Funding Opportunities

OCTRI provides direct support for novel translational research through pilot project funding, support for strategic initiatives, career development awards, and scholarships for students. OHSU also offers weekly funding alerts for researchers. Access the Funding Alerts online and sign up for weekly emails by contacting funding@ohsu.edu.

Open Pilot Award Applications

Closed Pilot Award Applications

Past Pilot Award Programs

Awards Report

OCTRI Awards Conflict of Interest Policy

Purpose: The OCTRI Awards Review Committee consists of a variety of experts both internal and external to OHSU. Reviewers may be engaged in OHSU projects being evaluated for OCTRI funding. OCTRI is committed to being transparent and unbiased in evaluating projects for funding. This policy outlines OCTRI processes to mitigate potential conflicts of interest (COI).

Policy: All Review Committee members will be asked to declare COI. OCTRI staff also reviews each incoming application to identify COI and will notify reviewers immediately if potential conflicts are identified. If COI are identified or disclosed, reviewers are asked to recuse themselves from reviewing the application(s) where the conflict is present.

OCTRI Team Science: Advancing Transdisciplinary Microbiome Research

This award mechanism supports projects that incorporate team science methods to facilitate transdisciplinary, multi-institutional collaborations on projects investigating the microbiome of organisms, the environment, or interactions between the two. 

Successful applications will build or enhance existing inter‐institutional teams and collaborations in the field of microbiome research by bringing a diverse team together to generate ideas or data to support the writing and submission of state‐of‐the–field concept pieces/reviews with the goals of facilitating team building and increasing external fundability due to evidence of joint publication. This funding mechanism can also be utilized to support inter‐institutional microbiome research projects to get "over the last hurdle" in an already well‐developed study process (e.g. in response to grant reviewers or manuscript reviewers) but for which there are no other funds available.

Deadline: April 30, 2019

Amount: Up to $5,000; see RFA for additional details

Eligibility: See RFA

The RFA has complete details about submission process, eligibility, and application instructions.

Questions? Contact: Erica Shaw

 

OCTRI Clinical Research Informatics Support Program

This funding is primarily intended to support early or mid-career OHSU faculty members (at least at the rank of assistant professor or equivalent) for studies supported by peer-reviewed science with direct costs of less than $100,000. Individuals with career development awards are eligible regardless of funding. Funding requests must be in support of peer-reviewed, externally-funded research by the NIH, other major funding agency or national foundations. This funding opportunity may be used for investigator-initiated and patient-oriented research requiring IRB oversight. Studies must have already received IRB approval, or be in the process of approval at the time of application. No funds can be awarded until IRB approval is granted. 

Deadline: November 7, 2018

Amount: Up to $5,000

Eligibility: See RFA

The complete RFA has additional details about submission process, eligibility, and application instructions.

Questions? Contact: Erica Shaw shawer@ohsu.edu

OCTRI Participant & Clinical Interactions (PCI) Management Award

Through OCTRI's PCI Management Award, applicants may request funding of up to $20,000 per project for Clinical & Translational Research Center (CTRC) services; specifically, nursing, study coordination, bionutrition, and lab services. This funding is intended to support early career faculty members from OHSU as well as OCTRI Partners (i.e., University of Oregon, Portland State University, Oregon State University, Pacific Northwest National Labs, VA Portland Healthcare System) for studies associated with current mentored career development awards. Funding requests for the PCI Management Award must involve partnering with peer-reviewed, externally-funded research by the NIH (e.g., K award), VA (e.g., CDA), or major national foundations. 

Deadline: June 10th, 2019

Amount: Up to $20,000

Eligibility: See RFA

The complete RFA has additional details about the submission process, eligibility, and application instructions.

