Deadline: 18-Aug-23
Applications are now open for the Gilead Australia Fellowship Grants Program to support innovative local research initiatives to improve patient outcomes.
Aim
- The Fellowship enables Australian researchers to apply for funding across a range of therapeutic areas.
- The Fellowship aims to support:
- projects with a clinical and ‘real-world’ focus
- the development and implementation of best practice to enhance patient outcomes
- research in the specific disease areas of HIV and/or chronic viral hepatitis, haematological malignancies, solid tumours (especially breast, lung and bladder), and invasive fungal infections.
Focus Areas
- HIV
- The Gilead Australia Fellowship Program supports innovative projects to help improve the lives of people living with or at risk of acquiring HIV.
- Viral Hepatitis
- The Gilead Australia Fellowship Program is looking to support projects and initiatives which ultimately lead to an improvement in patient care within the field of viral hepatitis, with a focus on hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis delta virus (HDV). Priority will be given to those projects that focus on the optimisation of the pathways for the diagnosis and management of HCV & HDV.
- Peer funding
- Developing and/or evaluating IDU and/or HCV peer-led HCV models of care aiming at increasing HCV testing and treatment rates by removing remaining barriers to engagement.
- In-reach
- Deliver innovative peer-led or clinician-led in-reach programs to improve access, uptake and adherence to medication for chronic hepatitis C, with emphasis on marginalised and/or under-served populations (such as Indigenous communities, drug users and migrants) and non-traditional services (such as parole/probation, emergency rooms and pharmacies).
- HDV
- Evaluate existing, or implement and evaluate new, innovative initiatives focused on implementing universal HDV serology of all HBsAg+ patients, reflex HDV RNA testing for all positive HDV serology and subsequent liver management. Priority will be given to proposals that demonstrate replicable and scalable potential.
- Peer funding
- The Gilead Australia Fellowship Program is looking to support projects and initiatives which ultimately lead to an improvement in patient care within the field of viral hepatitis, with a focus on hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis delta virus (HDV). Priority will be given to those projects that focus on the optimisation of the pathways for the diagnosis and management of HCV & HDV.
- Oncology
- The Gilead Australia Fellowship Program is inviting applications focused on improving the care and outcomes of people living with solid tumours (especially breast, lung and bladder) via a variety of projects
- CAR T-Cell Therapy
- The Gilead Australia Fellowship Program supports innovative research and best practice sharing to help improve the lives of patients within the field of CAR T cell therapy and haemato-oncology.
- Invasive Fungal Disease (IFD)
- The Gilead Australia Fellowship Program is inviting applications for audit, surveillance or registry projects which aim to assess one or more of the criteria below.
- Haematology
- Priority: Impact of antifungal drug-drug interactions with new and existing chemotherapeutics, immunotherapies and novel biologics
- Intensive Care
- Priority: Optimisation and/or use of fungal diagnostics in the ICU to support early diagnosis of IFD and the corresponding impact on treatment course and patient outcomes
- Other Patient Groups
- Priority: Incidence and clinical impact of antifungal resistance in patients with IFD.
- Haematology
- The Gilead Australia Fellowship Program is inviting applications for audit, surveillance or registry projects which aim to assess one or more of the criteria below.
Focus of Projects Included in the Fellowship
- Successful applications will focus on investigating solutions to improve outcomes for people living with HIV and/or chronic viral hepatitis, haematological malignancies, solid tumours (especially breast, lung and bladder), and invasive fungal infections.
- Projects may be based on sociological and epidemiological aspects of patient care, as well as practical aspects. Applications for community-based projects that may not necessarily fall under traditional grant criteria are welcomed.
- Please note that basic science research and clinical research based on specific therapeutic agents are out of scope for the Gilead Australia Fellowship Grants Program.
Funding Information
- The total funding available for the 2024 Grants Program is $300,000 AUD.
- A maximum award for successful proposals will be $60,000 AUD.
- Projects should run during the calendar year (January–December) of 2024 and all projects must be completed by July 2025.
Funding Support for Local Australian Research
- Researchers in Australia currently face increasing competition for limited funding, particularly for projects with a local or community focus. In recognition of these projects and their benefits to patient care, the Fellowship aims to help bridge the gap in local Australian research funding.
- The Fellowship has been running successfully in Australia for over a decade, providing funding to novel projects across Australia that can inform and shape best practice in patient care. In the eleven years the project has been running, the Fellowship has provided over $3,000,000 to Australian led research and community projects.
Judging Criteria
- The applications will be reviewed by a judging panel made up of experts from across Australia recognised for their contributions to research. Project applications within the specified themes will be judged against the following criteria:
- Innovative projects aimed at improving patient care and/or guiding healthcare policy
- Clear demonstration of need and relevance to local clinical practice
- Clarity and specificity of key steps involved
- Measurable objectives and outcomes
- Collection/reporting of actual project-related cost
- Collection/reporting of patient-related outcomes
- Demonstration of clear evaluation plans
- Clear project timelines
- Clear demonstration of ability to meet the required timelines
- Clarity in the budget
- High likelihood of appropriate ethics approval in the estimated time frame
- Greater consideration will be given to applications that:
- Fit within the required project themes and satisfy the required criteria (in particular completion by July 2025)
- Are innovative or employ novel research approaches
- Improve access to screening, support and/or medication for minority patient groups who would not necessarily have easy or consistent access to these services
- Provide a detailed breakdown of exactly how the funds are to be used
- Are not currently receiving or due to receive funding from other sources
- Have been or will be granted ethics approval, if required. Allocation of funding will be dependent on receipt of appropriate ethics approval. It is therefore essential that applicants are able to facilitate timely ethics approval so that the project can be completed in the assigned time frame. If for any reason ethics approval is not granted for a project, or if a project initially selected for funding is withdrawn from the Program before funding commences (e.g. due to securing funding from another source), where appropriate the judges reserve the right to select an alternative project to allocate funding to from a shortlist of the next highest-scoring projects.
For more information, visit Gilead.
