Internal Funding Opportunities

The Division of Endocrinology announces the application cycle for its annual Endocrine Pilot Project grants. The division requests collaborative project submissions that will provide preliminary data for future multi-disciplinary grant applications while advancing the world of clinical or translational endocrinology.  

The lead principle investigator must be an endocrinology faculty member or other member of the Division of Endocrinology who has PI-eligible status. Co-investigators and collaborators may be outside of the division. 

Application requirements are detailed in the requests for application for each award type. 

• Preparatory Award is a one-year award for up to $5,000. 
• Launch Award is a one year award for up to $20,000.

Potential applicants are required to submit a letter of intent to the Division of Endocrinology prior to an application submission. 

• Letter of Intent Deadline: May 11, 2026 11:59PM CST 
  • Please note: Letters of intent should be brief and only need the topic and list of potential collaborators. 
  • Email letters of intent to endocrinegrants@luriechildrens.org.

Apply

Grainger Research Awards are supported by the Grainger Research Initiative in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. These awards are designed to advance the division’s research mission by supporting innovative projects in pediatric emergency medicine and generate preliminary data for larger grant applications. Application and eligibility requirements are detailed in the Requests for Applications (RFAs) for each award type.

Available Opportunities

• Transformation Grant is a one-to three-year award of up to $50,000 to support substantial scholarly projects that advance knowledge generation, implementation, or dissemination in pediatric emergency medicine. Awards may be structured as $25,000 per year for two years or $50,000 for one year.
• Small Research Grant is a one-year award of up to $3,000 (fellows, advanced practice providers) or $5,000 (faculty) to support unfunded or underfunded research projects within the division.

Applications are accepted year-round and are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Apply Now

The Health Equity Center Early Career Investigator Grant is built on core principles of equity and inclusivity, collaboration, accountability, innovation, learning and improvement, the Health Equity Center strives to foster innovation and drive transformative change to improve the lives of the people within and outside of our walls. 

This is a one-year award for up to $5,000. The purpose of the early career investigator grant is to provide support for pilot work in health equity projects with the goal of generating preliminary data that will jump start next phases in the scholars’ work.  

Apply

The Health@Home Healthcare Internal Grant Awards are part of the Health@Home strategic research initiative at Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute. Health@Home’s goal is to catalyze science and innovation that transforms how healthcare is developed and delivered outside of hospital and clinic walls. Lurie Children’s faculty and research scientists are invited to submit proposals that advance the science of how innovative tools and methods, including digital technologies and devices, can improve the health of children and the wellbeing of their families at home and in the community. 

Available Opportunities

• The Health@Home Pilot Sprint Grant is a $25,000, 6‑month award designed to support short, focused projects that advance healthcare delivery for children and families in the home and community. This mechanism supports a range of activities that could include developing or refining early-stage healthcare interventions not yet in routine clinical practice, enhancing or maturing existing programs, assessing the impact of current interventions, and activating new data collection protocols or healthcare techniques outside of hospital and clinic settings. The goal is to generate actionable evidence, pilot data, or prototype tools that position projects for future external funding, larger-scale evaluation, or broader implementation.
  

  Projects may use a variety of methods such as user-centered design/human factors, implementation science, pragmatic trials, evaluation frameworks, feasibility or pilot testing, secondary analysis of existing data, or prospective data collection of quantitative or qualitative data. Applicants should justify the selected methodology, describe data sources, and include an analysis/evaluation plan aligned with the proposed outcomes.

Apply

The Interdisciplinary Colloquia Award is a one-year award for up to $5,000 to bring together multi-disciplinary investigators from Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and Northwestern University to share scientific knowledge and envision future research related to children’s health. Support may be justified for recurring group meetings with food, visiting faculty costs relevant to the group's area of interest and mission, and/or mini-symposium costs designed to bring together the working group and scientists in the area of focus. 

Apply

The Kenneth C. Griffin Research Catalyst Award is a one-year award for up to $100,000 to support novel preclinical and translational research. This award supports early-career researchers to pursue translational discoveries, which will ultimately lead to significant, long-term grant funding from federal agencies and the private sector.