Please apply using this REDCap link

Questions? Contact: Erica Shaw shawer@ohsu.edu

OCTRI Strategic Vouchers Program

OCTRI is accepting proposals for compelling opportunities with the potential for high impact. Applicants may request $1000 to $5000 to be used for OCTRI Services only. This funding is primarily intended to support early or mid-career OHSU faculty members (at least at the rank of assistant professor or equivalent) for studies associated with current or prior mentored career development awards. Funding requests must involve partnering with other sources (e.g. departmental sources, NIH funded or other externally funded projects.) Additionally, this funding opportunity may only be used for investigator-initiated human studies and patient-oriented research. Vouchers can go to IRB approved studies only.

Application deadline: Closed for FY 2018. Please check back regularly for FY 2019.

Amount: $1,000 to $5,000

Eligibility: Principal Investigators must meet OHSU eligibility requirements, and additionally, must be at the rank of assistant professor or equivalent. 

The complete request for applications (RFA) includes details about the submission process and instructions.

OCTRI Community Research Coalition Grants

OCTRI Community Research Coalition Grants are intended to fund project proposals that focus on health-related concerns identified by the communities within each of the three named regional research coalitions: North Coast; South Coast; and Central Oregon. This grant supports community organizations’ efforts to plan, implement, and evaluate specific and rigorous research projects. It also fosters the development of local resources and OHSU investigator collaborations, both of which help ensure the success of current and future community-based research coalitions. 

OHSU believes community-academic research coalitions are essential for asking and answering questions that address regionally-specific health concerns throughout Oregon. These collaborations improve local health outcomes by supporting research best practices and data driven decision-making. Community-identified needs, geographical location, and local resources shape the work of these community-academic partnerships. Accordingly, their leadership, membership, and strategies vary by region.

Deadline: Currently closed.

Amount: Between $5,000 to $20,000. All funds must be spent by June 30, 2016.

Eligibility: Applicants must be representatives of community organizations, schools, government bodies, health/medical clinics, health systems, or businesses. Individuals are not eligible to apply. Funded projects must also have an eligible OHSU academic collaborator.

The complete RFA includes additional details about the submission process, eligibility and instructions

Collecting Samples

Catalyst Award: OCTRI Pilot Project Funding for Catalyzing Translational Research Opportunities

The Oregon Clinical &Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) is currently accepting applications for the Catalyst Awards, a pilot project program designed to enhance translational research at OHSU. The Catalyst Award is offered in collaboration with the School of Medicine's Research Roadmap and the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research.

This year, Catalyst funds will support the efforts of investigators to develop and disseminate consequential, novel research methodology. The development of new methodologies is a critical part of clinical and translational research. Examples of responsive projects include genomics research methodology, improved methods for community outreach, or novel mechanisms to both increase the speed and decrease the cost of clinical trials. View the full RFA for more information on how to apply.

OCTRI has a total of $150,000 to award in FY 2017, and applicants may request budgets of up to $75,000 (note that applicants will not be asked to submit detailed budgets unless they are invited to present to the Scientific Review Committee).

Application Deadline: Closed for FY2017

Amount: Up to $75,000 over one year

Eligibility: Must meet OHSU requirements for PIs

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OCTRI & Business Oregon SBIR/STTR Phase 0 (Application Support)

Business Oregon and OCTRI are helping Oregon small businesses access federal funding through successful Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant applications. This program is intended for businesses that are pursuing healthcare-related topic areas. As of September 8, 2016, Oregon small businesses in the healthcare technology industry that meet the federal SBIR/STTR guidelines are eligible to apply.

The specific goal of the Phase 0 process is to greatly enhance the chance of funding by helping to improve the competitiveness of SBIR/STTR applications. The Phase 0 program provides expert reviews of draft SBIR/STTR grant proposals, as well as support for proposal development. OHSU’s Technology Transfer and Business Development Department will help to identify OHSU startup companies or companies with OHSU intellectual property who may be eligible to apply. 

Those who receive Phase 0 support will receive:

  • Three written critiques of their Phase I, Phase II or Fast-track proposal from senior OHSU researchers and/or community members with SBIR/STTR program experience and subject matter expertise.
  • Up to $3,725 for SBIR/STTR grant application preparation services.

