BACKGROUND

Henry Ford Health (HFH), one of the nation’s leading integrated health systems providing innovative, quality care, and Michigan State University (MSU), one of the world’s leading research universities focused on advancing the common good, have joined forces to transform health care. Our unique partnership, HFH + MSU Health Sciences, is a catalyst for change, reimagining how we think about, innovate and deliver health and wellness. Through a joint research enterprise, a robust cancer center, and a focus on academic medical and health education of the future, this partnership will work to fight the health disparities that plague our most vulnerable communities, rural and urban.

We are committed to bringing together research and clinical trials to create a national and international destination for access to the most advanced cancer therapies and research. Through this partnership, HFH + MSU Health Sciences will achieve a National Cancer Institute (NCI) cancer center designation by serving the unique cancer needs of our state and beyond through advanced research and clinical capabilities with a focus on curing cancer and reducing disparities in cancer outcomes, while also improving the lives of the people and communities we serve. Our research will close the gap in health care outcomes for cancer patients based on race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. We are committed to addressing cancer health inequities and cancer disparities in both urban and rural communities.

The HFH + MSU Cancer Committee is interested in receiving unique and collaborative grant proposals that combine the clinical expertise and the scientific strengths of both HFH and MSU. Please see below for additional funding details that may be used to provide foundational support to advance collaborative cancer projects towards sustainable external NCI funding support.

TIMELINES

	Pilot Awards	Integration Awards
Letter of Intent Due	Jan. 7, 2022	Jan. 7, 2022
Full Proposal Invitations		Feb. 28, 2022
Invited Proposals Due		Apr. 14, 2022
Award Notification	Mar. 31, 2022	May 27, 2022

FUNDING AVAILABLE AND GUIDELINES

• Pilot Grants fund up to $25,000 or Integration Grants fund between $50,000 and $100,000 for 12 months. These awards are intended to encourage exploratory/developmental research for the early stages of project development in areas of basic, clinical, behavioral and/or population research. Indirect costs are not allowed.
• Research to support resubmission of a scored NCI grant will be considered with both HFH and MSU PIs.
• Budgets may include costs for personnel, biostatistical support, data collection expenses, research materials, clinical support, diagnostic procedures, equipment, tissue/biofluid bio-banking, core services, animal studies, and other resources. Conference travel and publication costs should not be included in the budget. Salary support for PIs should not be included.
• The utilization of cores and scientific services should be prioritized within each institution compared to use at an outside organization.

PROGRAM PRIORITIES AND REVIEW PROCESS

• Stimulate collaboration between MSU and HFHS cancer faculty and physicians. Applications must have co-leads from both MSU and HFHS.
• Increase cancer researcher pool - cancer research proposals from non-cancer researchers
• Initiate research that will lead to NCI grant applications
• Pilot grants (up to 25K) will only be reviewed at LOI stage with funding decisions made after review.
• Integration grants (up to 50K to 100K) will undergo a 3-tiered review process:

1. Letter of Intent review by Internal Review Committee
2. Scientific review of invited proposals by peer experts
3. Programmatic review for funding decisions

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applications may be submitted by:
• Physicians, physician-scientists, nursing faculty, scientists, and healthcare professionals.
• Full-time tenured and tenure-track MSU faculty, or MSU Faculty with multi-year, fixed-term appointments*.
*faculty with a 1-year term must submit a letter from their chair that they will be able to keep an appointment through the term of the award.
• Principal Investigators from both institutions must be listed as active investigators, as these are multiple PI (MPI) projects, one PI from each institution. Multidisciplinary teams of HFHS scientists/ clinicians/healthcare professionals and MSU faculty are encouraged.
• Postdoctoral and clinical fellows, medical residents, and visiting and adjunct faculty are not eligible to apply at this time.
• Projects that highlight a strong collaboration between the two institutions with a clinical and/or translational research focus will be given priority.

LETTER OF INTENT MATERIALS

For applicants interested in applying, a letter of intent is required and will be reviewed by Cancer Committee before issuing an invitation for a full proposal. Reviewer feedback will not be provided at the Letter of Intent stage. For the letter of intent, applicants are required to submit the items below in the following order:

• Project title and period (dd/mm/yyyy - dd/mm/yyyy)
• Total requested funding amount (only basic budget outline required for LOI)
• HFHS and MSU Principal Investigators (name, title, institutional affiliation, and contact information)
• List of Principal Investigators’ current funding
• Key Personnel (name, title, and affiliation)
* Key personnel are defined as academic or clinical faculty with measurable, paid effort on the project.
• Project Summary (2 pages)

• Gap in Knowledge
• Background and Preliminary Data *Preliminary data not required for Pilot Awards
• Specific Aims
• Significance
• Innovation
• Investigator Synergy *discuss how HFH-MSU investigator expertise is complementary and synergistic
• Impact (short-term and long-term, patient care, cancer disparities)
• Describe path and timeline to NCI grant submission

• Please use Arial 11 font and 0.5” margins and submit the letter of intent package as a single PDF to Renee Shepherd at renee@msu.edu by the appropriate due date.
• Please save and name PDF file LastNameHFH_LastNameMSU_LOI_2022

---

If you have any questions regarding the LOI guidelines or processes, please contact for Henry Ford Health System, Dana Gunderson at dgunder1@hfhs.org and for MSU Nicole Doppel at doppelni@msu.edu.