Funding Programs

The Institute for Biomedical Informatics (IBI) is sponsoring a funding program to foster new collaborations between informatics and non-informatics faculty at Penn. These awards are intended to support collaborative research that leads to successful R01 submissions. The IBI will award these funds through a competitive review process.

The maximum award amount is $50,000 per year, with the possibility to renew for a second year contingent upon submission of an R01 with at least 2 Co-Principal Investigators. The awards are to be used for research personnel and expenses and may not be used for faculty salaries.

Eligibility criteria

• The primary applicant must be an IBI Senior Fellow with current extramural funding.
• The project must be a collaboration between the applicant and an investigator who works outside the field of informatics and is not an IBI member. Projects involving clinical data are especially encouraged.
• The proposal should demonstrate how the project creates or builds upon collaborations within the Penn community.

Application process

• Applications must be submitted in full to Hannah Chervitz by 5:00 p.m. EST on December 15, 2016 and must include:
  • Abstract: No longer than 500 words, does not count toward the proposal page limit.
  • Rough budget and justification: Include cost estimates and a brief justification for personnel and resources.
  • NIH Biosketch: Include biosketches for the applicant and Co-PI in NIH format.
  • Research proposal: No longer than 5 pages (Arial 11pt, one-inch margins), including Aims, Significance, Approach, and funding plans. Proposals must demonstrate interdisciplinary collaboration within Penn.

Review process

• A review panel of IBI Senior Fellows will evaluate the proposals. The panel composition will be made public once awards are announced.

Program requirements

• Principal investigators of funded projects will be required to:
  • Provide a final report and accounting of funds OR submit a related grant proposal acknowledging IBI support.
  • Provide project content for the IBI website.
  • Acknowledge IBI as a funding source in all resulting publications.

Institute for Biomedical Informatics AMIA Travel Grants

The Institute for Biomedical Informatics is funding five travel grants of $3,000 each for junior faculty to attend the American Medical Informatics Association’s 2016 Annual Symposium.

To be eligible, applicants must be standing faculty at the assistant professor level in the Perelman School of Medicine. Preference will be given to faculty who have not previously attended an AMIA Symposium.

To apply, send an email to chervitz@upenn.edu with a short statement describing your research interests and how you would benefit from attending the AMIA Symposium. The deadline to apply is August 31, 2016.