DfID, MRC and Wellcome Trust issue call for proposals for funding the Joint Global Health Trials initiative

The UK Department for International Development (DfID) jointly with the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Wellcome Trust has launched a call for proposals for the Joint Global Health Trials initiative.

Purpose

The purpose of this initiative is to provide funding for the best proposals to generate new knowledge about interventions that will contribute to the improvement of health in low and middle income countries. The programme will give priority to proposals that are likely to produce implementable results and that are designed to address the major causes of mortality or morbidity in low and middle income countries.

 This initiative is primarily focused on late stage (equivalent to phase III/IV*) clinical and health intervention trials evaluating efficacy and effectiveness. The scheme is aimed at funding Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs), although other types of methodologies may be used alongside the RCT to explore implementation and operational issues. In certain circumstances researchers may wish to propose methods other than an RCT; if this is the case the reasons for adopting a different method must be clarified in the proposal.

The scope of the initiative encompasses interventions of all kinds, including, but not limited to, behavioural interventions, complex interventions, disease management, drugs, vaccines, hygiene and diagnostic strategies.

Funding available

A total of £12 million is available. This amount is expected to fund several awards.

You may request support for:

All research costs that are attributable to the trial. For example, scientific, technical and administrative staff including statisticians, research nurses, trial managers etc., consumables, items of equipment, data /sample handling and archiving and travel. The cost of holding trial steering and data monitoring committees. Training and support for a trial manager.

Eligibility

This scheme is open to Principal Investigators based in low or middle income economies where the research work will take place and to Principal Investigators who are employed by a UK institution.

Applications are expected to be predominantly based in low or middle income countries. Funding for co-applicants and collaborators can be requested, but it is expected that the majority of funds would support the costs in the low or middle income country where the trial will be conducted.

Last date for submission of outline application is September 12, 2011

For more information and details, please visit this link