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Grants360°: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Grants360°: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Owned by June Burke
Last updated: Dec 13, 2023
3 min read

Key Takeaways

Laura Hammitt, Associate Professor of International Health, Christine Ladd-Acosta, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Carl Latkin, Vice Chair and Professor of Health, Behavior, and Society, and Elizabeth Letourneau, Professor of Mental Health and Director, Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, gathered to discuss their experience securing funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC Funding Mechanisms

  • Grant: investigator-initiated award which allows PI to largely direct research implementation.

  • Cooperative agreement: a partnership with CDC with more direct input and collaboration; in actuality, often operates relatively like an investigator-initiated award.

  • Contract: CDC provides a list of specific deliverables that will be completed.

Why the CDC?

  • The CDC values long-term partnership and the investigator’s perspective on the direction of the project. Even for contracts—CDC may carve out the problem, but the investigator pitches how they would like to go about solving it.

  • Clear focus on prevention and policy evaluation research

  • Supports clinical trials within focus areas

  • Leads large multi-site networks within focus areas

Application Tips

Official RFA announcements are routine, but the window from the announcement to the due date is often quite short. Plan on only  1-2 months in advance of submission date.

  • Check forecasted and posted opportunities to learn about upcoming announcements.  This site can also be used to filter and identify opportunities by agency.

  • Broad area announcements are typically posted in November & due in February; there is no advance notice/forecast for these.

Building relationships can be advantageous, especially given the CDC’s relatively small size.

  • Establish relationships with CDC members working in areas related to your research interests.

  • Volunteer as a reviewer to see successful proposals and develop connections (This would be relatively low burden, not as routine and consistent as NIH review panels).

  • Engagement level can vary by Program Officer, so reach out to proactive Program Officers even if they are from a different agency.

  • While there’s no formal investigator-initiated funding mechanism, informal discussions about your research interests/concept notes with CDC members may prompt them to consider you for extra funding or direct you to available opportunities. 

Unique funding issues related to CDC

  • CDC does not add indirect costs (IDC) on top of the grant. Therefore, Hopkins high IDC is incorporated as part of the total funding level allowed. This often reduces the actual funding amount available to be used towards research for Hopkins investigators.

  • CDC is an excellent addition to an individuals’ funding portfolio, but rarely will be the sole funding source.

  • Less likely to experience lapses in funding as result of a government shutdown.

Application Review

  • Proposals are reviewed with a point-based rubric.

  • While developing your proposal, work with or contact Program Officers, but they can be relatively reserved about disclosing additional information.

  • After submission, you can NOT communicate with Program Officers, but you CAN communicate with Contracting Officer about your proposal status and other concerns.

Post-Award

  • Depending on the funding mechanism, pay close attention to the terms.

  • Preferred to identify a budget analyst   familiar with the CDC funding structure to manage financials.

  • Uses GrantSolutions.

Publications

  • CDC officers often expect co-authorship, but this is variable.

  • An internal CDC review process is required for all publications, abstracts, and conference presentations that have CDC co-authorship; often can take a lengthy time.

 

Recording

Grants 360 CDC

 

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