have explicit inclusion and exclusion
  criteria.
• Some relevant issues
• Demographics.
• Disease presence (specific definitions)

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Recruitment and Retention

• Where are you getting your participants from.
• Clinic?
• Sampling of community?
• What procedures will you use to identify and
  recruit?
• If follow-up study, what steps will you use to
  enhance retention rates.

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Protocol

• You cant be too organized here.
• Select measurement tools that are known to be
  valid and reliable how do you know this.
• Be sure you describe how you will measure every
  exposure and outcome, and all variables needed
  for adjustment in analyses.
• Protocol cannot be too burdensome to participant.
• Who will administer protocol are they properly
  trained? How?

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Sample Size

• This must well motivated.
• The most overlooked part of applications.
• Anticipated effect size.
• Power analysis.

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Data Management and Analysis

• Also overlooked or too cursory.

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Timeline

• When you will perform key tasks of research.
• Study must fit the timeframe of the years of the
  grant.
• Figure is a great way to go here.

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Human Subjects

• Death blow to the grant if you leave this off.
• This is not the IRB application or approval.
• Most funding agencies have their own list of
  issues they want you to address.

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Tips

• No arrogance.
• Learn as much as you can from the program
  officer.
• Learn as much as you can from colleagues and
  their experiences with funding agency.

• Have colleagues who are successful in the field
  read a draft.
• Its better to get the blunt criticism before you
  submit it, while you still have time to edit.

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More Tips

• Take a head em off at the pass approach.
• Given the odds, the best prediction is that you
  wont receive funding.
• No funding doesnt mean the grant had a bad idea.
• Grantsmanship is marketing and sales.

• Never, never be bitter on a re-submission.
• If you want to do research that is extramurally
  funded, you must be persistent.
• If you are insulted easily or sensitive to blunt
  criticism, writing grants is not approach for you
  to support your research.