Within Our Reach Grants
The Grant Program > Within Our Reach Grants
Innovative Basic Research Grants 
Innovative Basic Research grants are focused on fundamental biologic mechanisms, are not required to utilize human materials and may incorporate animal models.
These awards provide support for investigators to conduct exploratory research on new issues or approaches for which there is currently an insufficient theoretical or empirical basis for a competitive Research Project application. In contrast to research projects, research proposed in Innovative Basic Research applications may be formative in nature and need not be designed to produce definitive results.
The objective of the Innovative Basic Research grant is to encourage innovative preliminary research, which has excellent potential to lead to a successful Research Project application with other peer-reviewed organizations. The Innovative Basic Research grant is intended to appeal both to investigators with experience in rheumatic disease research who are interested in exploring a new problem and to encourage investigators who do not have such experience but are interested in applying the knowledge or methodology from another area to a problem in rheumatoid arthritis.
Innovative grants may have very little or no preliminary data. Applicants should focus on the newness of the proposed idea and ability to change the field. In addition, applicants should be aware the “innovative grant” mechanism is not for mature research projects or fields requiring address of a small, incremental question. The program is designed for truly novel proposals.
Investigators are encouraged to submit research proposals that involve an especially high degree of innovation or represent a special opportunity to address unique research questions. Research projects proposed may involve substantial experimental risks with the potential for highly significant outcomes. For example, an investigator may have evidence that a novel pathway mediates the loss of bone in patients with RA, or that an unanticipated type of cell or soluble mediator is centrally involved in the development of inflammation. These early studies in many instances can lead to promising breakthroughs in understanding the cause of RA and in the development of novel drugs.
Translational Research Grants
Translational Research Grants will focus on the direct study of patients and patient-derived materials to improve our understanding of RA.
Basic research into the mechanisms of disease has accelerated in recent years, but the knowledge gained has been slow to reach the clinic and patient care. Both the translation of basic research knowledge into improved patient care and the translation of clinical insights into hypotheses that can be validated in the laboratory are important to accelerating RA research.
The Translational Research grants support established independent physician-scientists who are dedicated to translational research—the two-way transfer between work at the laboratory bench and patient care. For example, an investigator may have a novel way to identify genes that cause this disease, or find that there are environmental exposures that influence the development of disease. Other examples include the search for novel blood markers (biomarkers) that identify patients at risk for complications of treatment. In addition, translational research includes the study of the joint and its cells and tissues using newly developed methods in proteomics, genomics and systems biology. Finally, these grants would support the development of methods to repair and replace damaged cartilage and bone.
Clinical Practice Grants
The goal of this program is to solicit research ideas to translate recent advances in the prevention and treatment of rheumatoid Arthritis into clinical practice for individuals and communities at risk. This program seeks applications for clinical or behavioral studies to develop and test 1) improved methods of health care delivery to patients with or at risk of rheumatoid arthritis, 2) improved methods of arthritis management, and 3) cost effective community-based strategies to identify individuals with or at-risk.
Clinical Practice Grants will focus on issues that directly affect the quality of care in clinical practice of rheumatology and patient access. For example, improving our understanding of the health economics and benefits of current therapies will increase appropriate access to novel therapies. In addition, addressing disparities in health care access is necessary to improve the overall health of the population. Finally, finding methods to identify individuals at risk for developing RA will move the treatment of this disease into earlier stages of its development and even allow for the prevention of RA.