Priority Criteria for Award Selection 

• Investigators without significant pre-existing funding
• Investigators without evidence of long-standing research effort in direct line of the proposed area of study
• Well-articulated translational scientific potential 
• Distinction from other areas of funded investigation

Apply

Please review the requests for application for detailed eligibility and application requirements. The review criteria details for both award types can be found here.

• Trainee Pilot Research Award is a one-year funding opportunity for up to $5,000. The purpose of the award is to support mental health research projects for trainees in the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. The award offers clinical and post-doctoral fellows support to conduct research under the supervision of an experienced mentor.
• Early Career Faculty Pilot Research Award is a one year funding opportunity for up to $20,000 to support early career investigators in conducting a research project under the guidance of an experienced faculty mentor. The goal of the award is to prepare early career investigators to pursue external research funding.  

Please Note: Prior to submitting an application, interested applicants are required to notify the department 
of plans to apply by contacting Rabih Dahdouh and Andrea Spencer.

Apply

The Mary J.C. Hendrix Outstanding Scholar Award recognizes a Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute trainee (Fellows, Graduate students, PhD candidates, and PhD postdocs only) for a high level of scholastic achievement, research engagement, and productivity with $5,000 to support the awardee’s research. The award is made possible through the ongoing generosity of the Children’s Research Fund. The award is for a one-year period. Funds are awareded on a competitive basis, considering scholastic achievement, research productivity, innovative research ideas, and extramural funding. 

Apply

The Proposal Revision Award is a one-year award for up to $100,000 to support the preparation of a revision and resubmission of an application for federal research support. The prior extramural application must have received a priority score and full review by the sponsor within the past two years. Training grants (e.g., K08, K23, TL2) and R03 submissions do not qualify for this award. 

Apply

The Schreiber Family Center for Early Childhood Health and Wellness announces the Generating Research on Outcomes of exposures and experiences from Womb to age 5 (GROW to 5) Planning Grant initiative. The center will support grant awards, allowing for the collection of pilot data that will increase the competitiveness of extramural proposals for career development K, R, P, and U-series, NIH awards, philanthropic awards or industry awards. 

Available Opportunities

• Cultivate Award is for up to $50,000 for a one-year project period to engage family or community members to establish or enhance research partnerships.
• Flourish Award is for up to $150,000 for a one-year project period to develop a multi-project research program or cooperative agreement proposal.
• Nourish Award is for up to $100,000 for a one-year project to support the advancement of junior faculty pursuing mentored career development awards (K01, K08, K99/R00) from the NIH, AHRQ, or similiar opportunities from other national organizations, philanthropic, or industry funding.
• Thrive Award is for up to $100,000 for a one-year project period to collect pilot data for an R-series proposal, philanthropic award, or industry award. 

Apply

The Visionary Award is a one-year award for up to $75,000 to support potentially paradigm shifting research. This should be a visionary idea with a new, multi-institutional team supporting it. 

Priority Criteria for Award Selection 

• A new line of research for the investigators without significant pre-existing funding or evidence of a long-standing research effort in direct line of the proposed area of study 
• Distinction from other areas of funded investigation 
• Clearly articulates the translational nature of the research area

Apply

The diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of acutely ill and injured children is complex and unique. 
Addressing these challenges requires a new approach to bring together teams from multiple disciplines. 
The PACCRI Spark Challenge Grants aim to catalyze high-risk, high-reward multidisciplinary research 
that can transform outcomes for acutely ill and injured children. These grants are designed to support 
bold ideas that challenge conventional paradigms and accelerate the development of impactful 
solutions in pediatric acute and critical care. This may include (but is not limited to) developing and/or 
testing a new medical device, validating the clinical utility of a novel biomarker or diagnostic platform, or 
developing new computational models for predicition or precision problems. Basic science proposals with 
a clear and near-term translational pathway or proposals that include both basic science (e.g., cellular or 
animal models) with a clinical translalational component (e.g., clinical validation in human biospecimens) 
will be considered. 

Please note: the PACCRI Spark review process is in progress. We are not accepting new applications at this time.