Emergency seed funding for COVID-19 research: Lessons from Johns Hopkins University

Julie Messersmith; Chasmine Stoddart-Osumah; Marc Lennon; Denis Wirtz

doi:10.1172/JCI145615

Emergency seed funding for COVID-19 research: Lessons from Johns Hopkins University

Julie Messersmith, Chasmine Stoddart-Osumah, Marc Lennon, Denis Wirtz

Whiting School of Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e145615
Journal	Journal of Clinical Investigation
Volume	131
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI145615
State	Published - Jan 4 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Medicine(all)

Access to Document

10.1172/JCI145615

Cite this

@article{2572fdb6ef6b478798d4893347df17d2,

title = "Emergency seed funding for COVID-19 research: Lessons from Johns Hopkins University",

author = "Julie Messersmith and Chasmine Stoddart-Osumah and Marc Lennon and Denis Wirtz",

note = "Funding Information: Several aspects of this program{\textquoteright}s design supported its success. First, it was important to provide flexible funds for research teams to coalesce and gather preliminary data prior to the availability of large-scale external grants. Grants ranged from $10,000 to $950,000. Second, with a central perspective across the institution, the oversight committee defined the research response around problems and knowledge gaps rather than specific fields or departments. Third, the bench-to-bedside pipeline was connected; research- ers with nonclinical backgrounds were directly connected to the clinicians caring for COVID-19 patients. Fourth, frequent discussions guided the course of several studies and provided real-time insights as understanding of the disease quickly evolved. Fifth, research teams were encouraged to focus on four-to six-month timelines, but no-cost extensions were allowed if necessary. Sixth, robust support was provided to teams for external grant submissions through the university{\textquoteright}s Research Development Team, which provides specialized service to assist project teams with large-scale proposals. Funding Information: 1. Hanson CS, et al. Seed grants as a means of stim-ulating cancer research funding. Health Policy. 2008;88(2–3):243–249. 2. Paller MS, Cerra FB. Investing in research: the impact of one academic health cen-ter{\textquoteright}s research grant program. Acad Med. 2006;81(6):520–526.",

year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1172/JCI145615",

language = "English (US)",

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AU - Lennon, Marc

AU - Wirtz, Denis

N1 - Funding Information: Several aspects of this program’s design supported its success. First, it was important to provide flexible funds for research teams to coalesce and gather preliminary data prior to the availability of large-scale external grants. Grants ranged from $10,000 to $950,000. Second, with a central perspective across the institution, the oversight committee defined the research response around problems and knowledge gaps rather than specific fields or departments. Third, the bench-to-bedside pipeline was connected; research- ers with nonclinical backgrounds were directly connected to the clinicians caring for COVID-19 patients. Fourth, frequent discussions guided the course of several studies and provided real-time insights as understanding of the disease quickly evolved. Fifth, research teams were encouraged to focus on four-to six-month timelines, but no-cost extensions were allowed if necessary. Sixth, robust support was provided to teams for external grant submissions through the university’s Research Development Team, which provides specialized service to assist project teams with large-scale proposals. Funding Information: 1. Hanson CS, et al. Seed grants as a means of stim-ulating cancer research funding. Health Policy. 2008;88(2–3):243–249. 2. Paller MS, Cerra FB. Investing in research: the impact of one academic health cen-ter’s research grant program. Acad Med. 2006;81(6):520–526.

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