Locally and globally, climate change is increasing the frequency and duration of extreme weather, including more days per year of extreme heat, high precipitation and flooding, and drought. It is also increasing the risk of disasters, such as large wildfires that lead to widespread air pollution and blizzards that disrupt energy services, transportation, and other daily living needs. Climate change affects everyone, regardless of whether disasters happen in our own backyards, because disasters elsewhere cause mass population displacement, human and animal casualties and loss of property which increase public tax expenditures on emergency response and recovery. Additionally, disasters and extreme weather also cause long lasting damage to ecosystems of plants, animals, and insects that are vital for erosion control, food production, water quality, cooling of cities, and preservation of wild native spaces. Climate change does not affect everyone equally. Structural, social, and environmental determinants that result in unequal access to resources can make some individuals more vulnerable to climate-related disease, disability, and death than others.  Health equity must be central in policy, technology, and social programs aiming to improve human resiliency and adaptation to climate change.

The University at Buffalo (UB) Center for Climate Change and Health Equity (CCCHE) is offering pilot grants focused on preventing or mitigating existing or emerging climate threats to human health and our ecosystems. The purpose of these pilot grants is to improve UB’s competitiveness for large extramural Center grants that can support applied research on climate change, disasters, and public health. These pilot grants will (1) build evidence of a collaborative, transdisciplinary community at UB capable of conducting high impact research on complex climate and health challenges and (2) generate preliminary evidence that can support subsequent Center-level funding initiatives. Preference will be given to proposals that address how this research will address longer-term goals for growth of the climate and health community at UB, community-impact, and evidence supporting large grant initiatives.

We are looking for transdisciplinary or multisector (academic-implementing partner) teams with bold ideas on solving climate threats that could have significant translational health impacts. 

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Planetary health, One Health, Ecohealth, One Water approaches that integrate human health with biodiversity and ecosystem sustainability concepts
• Predictive climate modeling of health threats from disasters and progressive shifts in extreme weather
• Indigenous health, indigenous ways of knowing
• Design and evaluation of climate/disaster-specific policies or community-based programs
• Climate vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation, including interactions with legal, housing, food, and water insecurity
• Climate preparedness of community-based health, social work, and educational systems
• Climate migration, including preparedness of places like Buffalo called “climate sanctuaries”

Eligibility:

Proposals must include a PI who is a core or affiliate faculty member of CCCHE. Faculty from all colleges and schools who are not currently affiliate members of CCCHE, but who have a committed interest in being a part of UB’s climate and health community, may request membership up to two weeks before the full proposal deadline. Early application is encouraged. Criteria for Center membership can be found at the link above or can be emailed to ccche@buffalo.edu.

Proposals must involve transdisciplinary collaboration, either between faculty and a community partner or between faculty from two colleges/schools, that demonstrates the added value of multiple perspectives in addressing climate-health challenges. Community partners are defined as non-academic organizations who implement programs that address community health needs, including 501(c) nonprofit or faith-based organizations, public service government employees or institutions (e.g. councils or schools), or private organizations.

Applicants should note that projects involving contracts and subcontracts with external organizations may not be feasible within the timeline of the grant. Successful projects will avoid contractual relationships with those not already established as vendors or contract partners.

Multi-PI proposals, including those between faculty from two or more UB Colleges and Schools or between faculty and community-based partners, are encouraged. A multi-PI plan must be submitted describing how PIs will equitably share governance and decision-making.

Faculty may only be PI or Co-PI on one proposal but may be Co-Investigators on other proposals.

Faculty who wish to apply but need help identifying collaborative partners may request networking support from CCCHE.

Proposals focused on both local and global health will be considered, although global awards will be limited to one concept due to limited funding.

Timeline and Application Process:

The application process requires first submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI) followed by submission of a full proposal. The LOI is meant to help CCCHE identify a sufficient number of qualified proposal reviewers and is not a selection step. All applicants who submit an LOI should proceed with full proposal preparation. LOI and full proposals should be submitted to ccche@buffalo.edu. 

Funding Timeline:

Successful proposals will be feasible for completion within 1 years’ time.

Cost extensions are not guaranteed and will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

Process:

Pilot grants will be evaluated according to the rubric below by two to three reviewers with some knowledge of the topic area but who have no role in the final selection process and lack competing interest as a PI or Co-I on another application. Proposals concerning community-based work will be reviewed by a non-academic partner. The top 4 to 6 scoring applications, depending upon number of applications, will be evaluated by the CCCHE Director and an advisory committee. Awardees will be selected based upon relevance to the RFP, fit with other applications, and total budget.

De-identified reviews will be returned to proposal teams for understanding score drivers. The total number of applications received and the percentile ranking of the proposal score may also be also shared with applicants should a large number of applications be received.

Letter of Intent (LOI) Components:

LOIs should be 1 page on official UB letterhead and should state the proposal title, the names and affiliations of all key investigators (PIs, Co-Is, community partners if relevant), a brief summary of the goals of the project and its alignment with the purpose of the RFP, 5 keywords that characterize the project, and the names of any individuals who may have a conflict of interest with the success of the proposal, for whatever reason, and should NOT be asked to serve as a reviewer or committee member.

