New SVS Foundation Bridge Grant Fills Funding Gaps

Jul 31, 2018

The SVS Foundation has created a new grant designed to help sustain surgeon-scientists’ critical research amidst any funding gaps. Applications are due Oct. 1.

The SVS Foundation Bridge Grant is intended for mid-career vascular surgeon investigators. Applicants must have had a National Institutes of Health R01 grant or a K08 Mentored Clinical Research Grant or equivalents, and applied for an NIH RO1 or equivalent but were denied funding due to a priority score below the payline.

The Bridge Grant will help sustain the recipient’s research and contribute to his or her retention as a vascular surgery investigator.

“We identified this as a need, to maintain projects for already funded and established investigators whose funding suddenly is in danger,” said Alan Dardik, MD, PhD, immediate past chair of the SVS Research Council.

“This grant opportunity shows the commitment of the SVS and SVS Foundation to retaining our community of vascular surgeon-scientists,” he added. “When grants do not achieve a fundable score and dollars run low, we are at risk of losing the entire research enterprise and an investigator who helps define the future of our specialty. Having a lifeline to generate another critical piece of data has the potential to allow a grant to become funded, retaining the vascular surgeon in his or her research role and allowing vascular surgery to remain vibrant for years to come.”

The new grant is targeted to those investigators with previous national funding for basic research, such as an NIH R01 grant, and who applied for another R01 grant but did not receive a high enough priority score to be funded again. Though eligibility for this grant is quite stringent and specific, it is modeled on similar grants offered by other societies and institutions.

“I cannot overemphasize the importance of this grant to our surgeon-scientists,” said Dr. R. Clement Darling III, SVS Foundation chair. “It fulfills a critical need to keep funding going on projects that could lead to groundbreaking therapies and medications. And, as always, that is the result we work towards.”

He added that the new grant adds an important element to those offered by the SVS Foundation. “We are trying to offer something for every step of a researcher’s career,” he said. “This fills a particular and specific need. I’m very excited about the possibilities this bridge grant creates for the future.”

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