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Community-University Research
Partnership Award (CURES)
Pilot Grant Funding Information
Presenters

2. Objectives
 To help you determine if CURES pilot grant
is right for you
 Provide information and resources needed
to apply for CURES funding

3. Questions we will address
 What is MICHR’s Pilot Grant Program?
 What is “community”?
 Why is community engagement in research
important?
 How can MICHR assist community and
academic partners?

4. CURES Overview
 MICHR agrees to support 100% up to 25K
 No Department Match is Required for CURES
awards
 Funding typically announced twice yearly,
usually with September and February deadlines
 One-year pilot project, up to three projects
funded per year.

5. CURES Goals
1. Build capacity of communities to engage in research
partnerships.
2. Combine the experience in communities and at UM to
make a positive impact on local health.
3. Enhance networks and infrastructure that will
promote community engaged research.

6. What is Community?

7. Community is…
 Broadly defined as a group of people
affiliated by similar characteristics
 Social identities (Race/Ethnicity)
 Economic backgrounds (Socio-economic
status)
 Geographic location (City/Region)
 Interests (childhood obesity prevention)
Principles of Community Engagement
second Edition, 2011. Print.

8. Why is community engagement
in research important?

9. Approaches to research

10. Community-Engaged Research
Spectrum
Little
community
involvement
Complete
community
involvement

11. Benefits of Community
Engaged Research?
Trust and
Mutual
Respect
Combination
of
expertise
Foster
Co-learning
Israel et al. 1998

12. Who can apply?
 Academic Partners
 Faculty and staff at an academic institution
 PIs are U of M faculty members
 Eligible Academic partners
 Senior Faculty
 Junior faculty
 Community Partners
 Non-profit organizations
 Community clinics
 Health departments
 Faith-based organizations
 Schools
 Neighborhood coalitions
 Grassroots community groups

13. CURES Review Criteria
 Investigator(s) - Are the PIs, collaborators
and other researchers well suited to the
project?
 If the project is collaborative do the
investigators have complementary and
integrated expertise?

14. Pilot Grant Program
Goals
 Assist early career ‘emerging’ Investigators by providing funding support
that will enable them to establish an independent clinical & translational
research path.
 Encourage multi-disciplinary collaborations.
 Promote the development of innovative and novel research projects across
the translational spectrum
 Support promising research that is likely to lead to successful extramural
funding (through NIH, other governmental funding mechanism, or a
foundation)

15. Pilot Grant Funding Mechanisms
T1 - “Bench to Bedside”
T2 - “Bedside to Practice”
T3 – Community University
Research Partnership Award
(CURES)
Seed – (Mini-Pilots) small grants

16.  Proposals will be reviewed and scored by both the MICHR
Scientific Review Committee and the Community Engagement
Coordinating Council.
 Scientific Merit
 Team Investigators
 Community Priority
 Community Benefit
 Community
Involvement
 Budget
 Sustainability
Review Criteria

17. Expectations of Awardees
 Attend a CECC meeting to discuss your project
prior to the start of your project
 “Ethical Protections in Community-Engaged
Research” workshop
 Attend the regional CTSA Conference or CTSA
Community Engagement sponsored symposium..
 Program updates and progress report

18. CURES Examples

19. Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Project: A collaboration
between the University of Michigan Depression Center and the
Ann Arbor Public Schools
 Community High’s Peer-to-Peer Campaign designated March as
“Depression Awareness Month” and conducted many of their
activities during this time frame.
“Thanks for making the film available…I had students raise the questions of suicide
prevention and how to recognize if a friend is suffering from depression, and they
wanted more information on the topic, so I think we should keep the ball rolling! I‘m so
glad to see such a concerted effort to raise awareness about mental health issues.” –
(Feedback from a forum leader)

20. Building a technology-enhanced social network intervention
to promote HIV testing among young men who have sex with
men (MSM): Pilot study
 This pilot study aimed to better understand the role of
psychosocial factors and local social and sexual networks in
Washtenaw-area young MSMs' decisions to have an HIV test.
"Clearly, the university partners has the expertise in conducting research and
interpreting research findings. It was the community partners, however, that really
helped to refine research protocols, interview tools and recruitment plans in a manner
that would be sensitive to community needs and result in desired outcomes.
Community members and agency staff have learned about research methods in the
process and our university partners have learned more about community dynamics."
(Young Men’s Study, PI: T. Veinot)

21. Parenting while incarcerated
 The goal of this community-university partnership
project is to implement an evidence-based parenting
program with incarcerated mothers in Flint, MI.
“Without the community partner, this research could not happen. The community partner
has identified ways for the intervention to continue after the research project has ended,
how to manualize the intervention, and how to continue to evaluate the program both from a
process and outcome perspective. This will be very useful for the program as they apply for
funding to continue this programming.”
(Parenting While Incarcerated, PI: A. Miller)

22. MICHR Resources
 Community Engagement – provides training, consultation, and
resources to assist community-based organizations and academic
researchers in building equitable, effective partnerships to improve
health
http://www.michr.umich.edu/community/communityengagement
 Research Development – provides free services and consultation to
strengthen study design and grant proposals
http://www.michr.umich.edu/services/researchdevelopment
 Clinical and Health Research Recruitment – provides tools and
resources to facilitate participant recruitment in clinical and health
research studies
http://www.michr.umich.edu/services/recruitmentprogram
 Education & Mentoring – provides multidisciplinary education,
career development, and mentoring programs for clinical and
translational researchers http://www.michr.umich.edu/education

23. References
 Principles of Community Engagement. [Washington, D.C.]:
Dept. of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of
Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Clinical and
Translational Science Awards, 2011. Print.
 Israel, Barbara A., Amy J. Schulz, Edith A. Parker, and Adam
B. Becker. "REVIEW OF COMMUNITY-BASED RESEARCH:
Assessing Partnership Approaches to Improve Public Health."
Annual Review of Public Health 19.1 (1998): 173-202. Print.

24. Contacts
Assistance with CURES applications: Adam
Paberzs, Research Liaison, 734-763-8880,
adampabe@umich.edu
MICHR pilot funding mechanisms and mGrants:
Debra Warrick, Pilot Grant Program Coordinator,
734-998-7626, warrickd@umich.edu

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Questions?