Deadline: A minimum of 9 weeks prior to the sponsoring federal agency's SBIR/STTR due date.

Amount: $5,000

Eligibility: Please see the RFA for complete eligibility requirements.

Click here to view the RFA and learn about the submission process, eligibility, and application instructions.

OCTRI Pilot Project Funding for Development of Novel Research Methodologies

The Oregon Clinical & Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) is now accepting applications for Pilot Funding for Development of Novel Research Methodologies. The intent of this funding mechanism is to encourage and accelerate the creation, dissemination, and implementation of novel translational and clinical research methodologies.

The development of new methodologies is critical to the advancement of translational and clinical research. OHSU investigators have often been actively involved in creating translational research methods, and this program provides a dedicated funding mechanism to accelerate such work. The goal is to facilitate development of state-of-the-art tools for translational research and to make them rapidly available to investigators.

Two levels of novel research methodology funding are available:

  1. Development and dissemination of novel research methodologies (up to $25,000).
  2. Publication/Dissemination of novel research methodologies (up to $5,000).

Novel Research Methodology Development Awards support the development of novel clinical and translational methods and can encompass a wide range of techniques. Please see the RFA for examples of pilot projects that would be viewed as responsive.

Deadline: Currently closed.

Amount: Award level 1: up to $25,000. Award level 2: up to $5,000.

Eligibility: Principal Investigators must meet the OHSU eligibility requirements.

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OCTRI Biomedical Innovation Program: Pilot Project Funding for Translational Research Leading to Biomedical Commercialization

Track 1: Device, diagnostic, software development and commercialization

The intent of this funding mechanism is to accelerate the delivery of healthcare technologies from academia to the marketplace and thereby to improve health care. This funding mechanism is offered in close collaboration with Technology Transfer & Business Development, and the SOM Research Roadmap, but is open to all OHSU faculty and qualified employees.

The Biomedical Innovation Program is designed to identify and foster creative solutions for important health care problems. Critical elements of successful proposals will be a well developed idea or vision for the end product and a collaboration between clinicians, scientists, and bioengineers; that collaboration will make possible the identification of a significant clinical problem, an innovative idea for a device or diagnostic to address the problem, bioengineering approaches for device or diagnostic development, and early clinical validation of effectiveness.

Deadline: Closed. Please check back in August 2019.

Amount: Up to $40,000

Eligibility: Principal Investigators must meet the OHSU eligibility requirements

Track 2: Drug discovery and therapeutics development

This funding opportunity through the Biomedical Innovation Program is intended for drug discovery platforms and therapeutic technology projects. Examples of responsive application topics include but are not limited to development and validation of drug targets, screening platforms, small molecules, antibodies, vaccines, and biologics. Through this funding mechanism, OCTRI and TTBD intend to support and accelerate creative, interdisciplinary drug discovery and therapeutic development research at OHSU. Project budgets should not exceed $60,000. Projects will typically be supported for a one-year period;predetermined milestones and quantitative metrics of success will be evaluated on a regular basis.

Deadline: Full applications due April 23, 2019.

Amount: Up to $60,000.

Eligibility: Principal Investigators must meet the OHSU eligibility requirements.

The complete FY 2019 RFA has details about the submission process, eligibility, and application instructions.

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OCTRI Strategic Investment Funding

Strategic Investment Funding supports OHSU faculty members by providing a funding mechanism that can provide a critical difference for clinical/translational research. Applications for funding will be rapidly evaluated (weeks) and support will be quickly available for those selected for support.

This award is intended to provide critical support for a project that is close to achieving independent funding. It is meant to allow the project to get “over the last hurdle” in an already well-developed study process but for which there are no other funds available. A limited pool of funds is available annually, so we are looking for compelling opportunities with the potential for high impact. Funding requests that involve partnering with other sources (e.g. departmental sources) are strongly favored.

