Purpose: The Chuck Noll Foundation for Brain Injury Research is excited to launch a new initiative to fund exciting and impactful research specifically by early career investigators in the Pittsburgh, PA region. These awards are intended as pilot funding for research projects aiming to improve the assessment, treatment, and prevention of traumatic brain injuries. These awards are meant to provide preliminary data to support future federal grant proposals and serve as an accelerator for young scientist’s careers in the traumatic brain injury field.

Research Focus: Projects must focus on brain or spinal cord injury research, including but not limited to:

• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

• Sport-related concussion

• Neurodegernative diseases

• Spinal cord injury (SCI) diagnosis and treatment

Applicant Eligibility:

• Applicants must be early-career researchers within 5 years of completing their PhD or equivalent degree, within 5 years of completing a post-doctoral fellowship, or within 5 years of completing residency training for MDs.

• Current post-doctoral fellows are eligible to apply.

• Applicants must have a demonstrated commitment to brain injury research.

• Applicants must be affiliated with an accredited research institution in the Pittsburgh region.

Selection Criteria: The research proposal will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Scientific merit

• Feasibility

• Potential impact on the field of brain injury research

Applicants whose proposals are of interest to the National Science Advisory Committee may be asked to present their proposed project prior to a funding determination.

Award Amount: Applicants may request funds up to $25,000 in total. The performance period for the project is 2 years from the notification of the award.

Notification of Award: Successful applicants will be notified within 12 weeks of the submission deadline.

Responses to this request for proposals should include, but are not limited to the following:

• The body of the proposal should be 5 pages in length (not including bibliography) and should be submitted electronically in PDF format to ahavrilla@chucknollfoundation.org no later than 5:00 PM, Friday, April 18, 2025. A cover page must be included with the following:

  • Title of the research being proposed

  • Name of Principal Investigator(s), Organization, and Contact Information (address, email, phone number)

  • Name of Institution (contact name, address, phone number)

  • Name of Grant Manager, if applicable (address, phone number, email)

• Description of the purpose of the research and its relevance to the field of brain trauma. in standard NIH application format including:

  • Short abstract

  • Background

  • Hypothesis

  • Specific Aims

  • Research Strategy / Methodology / Statistics

  • Human, Clinical, Animal, and Select Agent Research Plans

  • Bibliography

  • Facilities and Other Resources

• Description of how the grant would be utilized. The Foundation is willing to invest in:

  • existing research initiatives

  • new and promising research

  • initiating research in new but needed areas of research

• Description of existing or anticipated partnerships that will facilitate this work

  • Bios for Principal Investigator(s) in NIH format. Note: Application must include a faculty mentor co-Investigator who will take joint responsibility for the project’s success.

  • Expected total project duration and detailed budget narrative.

  • Dissemination plan for the data obtained from Chuck Noll Foundation funding.

  • Future plans to submit for larger awards using data obtained from the Chuck Noll Foundation funded project.