Information About the Fund and Grant Program
The State of Indiana established the research fund known as the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Fund effective July 1, 2007. This fund, established under Indiana Code (IC) 16-41-42.2, will consist of appropriations, gifts and bequests, fees deposited in the fund under IC 9-29-5-2, and grants received from the federal government and private sources. These funds will be utilized to 1) establish and maintain a state medical surveillance registry for traumatic spinal cord and brain injuries; 2) fulfill the duties of the board; 3) fund research related to treatment and cure of spinal cord and brain injuries; 4) fund post acute extended treatment and services for an individual with a spinal cord injury or facilities that offer long term care activity based therapy services at affordable rates to an individual with a spinal cord injury that requires extended post acute care; 5) fund post acute extended treatment and services for an individual with a brain injury or facilities that offer long term care activity based therapy services at affordable rates to an individual with a brain injury that requires extended post acute care; and 6) develop a statewide trauma system. The fund is expected to generate approximately $1.6 million per year, with the majority of money generated to be allocated to research projects.
The Indiana Department of Health is a partner with the Indiana Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Board, which was created in 2007 by the Indiana General Assembly. Funding for the grants comes from non-commercial motor vehicle registration fees.
Indiana Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Fund Research RFA
The overall objective of this program is to foster and encourage research for the prevention, treatment and cure of traumatic spinal cord and brain injuries, including acute management, medical complications, rehabilitative techniques, and neuronal recovery.
Maximum requested amount:
- Basic science proposals may request up to $80,000 per year for two years
- Clinical research proposals (i.e. involving human subjects, human biological samples, or data from human subjects) may request up to $100,000 per year for two years
- Early commercialization proposals targeting new technologies (i.e. diagnostic or therapeutic drugs / devices) may request up to $100,000 for one year
Priority will be given to:
* Junior investigators (within 5 years of their last training period at the time of submission)
* Researchers embarking on a new research direction
* Returning investigators whose prior awards have resulted in demonstrable movement along the translational spectrum (e.g. from in vitro to in vivo) and/or led to extramural research support
* Early commercialization research that is reasonably expected to lead to future funding (SBIR/STTR, private investment)
Activity Based Therapy RFA
The overall objective of this program is to foster and encourage activity-based therapy programs for the treatment of spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries, including acute management, medical complications, rehabilitative techniques, and neuronal recovery.
For the purposes of this RFA “activity based therapy” refers to functional and task-specific activities with the goal to promote neuroplasticity and recovery following neurologic injury due to brain injury or spinal cord injury.
The initiative for funding activity based therapy programs consists of two funding mechanisms: 1) an RFA for programs providing rehabilitative clinical care and employing “activity based” approaches for traumatic spinal cord injury persons, and 2) an RFA for programs providing rehabilitative clinical care and employing “activity based” approaches for traumatic brain injury persons.
Applications for each RFA may be submitted for up to a maximum requested amount of $150,000 for the total duration of the project. Programs must be conducted in compliance with all state and federal laws.
Documents
Meetings of the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Fund
| Date | Agenda | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| August 26, 2024 | Agenda | Meeting Notes |
| August 6, 2024 | Agenda | Meeting Notes |
| June 27, 2024 | Agenda | Meeting Notes |
| April 17, 2023 | Agenda | Meeting Notes |
| March 1, 2023 | Agenda | Meeting Notes |