Indiana CTSI Community Health Partnerships has two pilot grants which are awarded each year: the Trailblazer Award and the Trailblazer Planning Grant. The Trailblazer Awards support collaborative, community-engaged research projects focused on topics that have potential to improve health, examine social determinants of health (SDoH), or enhance health equity. The Trailblazer Planning Grant funds activities that help develop or expand and strengthen partnerships between university and community partners that have potential to later engage joint research projects to address health, health equity or SDoH.
A unique requirement for both awards is that proposals must have two co-leads: one from an academic institution and one from a community-based organization. These partnerships form the core of the CHeP pilot awards. As such, proposals are reviewed by individuals from both university institutions and community organizations. This approach allows CHeP to gather diverse opinions on the quality and sustainability of the partnerships in the proposals, as well as the potential community benefit that proposed projects offer.
CHeP is currently seeking individuals from both community organizations and university institutions who are interested in serving as reviewers for this year’s proposals. The Trailblazer Award review takes place in July, culminating in a day-long review meeting via Zoom on July 9th. The Planning Grant review takes place in October, and reviews are submitted via a REDCap form. Reviewers who are part of a community organization and whose employer allows it will receive a $50/hour honorarium for the time spent reviewing proposals.
If you are interested in potentially serving as a reviewer for one of CHeP’s pilot awards this year, please fill out this short REDCap form by Thursday, May 23rd at the latest. Please note that not everyone who completes the survey will be selected as a reviewer. Reviewers will be selected and matched to applications based on their expertise. Potential reviewers will be notified in June (Trailblazer) or October (Planning Grant) of whether they have been selected as a reviewer. Individuals who apply for either the Trailblazer or Planning Grant awards may still volunteer to be a reviewer but will not be assigned to review for the award for which they applied.
Contact CHeP with any questions you may have at chep@iu.edu.
