Applications for the 2024 FSR Cardiac Sarcoidosis Grant opportunity are now closed.
The 2024 FSR Cardiac Sarcoidosis Grant aims to support research conducted in cardiac sarcoidosis. This grant, which can be supported either singularly by FSR or through a partnership with additional funders, is open to all investigators wishing to apply. The FSR will award one grant over a three-year period to either a single institution or a multi-institution project.
Learn about upcoming funding opportunities by signing up for FSR’s Physician Investigator Newsletter here.
Cardiac Sarcoidosis Grant Eligibility Criteria:
- Proposals for the Cardiac Sarcoidosis Grant must be for research in the cardiac sarcoidosis space. Examples of potentially responsive research proposals could address cardiac sarcoidosis diagnosis, prognosis, biomarkers, etc.
- Proposals should focus on projects that provide preliminary data to support the development for proposals for an RO1 or other future grant funding. Preference will be given to new projects with potential to grow and have important impact (e.g., high novelty in the form of a new approach to address a gap in knowledge and/or immediate implications for changing practice).
- Principal Investigators (PIs), Co-PIs, and Sub-Is, must submit bio-sketches in the NIH format as well as any letters of support from anyone collaborating on the proposal.
- The PI must be affiliated with a college, university, or a non-profit research facility that is willing to serve as the administering organization if the grant is awarded.
The Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research does not award grants directly to individuals.
Restrictions
- The FSR Cardiac Sarcoidosis Grant budgets are limited to $50,000 over a two-year period and may not include indirect cost charges per FSR’s policy.
- Budgets that include research lab equipment that uses over 50% of the proposed budget must include justification and a description of how that piece of equipment will be used after the grant period is over.
- All awardees must submit bi-annual progress reports to Bi-annual reports are due six months after the grant period start date, and every six months thereafter that the grant period is active for.
- Projects proposed may not exceed two years in duration.
- If a PI has previously held another grant from FSR within the last year, it is up to the discretion of the reviewers and FSR if another proposal should be eligible.
- PIs and Co-PIs may not submit more than one application for this RFP.
These grant proposals to be funded by FSR are “field-initiated” in the sense that they are not submitted in response to a direct Request for Proposal (RFP). Our larger grant awards are aligned with our Scientific Research Agenda. The FSR Cardiac Sarcoidosis Grant will accept all proposals including those that fall under the FSR's general mission of advancing cardiac sarcoidosis research by addressing gaps within the space.
Any questions may be addressed to the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research at info@stopsarcoidosis.org with the subject heading: FSR Cardiac Sarcoidosis Grant.
Please check back for future grant opportunities.
2023 Cardiac Grants
Awardee #1: Dr. Senthil Selvaraj, MD, MS, MA
Project Name: Diagnostic Utility of SGLT2 Inhibition to Facilitate Myocardial Glucose Suppression During Evaluation of Cardiac Inflammation on FDG-PET
Senthil Selvaraj, MD, MS, MA, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Section of Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant at Duke University Medical Center and faculty member at the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute. Dr. Selvaraj’s translational research program explores the implications of altering cardiovascular metabolism in patients with heart failure, including cardiac sarcoidosis. Through early phase work, his research employs deep phenotyping to decipher metabolic mechanisms that may be leveraged for cardiovascular benefit. These studies characterize dynamic changes in metabolism leveraging biomarker profiles and metabolic molecular imaging techniques, among other modalities. Specifically, Dr. Selvaraj has investigated the diagnostic and therapeutic relevance of ketosis, including ketogenic medications such as SGLT2 inhibitors, to cardiovascular disease. In addition to the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research, Dr. Selvaraj’s work is currently or recently funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Mandel Foundation, Heart Center Leadership Council, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, and American Society for Nuclear Cardiology.
Awardee #2: Daniela Čiháková, MD, PhD, D(ABMLI)
Project Name: 3D morphological and spatial transcriptomic analysis of cardiac sarcoidosis
Daniela Čiháková, MD, PhD, D(ABMLI) is a Professor of Immunology in the Department of Pathology at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Medicine and Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health at the JHU. She is also an Associate Director of the Diagnostic Immunology Lab at JHU. Dr. Čiháková is an expert in the field of cardiac immunology, with a highly productive carrier and over 70 publications in the field.
Co-PI: Dr. Ashley Kiemen, PhD
Project Name: 3D morphological and spatial transcriptomic analysis of cardiac sarcoidosis
Ashley Kiemen, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She received her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan, her master’s degree in philosophy from the London School of Economics, and her doctorate in chemical & biomolecular engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Kiemen’s research focuses on development of novel deep learning and image processing workflows for microanatomical study of anatomy and diseases in three-dimensions (3D), and molecular, genomic, and transcriptomic integration with 3D pathology. While her major focus is on the development and invasion patterns of pancreatic cancer, Dr. Kiemen also has projects spanning female reproductive health, heart disease, diabetes, and development.
Watch FSR's Cardiac and Pilot Grant Writing Webinar
Past Awardees
Dr. Nabeel Hamzeh, The University of Iowa
- Cardiac-Specific Cell Free DNA Biomarkers for Cardiac Sarcoidosis.
“Our sarcoidosis research group is honored and excited to receive the cardiac sarcoidosis grant award,” says Dr. Hamzeh, Professor of Internal Medicine - Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine at The University of Iowa. “The grant will significantly augment our ongoing efforts to investigate the role of two novel biomarkers reflective of ongoing active myocarditis in cardiac sarcoidosis.”
Read the FSR PIC newsletter for announcements for more upcoming grant opportunities.