The Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS at Yale University (CIRA) is seeking letters of intent for the 2025 Pilot Projects in HIV Research Program, which offers funding for preliminary and/or feasibility studies in HIV-related research that will ultimately lead to larger studies evaluating novel interventions or implementation strategies. This funding mechanism is not intended to supplement the costs of activities covered by another grant.
Download 2025 Funding Announcement and Application Requirements (PDF)
FUNDING CATEGORIES
- CIRA Pilot Research Award ($17,500 max, up to 1 award) for research into reducing HIV inequities and/or incorporating key health justice constructs (e.g., social determinants of health, structural or systemic racism, and stigma).
- CIRA-Yale Institute for Global Health (YIGH) Joint Pilot Call ($15,000 max, up to 2 awards) for research on the syndemics of HIV and noncommunicable diseases (NCD) in high-burden countries for HIV/AIDS.
- CIRA Community Research Pilot Award ($17,500 max, up to 1 award) for supporting community-led research initiatives to promote equity in HIV prevention and treatment.
FUNDING DURATION
One year
FUNDING PRIORITIES
Funding Category 1: We strongly encourage consistency with CIRA's aims, namely:
- Research into reducing HIV disparities and/or promoting status neutral HIV-related care.
- Research approaches or methods incorporating key health justice constructs (e.g., social determinants of health, structural or systemic racism, stigma).
- Studies that focus on populations at high risk of HIV infection and strategies to reduce disparities in HIV incidence, prevalence, and outcomes among marginalized populations, including those with common co-morbidities such as substance use and mental health disorders.
- Studies that examine the well-being of people with HIV or at risk of HIV who are affected by humanitarian crises (e.g., natural disasters, conflicts, forced migration or other displacement).
- Application of implementation science, community-engaged research, health services research, or digital health methodologies.
- Alignment with the NIMH HIV Prevention and Care Continuum, Co-Morbidities, and Translational Research areas of emphasis.
Funding Category 2: We strongly encourage consistency with CIRA and YIGH's aims, namely:
- Research involving participants in high-burden countries for HIV/AIDS and engaging local communities and partners.
- NCDs include, among many others, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, chronic kidney, liver and respiratory diseases, cancer, alcohol and substance use, and mental health disorders.
- Studies that focus on populations at the highest risk of adverse HIV-NCD health outcomes, promote patient-centered care and care outcomes, and improve quality of life of people with HIV with NCDs.
- Studies that develop and test models and strategies for integrating care for HIV and NCDs, including the using existing novel technologies (e.g., mobile devices, information systems, artificial intelligence).
- Representation of more than one discipline or school in the study team.
Funding Category 3: The scientific goals of the Community Research Pilot (CRP) align with those of CIRA's other funding opportunities, which are all expected to have a meaningful impact on communities affected by HIV. The CRP is designed with additional flexibility, as well as certain requirements, to center community voices and achieve the following aims:
- Provide CIRA's community partners with the opportunity to help guide and co-lead an HIV research project on a topic of importance to the community.
- The application must include an investigator based at a community organization.
- The application must include an investigator based at an academic institution. - Ensure community partners in the research project are guiding key aspects, including, but not limited to, the project’s conception, design, budget allocation, implementation, and dissemination.
- The application must demonstrate the roles of community partner and academic partner in the proposal development.
- The application must describe the expected roles of community partner and academic partner in the implementation of the research project. - Build the capacity of community partners, through hands-on research experience, to engage in future community-based research.
KEY DATES
- Information session for Community Research Pilot (CRP): 10am-11am, Wednesday, December 11, 2024
- Register for optional info session here: https://bit.ly/CIRA-CRP-InfoSession - Letters of intent due: 5pm, Tuesday, December 17, 2024
- Invitation to submit full applications sent: Friday, December 20, 2024
- Applications due (by invitation): 5pm, Friday, January 17, 2025
- Awards announcement expected: week of January 27, 2025
- Earliest start date: March 1, 2025 (dependent on IRB and NIMH approvals)
LETTER OF INTENT
Applicants must submit a letter of intent through an online form: https://bit.ly/2025-CIRA-Pilot-LOI by Tuesday, December 17, 2024 at 5pm, describing the title and abstract of the project, and the funding category to which the proposal is best aligned.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Invitation to submit a full application will be contingent upon:
- The alignment of the proposed research with the funding priorities and CIRA's mission;
- The feasibility of the research including the likelihood that it will be completed within one year;
- Where appropriate, an international study’s feasibility in the host country setting;
- Where appropriate, a study's collaborative feasibility with partner organizations;
- The potential for the research to lead to a larger, externally-funded study.
