Pilot Projects

Description: The program's objective is to enhance research, communication, and education in children's environmental health through direct support of activities by students, postdoctoral trainees, junior faculty, and community members. Proposals related to children's environmental lung health will be considered in the following areas:

• Environmental Health Pilot Projects: These projects will support innovative work in environmental lung health. These projects could provide preliminary data or test new technologies leading to more extensive research studies improving environmental health. Budget requests can be up to $20,000.
• Advancing Communication and Education Pilot Projects: These projects will support innovative work in children's environmental health communication and education. This could include (but is not limited to) creating curricula, extending the mode of delivery for existing curricula, and developing datasets and apps. PIs will be encouraged to describe how the projects are culturally relevant and health literacy appropriate in their design. Budget requests can be up to $10,000.
• Implementation Pilot Projects: These projects will enhance the implementation of interventions. Projects could seek to understand the effectiveness of interventions or communication strategies, consider barriers/facilitators of adopting practices/interventions to improve children's respiratory health, identify groups that are particularly susceptible or vulnerable to an environmental threat or would disproportionately benefit from an intervention, or consider ways to promote interventions among appropriate groups of people. Budget requests can be up to $10,000.
• Community-Engaged Communication Pilot Projects: Additional funds will be designated for projects designed by investigators with strong engagement from the community. Although community-focused research is encouraged in all pilot grants, the Community-Engaged Pilot Projects must: 1) demonstrate a partnership between one or more of the investigators and one or more community organizations; 2) address a community-identified children's environmental health concern; 3) specify how the outputs and outcomes of the pilot project will support children's environmental health solutions to community-identified needs. The projects could be in collaboration with LHAP classrooms, schools, faith-based organizations, or other community groups. Budget requests can be up to $10,000.

 We consider the environment to be broadly defined and can include chemical exposures, greenspace, the built environment, the food environment, physical activity, or aspects of the social environment. Projects that address household environmental exposures for all occupants (regardless of age) or community environmental health concerns across the life course are encouraged. Projects with strong engagement with community partners will receive priority for funding. Funds from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences will support each project for the budget period from December 1, 2023, through November 30, 2024. 

Eligibility: Applicants may be predoctoral candidates, postdoctoral fellows, or junior faculty who meet the NIH definition of early-stage investigators. Community member applicants will be considered for Community-Engaged Communication Pilot Projects. Applications must be received by Tuesday, November 21, 2023, at 12 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST).Prior to the release of funding, investigators must demonstrate approval of the research project by their institutional review board or animal care and use committee, as appropriate.

Use of Funds: Budgets will be allocated in the name of the junior faculty member or faculty advisor (for student awards) and are to be used exclusively for the described research. This support may be used for research expenses for which there are no other means of support, including supplies, domestic travel related to data collection or presentation, services such as data entry or laboratory analysis, and printing or photocopying. These funds may not be used for student tuition, stipend, or faculty salary except with prior approval. Awardees will be required to provide brief progress reports every six months, a final written report within 30 days of the end of the budget period, and to present their findings at a multidisciplinary BREATHE Children's Environmental Health Forum. 

Evaluation of Applications: A committee including professionals and academics working in the area of children's environmental health will evaluate applications based on whether the proposal addresses a scientifically important problem; addresses children's environmental health; is of scientifically sound design and novelty of the work and potential to advance a new line of inquiry. The likelihood of the proposal to lead to further research, increase research and translation capacity among new investigators and trainees, and the inclusion of community stakeholders, as well as attention to diversity and outreach, will be considered as strengths. In conformance with federal regulations, any exclusion of portions of populations (e.g., based on gender or race) as potential research subjects must be specifically justified.

Application Format

Please use 12-point font and margins no smaller than 1/2 inch for all materials. Applications must include the following elements:

• Project Title
• Investigator (include NIH format biographical sketch)
• Faculty advisor (student applications only) and collaborators (include biographical sketches for advisor and/or collaborators at the end of the proposal)
• Budget and Budget Justification 
  • Include an itemization of costs, with a full description and detailed justification of each item; Note, for non-JHU applications, university facilities and administrative costs are limited to 26%. 
• Research proposal (no more than two pages, not including references). The proposal should include: 
  • Abstract (complete and suitable for reproduction)
  • Aims and hypotheses (approximately 1/2 page)
  • Significance and Innovation (approximately 1/2 page)
  • Research Plan (approximately one page; describe data collection methods, analytical framework, methods, timeline, etc.)
  • Relevance to children's environmental health
• Translational Plan (maximum 1 page) 
  • Describe the outputs and outcomes of the research and how relevant findings will be communicated to appropriate stakeholders
• References (not included in the two-page limit)
• Up to five keywords to aid in reviewer assignment.
• A list of key resources and/or infrastructure available to the applicant to ensure the proposal can be completed in the 1-year timeframe.
• Letter of support from a community partner (if applicable)
• Documentation of institutional review board or committee on animal care and use approval (not required for application; must be submitted before funds can be released)

Reporting Requirements: Award recipients will be required to provide both an interim (6 months after the start date) and a final report of their project or study (within 13 months of the start date). A final financial report may also be requested. Applicants must agree to credit the BREATHE Center for any products and publications that result from the awards (e.g., “this project was supported through a grant from the Johns Hopkins BREATHE Center”). 

Application Deadline: All applications will be submitted electronically via REDCap. Please direct all questions to breathe@jhu.edu and rkoehl1@jhmi.edu prior to the Tuesday, November 21, 2023, 12:00 PM EST deadline. Applications after the deadline will not be reviewed.

Important Note: The application form is not submitted until you press the "Submit" button at the bottom of the page. You do have the option to save the application and return to it later. You MUST remember the return code given to you; if you lose it, please contact breathe@jhu.edu and rkoehl1@jhmi.edu. To retrieve your saved (but not submitted) form, click "Apply Now," hover over "Returning?" in the top right corner, click "Continue the survey," enter your return code, and hit the Submit button.