Priority will be given to those proposals that require a small amount of funding to achieve a significant result. We anticipate support will usually be to gather additional data to allow submission of an application for independent funding (e.g. an NIH R award or support for commercialization). The critical need for small amounts of additional funding should be apparent. Examples of appropriate funding requests include:

  • Collection of preliminary data that are critical for the submission of near term funding applications.
  • The demonstration of proof of concept needed for the development of a technology or new product with biomedical impact, thus allowing licensing or the formation of a start-up.
  • Providing essential momentum for a new collaborative research focus (e.g. a multidisciplinary research group needing funds to enable a research conference with well organized outcomes such as new grant preparation/submission).

These awards may be used for a broad range of research expenses, provided a clear case is made as to why the funds are essential to the project and how the investment will lead to future research support.

Applications for these awards may involve direct cash awards and/or OCTRI research infrastructure services. Examples of OCTRI services include data warehouse queries to identify potential research subjects, nursing or study coordinator support for conduct of the study, core laboratory support for sample analysis, and biostatistics support for data analysis.

Contact the research navigators for more details regarding OCTRI services that may be pertinent to your research at or 503 418-9790

Two levels of Strategic Investment Funding are available:

  • Funding less than $5,000 (Cash and/or OCTRI Services)
  • Funding from $5,000-$20,000 (Cash and/or OCTRI Services)

These amounts refer to the total requested support (OCTRI cash awards plus OCTRI services).

This is an open funding opportunity. Applications may be submitted at any time. OCTRI will continue to accept applications until the funds available are depleted. OCTRI is committed to supporting OHSU investigators in the common effort to improve human health by enhancing clinical and translational research.

Deadline: Closed.

Amount: Award level 1: up to $25,000. Award level 2: up to $5,000.

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School of Medicine Faculty Innovation Fund

Support for pre-award data for new or competitive renewal grant submissions – from any source – is needed to accelerate transition to a more diverse research portfolio. In response, the School of Medicine Office of the Dean has established an innovation fund to subsidize fees associated with the use of OHSU cores to develop pilot data for a new or competitive renewal grant application.

Funds are available to help cover the cost of utilizing an OHSU research core for pre-award consulting and pilot data. Eligible costs are for core services associated with the development and submission of new or competitive renewal grants. The support covered by these funds may include core costs such as consultation time, reagents, supplies and technical staff time for pilot studies required for assisting investigators in grant submission. These funds are available to School of Medicine investigators.

University Shared Resource cores and other research cores that provide services to all OHSU investigators are eligible for this program.

To learn more click here.

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OCTRI Community Pilot Project Funding – Central Oregon Research Coalition (CORC)

The Oregon Clinical & Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) is now accepting letters of intent to apply for Community Pilot Project Funding. OCTRI’s Community & Practice Research (CPR) program seeks to work collaboratively with community organizations, health care practices and researchers to study how best to improve the health of Oregonians. We expect to fund 1 application this year in the amount of $50,000 for a period of 12 months.

Pilot funds are specifically intended to enable the development of compelling new grant applications (e.g. to NIH, PCORI, CMS, etc.) that will sustain the proposed research activity. The OCTRI funding could allow generation of preliminary data, provide support for collaboration building and program development, or other essential elements needed for the goal of obtaining additional funding.

The purpose of this funding mechanism is to encourage research projects in collaboration with the Central Oregon Health Council (COHC) to evaluate the impact and implementation of six key initiatives that have been put into place in alignment with the Coordinated Care Organization (CCO) health care transformation plan to achieve the Triple Aim—better health, better care and better value for healthcare dollars. Applications must be submitted by an OHSU investigator in partnership with the COHC. Please contact with the Central Oregon Research Coalition for more information.

Letter of Intent Deadline: CLOSED

Amount: Up to $50,000 over one year. Use of COHC data analyst/liaison services depends on the individual needs of the project but will be expected to be budgeted at a minimum of $10,000 (as part of the $50,000).

