RISE Grants support research in children's environmental health sciences that aligns with the mission of NIEHS. RISE Grants must be used on the production of new, focused, preliminary data, or the analysis of data to support grant submission. Funding may be used on services through the HERCULES Facility Cores or the Emory Integrated Facilities Cores, on data science or analysis services of the HERCULES Environmental Health Data Sciences Core, on the purchase of supplies and reagents necessary to obtain specific data, on costs associated with performing a specific experiment, or on costs associated with a limited study of a population group or community. Applicants planning to use a HERCULES Core are required to consult with Core leaders regarding feasibility and costs before submitting a full application. Funds may also be used for the development of community partnerships to support new projects and grant submissions. RISE pilots target proposals for innovative CEH research within the fields of translational, basic, biomedical, clinical, epidemiologic, behavioral, or community-engaged science. Projects proposing innovation in dissemination, communication, and research translation will be supported through the Translation Core. For all projects, the emphasis will be on time-sensitive or emerging challenges in children’s health.

Investigators from CHARTER’s partner institutions (Emory, Spelman, and UGA) will be eligible to apply if their project is aligned with the goals of CHARTER and focused on CEH. Applications will receive priority for review and funding if they are 1) early stage, meaning the investigator graduated from a residency training or terminal degree program within the last 10 years, and/or 2) led by one who has not yet received substantial, independent funding from NIH.

Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Dr. Carmen Marsit (carmen.j.marsit@emory.edu) before beginning the application process to discuss the fit of their request with CHARTER goals, the NIEHS mission, and the goals of the RISE Grant Program. He can also assist in identifying any resources that may be needed, including those through the HERCULES Center.

• A letter of intent (LOI) should be submitted at least 2 weeks before the full application is due. The letter will include a summary of the proposed project and applicant details. Development Core leadership will review each LOI to confirm its overall alignment with program objectives, and to help assign a mentor(s) to the investigator(s), if a relationship doesn’t already exist. The mentor will meet with the investigator to discuss the proposed project and provide guidance on application development.

A completed application package should be sent to Jasmine Irish (jirish2@emory.edu).

The Application must include:

• A cover letter co-signed by the PI’s department chair/division chief indicating support of the proposal
• A scientific proposal limited to 3 pages, in the style of an NIH R grant, with sections labeled Specific Aims, Significance, Innovation, and Approach. Be sure to highlight, as part of the scientific proposal, how the application aligns with the NIEHS strategic plan and a section describing how the results will be used to ground a future NIEHS or NIH grant application.
  
  • Required materials outside the 3-page limit include:
    
    • references,
    • cover page with a lay abstract of the proposed project and the proposal’s relevance to CEH,
    • dissemination plan, which should be approximately 0.5 page describing how your work will be shared both to a research-focused academic audience as well as more broadly to the public or communities most impacted
• NIH bio sketches of key personnel
• Budget (PHS 398 form)
• Budget justification
• Projects that require institutional approvals (e.g., IRB, IACUC) must provide proof that submissions for those approvals have been made with the application. If your project is funded, all institutional approvals must be received before funding can be awarded, and additional materials required by NIEHS will be requested, including enrollment tables and full human subjects materials.

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• Funding of up to $12,000 direct costs may be requested
• If requesting HERCULES Facility Core services, budget details should be discussed at the required consultation meeting prior to application submission.
• Indirect costs should not be included in the budget.
• No salary support may be requested.
• All federal and university rules and regulations regarding the administration of grants apply to these funds. Costs subject to CAS approval, such as computers, general purpose equipment, office supplies, etc., may not be budgeted. Requests for equipment are not allowable

Awardee Requirements:

• RISE Grants are expected to lead to K-or R-level NIH funding, preferably with NIEHS. Awardees are required to keep the CHARTER Center Administrator informed of any proposal submission and/or grant funding resulting from the Enhance Grant award.
• Any resulting publications must cite funding from CHARTER (NIEHS 1P2CES033430-01) and electronic copies of the publications should be provided to the CHARTER Center Administrator. If projects make use of any HERCULES cores or resources, the HERCULES grant should also be cited (NIEHS P30ES019776)
• RISE Grantees will be paired with a faculty mentor who can assist the investigator in achieving the goals of their pilot, as well as in the development of the resulting funding application. Investigators are encouraged to take advantage of programs designed to assist in grant development, including workshops sponsored by their schools, the GA CTSA, or the HERCULES Center.
• Awardees must provide a brief written report at the mid-point and end of the funding

For questions regarding this RISE Grant program please contact Dr. Carmen Marsit, email: j.marsit@emory.edu