Spinal Cord Injury Research Grant

You are invited to submit an application to the Pennsylvania Department of Health in accordance with the enclosed Request for Applications ("RFA") #67-211.

Through this RFA process, the Department is soliciting research applications on Spinal Cord Injury Research. The overall goal of this funding is to promote functional improvement of people with spinal cord injuries.

The Department has **$1,300,030.08** available for this RFA. The Department expects to award three to six grant agreements and expects awards not to exceed $1,300,030.08.

The Department is interested in funding three levels or tiers of spinal cord injury research:

• Pilot Project Grants;
• Standard Research Grants; and
• Clinical/Translational Grant (addressing the research priorities established by the Department in conjunction with the Spinal Cord Research Advisory Board).

The goal of this funding is to discover scientific knowledge that can be applied toward improving the health of Pennsylvanians living with spinal cord injuries.

The Research project must provide the following activities:

Conduct research – Design and conduct only one scientifically meritorious research project consistent with the research priority. One research project may consist of several hypothesis-driven sub aims or studies that are proposed to address each aim of the overall research project or address a different aspect of the overall goal. The studies must be closely related to each other and the overall goal. The proposal must include only studies that will be completed within the grant agreement period.

Only the following types of research, as defined by Act 2001-77 below, may be conducted:

• Biomedical Research - Comprehensive research pertaining to the application of the natural sciences to the study and clinical practice of medicine at an institution, including biobehavioral research related to tobacco use.
• Clinical Research – Patient-oriented research which involves direct interaction and study of the mechanisms of human disease, including therapeutic interventions, clinical trials, epidemiological and behavioral studies and the development of new technology.
• Health Services Research - Includes any of the following: (1) research on the promotion and maintenance of health including biobehavioral research, (2) research on the prevention and reduction of disease, and (3) research on the delivery of health care services to reduce health risks and transfer research advances to community use.

At least 50 percent of the funds requested in the application must be used for clinical research or health services research or both clinical research and health services research as defined in the Act; no more than 50 percent of each grant's funds may be spent on biomedical research, as defined in the Act.

**Submission:** A Letter of Intent ("LOI") must be submitted by email to RA-HEALTHRESEARCH@pa.gov. The LOI must be prepared using the LOI form provided in Part Two of this RFA. The LOI must be submitted no later than **1:30 pm ET on November 9, 2026**. Type "LOI ENCLOSED RFA #67-211" as the subject line of your e-mail submission.

Upon receipt of the LOI, the applicant will receive a link to a SharePoint site for submission of the application. The application must be submitted through the SharePoint site link no later than **1:30 pm ET on December 10, 2026**. LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED REGARDLESS OF THE REASON.

Evaluation

Applications will be reviewed and evaluated through a two-stage review process. The first stage will be a peer evaluation of the scientific and technical merit of the application by a committee of impartial reviewers with expertise in the proposed research topic. The second stage of the review will be conducted by the Department Review Committee ("Committee") comprised of Department staff. The Secretary of Health will make the final selection of applications to be funded.

Contract term

The anticipated initial period of performance under the resulting grant agreement(s) is July 1, 2027 to June 30, 2031, subject to the availability of funding. The grant agreement term is not to exceed four years, per Section 904 of Act 2001-77 (35 P.S. § 5701.904).