Letters of intent are due Feb. 9, 2024. 

The UK Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences (UK-CARES) is now accepting applications for Pilot Projects in two categories.

The mission of UK-CARES is to enhance research capacity focused on the major environmental health impacts (e.g., air and water contaminants, environmental disasters, emerging environmental health issues such as climate and health) that have been implicated in chronic diseases such as heart and lung disease, cancer, diabetes, and child health and early life exposures. This mission is accomplished by promoting the interactions and expanding the critical mass of investigators and citizen scientists with expertise and experience in transdisciplinary, translational environmental health research on the UK campus and in Appalachian communities (targeted region: Big Sandy, Cumberland Valley, Kentucky River). 

Complete details and application instructions are available in the RFA located at the bottom of this page. 

Award Types:
 

1. Early Stage Investigator Award

This award is intended to support pilot studies by early stage investigators to obtain preliminary data for an extramural grant submission. This award may provide the research funds required to apply for the UK-CARES Career Development program. The maximum award will be $25,000 in direct costs which must be spent over 9 months. This award is only open to investigators in the early stage of their career (NIH definition), or investigators who are transitioning into a new area. Applicants must identify a mentor to assist with the investigator’s training.

• Early career investigators who are currently not in the area of environmental health science (EHS) are encouraged to apply.
• Eligibility is limited to full-time faculty (all title series including regular, research, clinical and special) of the University of Kentucky and affiliated institutions.
• Investigators who are PIs on substantial EHS competitive NIH research grants are NOT eligible.
• Investigators in training including residents, post-doctoral fellows, and clinical fellows are NOT eligible to serve as PIs but may be co-investigators.
• Volunteer faculty and adjunct faculty are NOT eligible to serve as PIs but may be co- investigators.

2. Innovation and High Impact Award

This award is for investigators at all stages of career development; early career, midlevel, and senior investigators, and is intended to stimulate innovation and to support pilot studies that will lead to extramural funding. Pilot grants will support projects that catalyze new research opportunities, expand research interactions with citizen scientists, volunteer faculty, or bring new dimensions to the Center. The total award is limited to $50,000 in direct costs which must be spent over 9 months.

• Investigators who are currently not in the area of environmental health research are encouraged to apply.
• Eligibility is limited to full-time faculty (all title series including regular, research, clinical and special) at the University of Kentucky and affiliated institutions.
• Investigators in training including residents, post-doctoral fellows, and clinical fellows are NOT eligible to serve as PIs but may be co-investigators.
• Volunteer faculty and adjunct faculty are NOT eligible to serve as PIs but may be co- investigators.

Priorities for Funding

The main priorities for funding are:

• Clear environmental health relevance for residents of Appalachian Kentucky.
• The likelihood that funding will result in a competitive application for extramural funding.
• Where appropriate, priority will be given based upon the strength of the research team including citizen scientists or, for early career investigators, the mentorship team and citizen scientists.
• Scientific rigor and novelty of the proposed approach.
• Multidisciplinary research teams representing the basic, clinical and/or applied sciences with an emphasis on bridging the divisions between basic and clinician  scientists.
• Pilot studies which generate critical preliminary data that will lead to subsequent external funding and/or commercial development.
• Health topics of interest to NIEHS (https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/index.cfm) and NIH climate change and health initiative (https://www.nih.gov/climateandhealth).