ELIGIBILITY
Funding Categories 1 & 2: Emerging and new investigators (including post-doctoral fellows and associates, research associates, research scientists, and assistant professors) affiliated with CIRA and/or a YIGH Faculty Network will be given priority, although associate professors may also apply as principal investigators (PIs). An individual investigator may only serve as PI on one proposal.
Funding Category 3: Individuals based at a community organization or with an affiliation to a public or private entity with a valid EIN tax ID # that can receive funds are eligible to apply. An academic co-investigator (e.g., a Yale faculty member) should be included on the project but may not serve as the primary applicant. An individual investigator may only serve as PI on one proposal.
QUESTIONS
For questions about this funding announcement, please contact John Pachankis (john.pachankis@yale.edu), Director of CIRA's Development Core.
PREVIOUS PILOT AWARDEES
2020
- Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on individuals with HIV with tobacco use: A mixed-methods Study (P.I.: Eva Jennifer Edelman)
- Using Web-based Peer Support to Increase HIV Testing Among Men who have Sex with Men in Kenya (P.I.: Deanne Turner)
2019
- Optimizing PrEP's Potential in Non-Clinical Settings: Development and Evaluation of a PrEP Shared Decision Making Tool for Women Seeking Domestic Violence Services (P.I.: Jaimie Meyer & Tiara Willie)
2018
- Developing social capital interventions to improve viral suppression and quality of life among HIV- positive aging populations in New Haven, CT. (P.I.: Yusuf Ransome)
- Interrupting HIV stigma in the household using home HIV testing offers in South Africa. (PIs: Luke Davis, Mari Armstrong-Hough)
2017
- Adapting an evidence-based intervention for stigma-related stress, mental health, and HIV risk for MSM of color in small urban areas (P.I.: John Pachankis, Krystn Wagner)
- Barriers to HIV Care for Adults 50yo+, a Neglected but at-Risk Population in Ukraine (P.I.: Julia Rozanova, Sheela Shenoi)
2016
- Assessing Local HIV Care Continuum Experiences in Small Cities (P.I.: Lauretta Grau, Thomas Stopka)
- Pre-exposure prophylaxis implementation for HIV prevention among substance-using men who have sex with men (P.I.: Philip Chan, Jacob van den Berg, Trace Kershaw, Eva Jennifer Edelman)
- A Theory-informed Education and Counseling Intervention for HIV-TB Treatment Adherence (TEACH) in South Africa and Uganda (P.I.: Luke Davis, Sheela Shenoi)
- Rapid Assessment and Response to Substance Use and Risk of HIV and Other Blood-Borne Infections Among Displaced Populations in Beirut, Lebanon (P.I.: Kaveh Khoshnood)
- Who's On Board: Parent, Child, and Provider Attitudes towards the Feasibility of PrEP Uptake among Adolescents (P.I.: Tamara Taggart, Tashuna Albritton)
2015
- Implementing PrEP in a Family Planning Setting (P.I.: Sarah Calabrese)
- Feasibility of a Multi-Sector Collaboration to Initiate PrEP Uptake among IPV-Exposed Women (P.I.: Trace Kershaw)
- Developing a Comprehensive Model of the HIV Care Continuum in Nine Small Cities in CT, MA and RI (P.I.: Lauretta Grau, Thomas Stopka)
2014
- HIV Prevention Needs among Unstably Housed Youth in Small Urban Areas (P.I.: Heather Mosher)
- Estimating the Size of Hidden and Hard-to-Reach Populations Using Respondent- Driven Sampling (P.I.: Forrest Crawford)
- Implementation of HIV PrEP for MSM with and without Substance Use in Providence, RI and New Haven, CT (P.I.: E. Jennifer Edelman, Phillip Chan, Brandon D.L. Marshall, Onyema Ogbuagu)
2013
- HIV Prevention Needs among MSM in Small Urban Areas (P.I.: John Pachankis, Danya Keene)
- Barriers to Implementation of Isoniazid Preventive Therapy in Rural South Africa (P.I.: Sheela Shonoi)
- Overweight/Obesity & Weight Gain among HIV-positive Prisoners in Rhode Island: Prevalence and Intervention Feasibility (P.I.: Amy Smoyer)
