How to Write Effective Grant Proposals

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Clinician-scientists, who perform biomedical research and professional clinical activities, are needed to investigate disease pathogenesis and accelerate the process of moving novel therapies from the bench to the bedsides. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of clinical scientists has been re-emphasized. However, over the past several decades, there has been a decline in clinician-scientists in the United States. Retaining talented clinician scientists requires effective grant-writing skills that can facilitate competitive funding from government agencies and professional societies. Writing a successful grant proposal incorporates a blend of art and science. It requires basic know-how, content knowledge, writing proficiency, strong research skills, creativity, organizational ability, patience, and a great deal of luck. This expert series will be divided into two parts: Part 1, “How to land a career development award,” will be targeted toward medical students/residents/early investigators, and Part 2 will focus on developing competitive independent funding proposals (e.g., R grants from NIH) for mid-career investigators. Dr. Cho received three Career Development Awards from professional societies (AAO-CORE, Triological Society) and NIH. Dr. Turner has received multiple grants from professional societies and federal agencies (e.g., R01/R03/R21). This expert series will focus on helpful tools and resources in the following areas: 1) Strategies for developing a proposal, including building a mentoring committee; 2) How to identify potential funding sources; 3) How to read and understand grant guidelines; 4) Writing Aims page; 5) Preparation of research strategies; 6) Protocols for the use of animals and human subjects in research; 7) The grant review process, etc. This topic was first presented in 2022 and received well by the members, with a review score of 4.69 (higher than average).

OUTCOME OBJECTIVE 1: 1. Understand the fundamental components of grant proposals

OUTCOME OBJECTIVE 2: 2. Learn how to develop strategies for Career Development proposals

OUTCOME OBJECTIVE 3: 3. Recognize the skills needed to develop competitive independent grant proposals

BACKGROUND STATEMENT: This topic was first presented in 2022 and received well by the members (a score of 4.69). Grant writing is a critical part of gaining funds and strategic writing aligns with the objectives of the AAO CORE program. Courses focusing on grantsmanship have been limited and this topic addresses the gap.