AI2Heal Catalyst Grant 

Award Overview

The University of Florida Intelligent Clinical Care Center (IC³) is pleased to announce the Fall Cycle AI2Heal Catalyst Funding. The AI2Heal Catalyst Grants will support multidisciplinary collaborations between AI researchers and clinical and basic science faculty to propose new ideas for harnessing AI tools to improve human health. The interactive catalyst grant award program will provide resources to generate preliminary data to support an extramural medical AI grant proposal.

RFP Guidlines

This catalyst grant opportunity will adopt a team science approach to multidisciplinary research, expected to result in future extramural grant proposals or career development awards. Applicants must propose innovative AI approaches involving one or more real-world medical datasets, including but not limited to:  

• Clinical Text 

• Electronic Health Records (EHR) 

• Medical Imaging (Radiology, Pathology, Cellular) 

• Multi-Omics 

• Bio-Signals 

Proposals must involve innovative applications of AI tools or methods for improving human health. Suggested medical AI applications include (but are not limited to): 

• Risk stratification and prediction 

• Clinical decision support systems 

• Precision medicine 

• Drug discovery and repurposing 

• Pervasive sensing, wearable devices, and telemedicine 

• Healthcare informatics and optimization  

• Epidemiology and public health 

The contact-PI will lead the team’s proposal with partnership from the co-leaders. They will be responsible for timeline creation, task assignment, and responsibility development, ensuring the teams’ deliverables are met and assessing any needs to achieve the project’s goals. Each team will be encouraged to develop meaningful and productive partnership to submit the completed application on time by the November 1, 2024 deadline.  

Eligibilty

• At least one applicant must be an Intelligent Clinical Care Center (IC³) member (any level)  

• Must be current member or membership pending at time of submission deadline 

• Faculty of all academic stages may apply. 

• Investigators may submit only one project during this funding cycle as the Contact PI. Clinical/Scientific advisory roles on more than one application are allowed. 

• Teams must consist of at least two faculty leaders of different disciplines. One will serve as contact PI.  

• Final Proposals will be judged in the format of a NIH study section with multiple reviewers and discussions. 

Application Deadlines

Full completed proposals are due November 12, 2024 on InfoReady. A one-year progress report is required to be submitted by January 31, 2026. 

Final Proposal Requirements

We recommend following the NIH guidelines for font size and spacing.

Budget

Allowable Costs 

• Direct costs only 

• Must be used within project period (1 year) 

• Funds must be used for activities detailed in final application  

• Conference registration and related travel expenses 

Unallowable Costs 

• Support faculty salaries, student tuition, or other educational related expenses 

• Major equipment, desktops or laptops computers, mobile devices, software or licensing fees 

• Inpatient bed charges 

• There will be limits on use of award funds for travel.

Budget Justification

• Submit a detailed budget justification of expenses using the NIH’s standard.  

Key Personnel 

• List of individuals who contribute to the scientific development or execution of the projects in a substantive or measurable way 

• Last Name, First Name, Home Department, Project Role  

Review Process and Criteria

All applications will be triaged for completeness, feasibility, likelihood of completing the project in one year, and responsiveness to the RFA. Applications that are accepted will be referred for scientific review. 

Scientific reviews: Reviewers will use NIH review criteria to score submissions based on scientific merit. 

Funding decisions: In addition to scientific review scores, additional criteria will be used in making funding decisions such as high likelihood of receiving further extramural funding, how proposed project will contribute generalizable knowledge for the science of translation, and how the proposed project advance to bridge the gap between research and practice in the healthcare system. 

Contact

Call Alicia Antone at aantone@ufl.edu or (352) 294-8580 for any questions or concerns.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. My IC³ membership status is a Trainee Member. Am I eligible to apply?
   Yes, if you are of faculty status.
2. When is okay to contact the Review Committee?
   The Review Committee cannot be contacted directly for any reason once your proposal has been submitted. To contact them prior to submission, you must go through the contact provided in the Contacts section.  
3. Are there any reporting requirements of the grant?
   Yes. A three-page report is required to be submitted by January 31, 2026, including progress on what has been done, how budget has been utilized, and if there are any presentations and manuscripts as a result of this project. The recipient should submit any manuscripts or articles published and poster or slides of presentations made. Manuscripts and presentations should cite this grant as one of the funding sources.  “This research has been funded by AI2Heal Catalyst Funding.”
4. Are the non-recipients eligible to apply again the following year?
   Yes. Non-recipients are eligible to apply the following year.
5. Can I apply again the following year if I’m awarded the grant funds?
   No. Recipients who have won the award are not eligible to reapply the following year.