Conference News

The goal of the project titled “Health Disparities Research in Aging: The Aging Research in Criminal Justice & Health (ARCH) Network” is to develop a national, multi-disciplinary community of emerging and established researchers to catalyze and support research and interventions designed to improve health and social outcomes in the growing population of criminal justice-involved older adults and people with serious illness.

The ARCH Network leadership team spans two geographically distinct universities – the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

Our purpose is to bring public health, health-related research, and criminal justice reform together into one conversation. Our vision is to create and use evidence-based health and healthcare solutions to design or inform policies and programs that advance criminal justice reform.

Pilot Research Program: Our goal is to support new and established scientists in research on the health and/or healthcare needs of criminal justice-involved older adults and people with serious illness. Successful pilot/exploratory projects ($10,000-$15,000 each) will be selected for their capacity to support multidisciplinary, community-engaged, and/or life-course research that has the potential to directly benefit criminal justice-involved older adults. The possibility of funding exceeding $15,000 may be considered with special permission and prior approval, please email sarah.vanzanten@ucsf.edu if interested.

Eligibility: To be eligible for the ARCH Funding, principal applicants must: Be an ARCH Network Member and be based in the US (other research team members can be non-US based). *Strong Preference will be given to Junior Faculty, early stage investigators, and/or trainees.

Selection: Proposals will be scored according to the NIH system by a 3-person committee comprised of ARCH Network Executive and Advisory Board Members. We expect to fund 2 or 3 pilot projects per year that study opportunities across the life course where programmatic and policy interventions can be tested to reduce health disparities for criminal justice-involved older
adults and people with serious illness.

All relevant grant award recipients will receive direct mentoring in the area of research ethics, study design, and implementation from an appropriate Network Contributing Member or other senior researcher if needed.

All research funded by the network that enrolls human research must be approved by an institutional review board governing human subjects research (IRB).

**Successful applicants will be asked and highly encouraged to present their project proposal at the ARCH Annual Meeting on April 1, 2020.

Submission Dates: Applications are due on Friday, February 21, 2020. Completed applications must be emailed to sarah.vanzanten@ucsf.edu no later than 3:00 pm PST, Friday, February 21, 2020. Electronic applications should be formatted as a single PDF document with pages numbered sequentially. If you do not receive notification that the electronic copy of your proposal has been received by 5:00 pm PST Friday, February 21, 2020 – please call (415) 514-7510. *We expect to make funding decisions by Monday, March 9, 2020.

Application Guidelines: Completed applications must contain the components listed below and follow provided formatting instructions (Arial font, 11 point, .5-inch margins, continuous page numbering on fully assembled application package) and maximum page limits.

Please number all pages sequentially.
1. Cover Page
2. NIH Biosketch from Primary Investigator (Click here for Example and instructions (2 links) – CV accepted for Community Research Applicants)
3. NIH Biosketch from Secondary Investigator or Mentor (If Applicable)
4. Specific Aim(s): Describe the aim(s) and objectives that will determine the scope, depth,and overall direction of the study (1 page max)
5. Research Strategy: Describe the overall strategy, methodology (including study design, study population and sample, and key measures), basic planned analyses, and potential to lead to larger scale work (3 page max)
6. Budget requested and basic justification (salary, travel, transportation, etc.)
7. Bibliography and References
8. Letter of Endorsement from Primary Mentor (If Applicable)
9. NOTE: Protection of Human Subjects Documentation – documentation of IRB approval will be required before funds are dispersed

Review Criteria: THE ARCH Network Review Committee will use the following criteria to assess each application. These are provided so applicants will understand items of importance to reviewers. Please note: priority will be given to proposals that map to the Network’s research agenda.

Significance:
• Does this study address important questions associated with the health of criminal justice involved older adults and/or people with serious illness?
• Is the study consistent with the aims of the Network and does it have relevance to the Network’s goals?
• What is the scientific premise of the study? The premise concerns the quality and strength of existing research used to form the basis for the proposed research question; describes general strengths and weaknesses of prior research being cited as crucial to support the application

Innovation:
• Are the aims important, original, and innovative? 

Approach:
• Is the design, (including composition of the study population), methods, and analyses adequately developed, and appropriate to the aims of the project?
• Are data collection and analysis methods clear and adequately justified?
• Is the study feasible to accomplish within the stated time frame (one year) and with the requested resources?
• Because these are exploratory/pilot funds, proposal will be evaluated for its potential to lead to future larger-scale work

Environment:
• Does the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? This information may be described in a mentor’s letter if the project proposed is from a more junior researcher and/or may be included in the Research Strategy section)

Applicant:
• Does the PI explicitly demonstrate a clear commitment to the study?
• Do the applicant’s training, experience, and accomplishments indicate the applicant is likely to accomplish the project’s objectives?
• Is there evidence of multidisciplinary and/or community collaboration? 

Budget and Resources:
• Is the budget appropriate and well justified?

For further information, contact:
Sarah.VanZanten@UCSF.edu