Clinician-Researcher Grants

Clinician-Researcher Awards support hypothesis-driven clinical research projects that have significant potential to advance our understanding of Dravet syndrome; slow or halt the progression of the disease, characteristics, or comorbidities of the disease; and/or reduce mortality. The projects must be patient-oriented, with the investigator directly interacting with human subjects/patients. This includes studies such as therapeutic interventions or support/extension of existing clinical trials.

The clinician-researcher award is meant to aid early-career clinicians in gaining experience in clinical research studies of Dravet syndrome (established clinicians without research experience are also eligible). Applicants are required to identify a clinical research mentor to assist in guiding the studies for the duration of the award.

Details: Award funds of $75,000 for one year are made to the affiliated institution in two payments, the second of which is dependent on IRB approval if not required for the first portion of the funding period. Awardees are expected to have a minimum of 25% physician effort, which can be supported (salary and benefits) by this award. Funds may also be used to support a clinical trial specialist’s efforts or similar research support costs. Up to $1000 may be set aside to present findings at a national meeting. No indirect costs are permitted under the Clinician-Researcher Award category. Submission of scientific and financial reports are due no later than 30 days after completion of the project, and awardees are expected to present at a future DSF Research Roundtable.

Eligibility: Successful applicants hold an MD or DO degree, have a valid US medical license (though US citizenship is not required), work full-time at a US academic or research institution. Clinical residents, fellows, and faculty are eligible. Applicants for this grant award are not required to have expertise in clinical research, but rather must identify a primary mentor with experience in the proposed research area. Residents and fellows are additionally required to submit a letter of support from their program director. With the exception of career development and training awards, Principal Investigators on NIH grants exceeding $225,000 and recipients of other fellowships are not eligible.

Applications are due Friday, August 22, 2025.

Please email DSF Chief Scientific Officer, Veronica Hood, PhD with any questions.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Applications which do not include the following materials and meet the specified page limitations will be returned unprocessed, or will be deferred until a subsequent granting cycle:

• Please use a size 11 font or larger with margins of at least 0.5 inches. 
• All documents should be submitted as PDFs. Each file name should include the lead investigator’s last name and the document section name (as listed below; i.e. “Jones_FacePage”).
• Applications must be received by 11:59pm (US Pacific Time) on the specified due date.

1. Grant Application, found here
   Fillable PDF form that must be signed by applicant and an institutional grants program official. Includes applicant and mentor information, a lay abstract, and scientific abstract.
   
   
2. Letters of Support
   Two letters of support are required; one letter of support from your direct supervisor/mentor and one letter of support from another senior investigator/clinician familiar with your expertise, experience, and potential.

   **Medical Residents and Fellows must additionally provide a letter of support from their program director indicating support of time dedicated to research activities.

   (Letters of support may also be submitted directly for confidentiality to veronica@dravetfoundation.org)

3. CV/Biosketch-  Not to exceed 3 pages each
   An example can be found here. Please submit a biosketch for the applicant and a biosketch for the direct supervisor/mentor.

4. Budget – 1 page
   Often displayed as a table, the budget page should include a simple numeric breakdown of how grant funds will be utilized, and a final total of the funds being requested. If the applicant does not have protected research time, they are expected to budget a minimum of 25% effort to cover salary and benefit costs for the duration of the award. Indirect costs are not permitted for the Clinician Researcher Award category.  If the total budget for your project exceeds the amount you are requesting from DSF, your budget page must include a breakdown of how all funds, including those from other sources, will be used.

5. Budget Justification – 1 page
   The budget justification page should provide an explanation and rationale of each line item of the budget including why specific personnel and/or supplies are critical to the proposed study.

6. Hypothesis and Specific Aims – 1 page
   Please use a single page to lay out the hypothesis and rationale for the proposal including the specific aims to be accomplished.

7. Research Plan – Not to exceed 4 pages
   This should include background, any preliminary data, experimental approach, methods, expected outcomes and discussion of potential pitfalls.

8. Bibliography – no page limit
   Please provide citations in NIH format (listing all authors)

Application Review Process

Applications undergo a rigorous NIH-style scientific review process and final decisions are made by the DSF Board of Directors, ensuring projects funded by DSF meet high scientific standards and align with the most pressing needs of the patient community. DSF takes integrity around our grant review process seriously, carefully avoiding conflicts of interest for scientific grant reviewers and panels and bringing in additional reviewers from relevant research fields when necessary to avoid conflicts of interest and ensure reviewers have the appropriate expertise to evaluate the submissions.

Applicants will be informed of the status of their application by late November, following scientific review and final decisions by DSF’s Board of Directors. Awardees are then announced publicly at the annual DSF Research Roundtable that is held just prior to the American Epilepsy Society Meeting.