Full Proposal Components

Proposal should be single-spaced, Arial size 11 or larger font, and 0.5 margins. Structure is based upon National Institutes of Health R21 format (examples: Sample Applications & More | NIAID: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Proposal components should contain each of the following sections:

1. Specific Aims (1-page maximum)
   •  Justify the scientific gap that will be addressed by the proposed research, the short- and long-term goals, the specific aims, and a brief statement of expected outcome(s), including community benefit and future funding.
2. Research Strategy (6-page maximum)
   • Significance. Describe why the climate and health challenge is important, the state of existing evidence about the causes and/or potential solutions for the problem, how the evidence to be generated by the proposed approach fills a knowledge gap that could address the climate and health challenge, and any relevant detail. Describe how your transdisciplinary and/or multisectoral approach will improve the quality and innovation of the evidence to be generated.
   • Innovation. Describe any theoretical or methodological points of innovation that distinguish this proposal idea from the status quo and how discoveries from this work might change the design and implementation of climate and health focused interventions.
   • Approach. Provide details about the study design, methods, and analysis that would allow a reviewer to evaluate feasibility, rigor, and appropriateness of the proposed approach for addressing study aims. Describe the expected outcomes for each Aim and discuss strategies for addressing potential problems.
   • Investigators. Describe the expertise of the investigative team and their roles in project success. Prior history of collaboration is not considered for pilot grant funding. However, existing teams should describe their prior history of working together while new teams should describe any guidelines that have been agreed upon for partnership. For projects involving community partners as key personnel, confirm that equitable (and if relevant HIPAA compliant) agreements have been established about data ownership and sharing and credit on outputs.
   • Broader Impact Statement. State how this research will lead to new science understanding or discoveries and its end-of-study or longer-term benefit to communities and community-based organizations. If the proposal includes a community-based partner, describe the specific benefit of this research for the partner’s practice.
   • UB Impact Statement. State how investment in this concept aligns with the mission of this RFP and CCCHE, the next steps for pursuing extramural funding, and other anticipated benefits to climate and health research, education and outreach at UB.
3. Bibliography (no limit to pages)
4. Draft of the IRB or IACUC plans if the study involves human or animal subjects.
5. NIH or NSF Biosketches (5-page limit) for Principal Investigator and Co-investigators or CVs for community partners
6. Letter(s) of Support and resume from relevant community partner(s)
7. Multi-PI Plan describing how PIs will manage decision making and address problems if they arise (if relevant).
8. Budget and Allowable costs:
   • Please submit a budget using the budget template below with a brief budget justification.

We anticipate making three to four awards ranging in sum from $5,000 to $40,000. Maximum individual proposal budget: $40,000. Total Budget for all grants: $80,000.

Funds will be awarded with Research Foundation non-sponsored funds and must follow allowable use of funds.

Eligible costs include student or staff salary (faculty salary not allowed), subcontract costs for community-based partners (excluding government employees) who are existing approved vendors with UB, travel, equipment costing less than $5000, supplies for research or community engagement, publication fees, and other contractual services critical to implementing research.

Conditions for Awarded Pilot Projects:

Awardees will be expected to submit a report to CCCHE within 3 months of the end of the funding period briefly summarizing results, products (science manuscripts, public briefs, websites, tools, knowledge dissemination events, MOUs, or similar outputs), science or community-impact statement, and submitted or planned grant proposals. Study products must include a statement citing financial support provided by the University at Buffalo’s Center for Climate Change and Health Equity.

The following are required of every pilot study PI.

• Attend “on-boarding” session regarding requirements associated with funding and award. The PI must attend before funds will be released and before the project will begin.
• Submit a brief quarterly progress report or attend a monthly CCCHE meeting and give a presentation to CCCHE members on the status of the budget and research implementation.
• Submit a progress report at the end of year 1 and 2 describing papers submitted or published in an academic peer-reviewed journal or discipline-specific publication, public reports or activities, scientific presentations, or patents following project end date that reported study results and newly submitted grants that were supported by the research. Investigators intending to submit a NIH, PCORI, NSF, NASA or comparable external competitive funding proposal are encouraged to use CCCHE resources to develop larger proposals. 

Questions? Questions about the scope of the RFP, allowable costs, or other questions can be sent to Center Administrator, Stephanie Keating Miller at keatingm@buffalo.edu.

Affiliate faculty members will have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from various disciplines, engage in groundbreaking research, apply for the Center’s pilot grants, be invited for one-to-one meetings with notable climate and health visiting scholars in guest seminars, and contribute to initiatives aimed at advancing health equity in the face of climate change. Their professional research and accomplishments will be featured on the Affiliate Faculty and Staff page of the center website with links to their contact information, bolstering their public outreach and partnership opportunities.

Additional benefits include:

• Opportunities to engage in transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaborations
• Opportunity to inform climate change and health practice and policy
• Participate in the development and growth of the CCCHE
• Invitations to CCCHE events and activities
• Opportunities to connect with other members of the CCCHE network