Getting that data, however, can be a bit of a catch-22, because the funding is needed to do preliminary research. While some academic departments help invest in their university’s research mission, foundations, and societies can also fill the gap.
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September 2024Dr. Goldstein’s own first R01 grant, funded in 2018 for $1.9 million, studied some of the mechanisms that regulate how an adult’s olfactory epithelium can be regenerated after injury.
Prior to his R01, he had a K08 award, which is a mentored grant. His more recent grants focus on understanding olfactory damage and repair in humans using biopsy-based techniques and how olfactory neurons function in health and disease. So far, his R01 grants have totaled more than $5 million in funding.
Mentors and Collaborators
Building a collaborative team and seeking mentorship are also key parts of the grant proposal. Dr. Nelson collaborated with the University of Iowa, which has a large sample of known patients with genetic TMPRSS3 hearing loss. He also collaborated with Alan G. Cheng, MD, professor of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at Stanford Medicine in Palo Alto, Calif., who has expertise in doing injections in the inner ears of mice. Collaborations like these can arise from reading publications and reaching out to the authors or attending conferences and hearing researchers speak about their work, then asking if they’re willing to collaborate.
Dr. Goldstein suggests having mentors look at a draft of your grant before submitting it and said the Triological Society is growing a mentoring network to help early-career otolaryngologists with exactly this. He also recommended getting feedback on pilot grants to submit to societies and the academy for preliminary research. These pilot grants usually include an aims page of what you’re proposing to do that includes the significance of the study, the innovation, and the approach.
“Usually, you’re going to ask people who have some expertise in the field so they can give you critical, meaningful feedback. The writing style has to be good, but it’s really about your ideas and how things are structured in the grant,” Dr. Goldstein said, adding that these experts can advise you on what to be sure to consider when you write this experiment.
And don’t forget to include colleagues from other fields. “Definitely have some colleagues who are not in your exact field read the key parts over,” said Justin S. Golub, MD, associate professor and vice chair of faculty development in the department of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at Columbia University in New York. “Because at least some of the reviewers are not going to be in your exact field.”
Storytelling 101
When it comes to crafting a compelling R01 grant application, it’s important to think about winning over hearts and minds both in the medical community and in a wider circle. “It’s all about telling the story,” said Matthew Bush, MD, PhD, MBA, professor and chair of the department of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. “Talk about how the study team is uniquely able, through innovative methods and research, to communicate the findings not only to a scientific audience but also to the greater public whose tax dollars will be used. You have to be convincing that this is the time and these are the people to support to make this work happen.”
Talk about how the study team is uniquely able, through innovative methods and research, to communicate the findings not only to a scientific audience but also to the greater public whose tax dollars will be used. You have to be convincing that this is the time and these are the people to support to make this work happen.” — Matthew Bush, MD, PhD, MBA