Eligibility: Principal Investigators must meet the OHSU eligibility requirements. Applicants must work directly with an investigator from Central Oregon who is involved in the COHC stated key initiatives.

Complete RFA:
The complete RFA includes additional details about the submission process, eligibility, and instructions.

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ONPRC/OCTRI Pilot Funding

The Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) and the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) are now accepting letters of intent to apply for Pilot Project Funding for ONPRC-OCTRI Collaborative Research. The purpose of this funding mechanism is to encourage research using non-human primates (NHP) or NHP-derived materials for new collaborative projects that will lead to new external funding of research with clear translational outcomes. An explicit requirement for this pilot mechanism is the substantive involvement of co-PIs from ONPRC (core scientist) and OCTRI/OHSU (faculty-level investigators). These requirements distinguish this RFA from the annual ONPRC Pilot Research Program.

Priority will be given to new collaborations between established investigators at ONPRC and basic or clinical scientists at OHSU. We will also consider more modest projects utilizing existing NHP samples or materials, and which represent an extension of an existing study that could form the basis for a new collaborative research direction. Applications in the areas of genetics, metabolic disease, stem cell therapies, addiction, early childhood health and development, and aging research are strongly encouraged. Awardees are expected to submit a manuscript to a peer-reviewed, scientific journal and submit a grant application to one or more external agencies as part of the successful execution of the pilot project. ONPRC and OCTRI should be informed of submitted manuscripts and/or grant applications.

Deadline: CLOSED

Amount: Two, one-year projects at a maximum of $50,000.

Eligibility: Co-Principle Investigator (core scientist) and OCTRI/OHSU (faculty-level investigator).

Complete RFA:
The complete RFA includes additional details about the submission process, eligibility, and instructions.

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OCTRI KL2 Program Request for Applications

Career-development opportunity for clinical and translational researchers.

The Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) KL2 supports research training and career development of clinical and translational investigators to conduct interdisciplinary research with scientists from diverse disciplines. In addition to salary support and funds for research activities, scholars are able to utilize additional support services through OCTRI and the Human Investigations Program. The OCTRI KL2 program is funded through NIH.

Deadline: LOI due January 22, 2019
Submit Letter Of Intent

Award Details: The appointment is for two years and provides a maximum of $75,000 or 75% of the scholar’s salary for up to two years. (It is anticipated that the scholar’s department will provide salary support if necessary.) The award includes up to $25,000 per year for research activities and travel. At the end of the appointment, the scholar is expected to have received an independent career-development award, such as a K award or R01 from NIH. Additional details are available online.
View full KL2 RFA

Eligibility: Applicants must have a current or pending faculty appointment as assistant professor (or equivalent level) and have had no prior funding as principal investigator on an NIH research grant.

Click here to view additional KL2 Program Information and to contact program managers.

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Pathways to Independence award

The Pathways to Independence award is intended to support early career investigators through research funding to strengthen their application for an R-level grant from the NIH or equivalent award from the VA or foundation. Funds will be awarded to further research conducted as part of a career development award to support the development of the awardee's long-term research goals. Funds must be requested to support new activities, such as additional analyses, exploration of related hypotheses, or collection of additional observations, with the goal of helping the researcher achieve independent research success.

View full RFA

Application Deadline: Monday, January 28, 2019

Award Details: One award of up to $20,000 (including overhead) will be funded from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. Research work must be completed and requested funds expended by June 30, 2020. The awardee must participate in OCTRI Design Studio for development of the subsequent independent research grant. Requested funds should not be used to duplicate research as part of another funded grant or to begin a new research project. Funds should be used to progress and enhance research conducted as part of a current or prior independent career development award.

Eligibility: Applicant must have a full-time faculty appointment at OHSU or Academic Partner Institution (PSU, UO, OSU, PSU, PNNL, OCHIN). The applicant should be within the last two years of an independent career development award (e.g. K08, K23, K22, K07, K25, K01, VA CDA2) to three years post career development award, at the time of award.

Submit Application