WCHRI Clinical Research Seed Grant

Dr. Lorin CharltonTatjana AlvadjDory Sample

• Initiative designed to encourage a research integrated hospital environment by engaging care providers in clinical research

• Designed to encourage front line workers to get involved in research to better patient outcomes for children and women

WCHRI Clinical Research Seed Grant

• Sponsored by the:– Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation– Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation– Department of Pediatrics

• Applicants must have a clear association with the Stollery Children’s Hospital or the Lois Hole Hospital for Women

WCHRI Clinical Research Seed Grant

• Provides up to $15,000 in funding (over 12 months)

• Projects must be either: – rapidly clinically translatable and directly impact

patient care and outcomes for children and/or women

– or encourage educational innovation and research aimed at improving clinical student and postgraduate education

WCHRI Clinical Research Seed Grant

Previous Round

Last fall, we funded 16 of 38 applications (42%)

• Must be WCHRI member • Must hold a faculty appointment at the UofA• May submit one application to each round• Can only hold one grant per year

– Note: We want to encourage participation from front-line staff, so involvement as collaborator is strongly encouraged

Applicant Eligibility

Must be:

• Relevant to WCHRI vision• DIRECTLY related to women and/or children’s

health• See application and guidelines for more

information

WCHRI Clinical Research Seed GrantProject Relevance with WCHRI Mandate Score

Somewhat relevant to WCHRI mandate 0

Moderately relevant to WCHRI mandate 1

Highly relevant to WCHRI mandate 2

WCHRI Clinical Research Seed Grant Application

• 2 ½ pages includes:– Description of project– Relevance to children/women’s health– Clear hypothesis, objectives, methodology &

outcomes– Knowledge translation plan– Feasibility and impact on patient care

Cont’d

• Budget• Budget justification ( ½ page)• Summary of other funding• 2- page abbreviated CV• Letters of support from collaborators MUST

be included (should clearly detail their role)

Knowledge Translation activities and plan:• Include a K/T plan that details the anticipated

outcomes and impact• Include details on knowledge users, how they

will be involved in study or K/T process• Include next steps (future grant applications,

preclinical or clinical development, impacts on health policy)

If applicant was previously unsuccessful in a WCHRI Seed Grant competition:

• Can resubmit in the next round and address the reviewer comments

• Evaluation: Each application will be reviewed by at least 2 reviewers

• Application feedback will be provided to the principal investigator

WCHRI Clinical Research Seed Grant

• …elicit emotions and perspectives, beliefs and values, actions and behaviours and understand participant’ responses to health and illness and the meanings they construct about the experience (Morse, 2012)

In qualitative health research, investigators want to …

• What is the problem? (background, significance for the practice and knowledge development)

• State your objective(s) and research question(s)? For example: – Objective: to explore/to understand the perceptions

about xy disease among newcomer families from … countries

– Research question: What are the prevailing values and beliefs related xy disease that shape the attitude and behaviours of newcomer families from…?

• Define the concepts!

Research objective(s)/research question(s)

• Explain your research paradigm: why qualitative research?

• Use methods based on your research question (ethnography, grounded theory, case study, descriptive qualitative)

Methods

• Explain your choice of data collection methods (interviews, focus groups, observations, documents)– Population under the study– Sample size (usually small!)– Sampling technique (usually purposeful) – Access and recruitment

Data collection

• Describe the analysis process: – audio recording; transcription; field notes;

software for data management; analysis method • Rigour/trustworthiness: credibility,

transferability, dependability, conformability (Lincoln and Guba, 1985)

• Ethics: risks related to the participants, topic, relationship, researcher (Mayan, 2009)

Analysis/Ethical considerations

• Transcription• Data management software• Gift cards for participants• Refreshments for focus groups/meetings

Budget

• Qualitative research is energy/time consuming for all involved!– Qualitative designs are “emergent” rather than

fixed (Morse, 1994)– Recruitment and data collection can be very slow– Research is an interpretative process that takes

time– Debriefing is important for all involved!

Friendly warnings!

• Mistakes to avoid:– No hypothesis identified – what is the research

question?– Feasibility – Unclear methodology – controls?– Part of a larger study – not really seed funding– Clinical translation unclear

WCHRI Clinical Research Seed Grant

– Details vague – need to be specific– No letters from collaborators or only from some– Full CV submitted – only need 2-pages– KT plan vague – Poor writing – get someone to proofread

WCHRI Clinical Research Seed Grant – cont’d

• You are eligible to apply• You have a realistic, well thought out research

question, and a plan to see it through • The research fits the WCHRI mandate• You know what needs to be included on the

application, and what doesn’t• You know who needs to sign it

So now you know…..

Make a draft of your submission – Check that it meets the requirements; have

someone else check it too, carefully– Identify any areas that you think need “more”– If you need “more” get “more”

• Make sure you have enough time…..

Now what?

WCHRI has both internal expertise and strategic partnerships, and may be able to help with:

– Biostatistics– Database planning and management– Knowledge synthesis, literature review assistance– Feasibility determination– Budget determination– Study conduct

We’re here to help

contact WCHRI at wcgrants.ualberta.ca