The Joel and Barbara Alpert Endowment for Children of the City was established at Boston University School of Medicine in honor of the work carried out by the Alperts over their 25 years spent at Boston City Hospital and the Boston University medical community.

The endowment is used to support Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center (formerly BCH) faculty, fellows and residents early in their careers to carry out scholarly research in general pediatrics. Research is expected to study the medical and social needs of inner city children. After accomplishing their start up efforts, the physicians will prove competitive in identifying support for expanded projects emphasizing strategies and intervention which will result in improved health outcomes for inner city children.

Since 1995, a committee of senior department members has awarded grants after conducting competitive searches. To date over 70 awards have been made, with project awards ranging from $500 - $8000. Projects have included the following: access barriers to health care for Latino children, assessment of illness severity in uninsured children, epidemiology of genetic influence on preterm birth, assessment of the literacy skills of low income children, and resource utilization among children with sickle cell anemia, among others. Many of these have been pilot projects leading to further investigation and substantial outside funding.

Endowment support is for one year, and in the past six to eight grants have been awarded each cycle.  Grants are given a priority where the pilot phase is judged likely to lead to further investigation.  Resident, fellow, and junior faculty applicants must identify a senior faculty mentor and secure his or her sign-off on their proposal.  All others are encouraged to demonstrate appropriate collaboration arrangements.  If successfully funded, the applicant is expected to provide a six-month interim report and a final program and budget report sixty days after the grant expiration date.

The following guidelines pertain to the submission.

• The grant should be double-spaced and no longer than 10 pages.  Please number the pages consecutively, including the cover page (attached).
• The first page should be the cover page.  This counts in the page numbering.
• The format should follow a modified NIH outline – specific aims; background and significance; preliminary data (if any); research design and methods; and literature cited.
• The last page(s) should be the budget (counts in page numbering).
• NIH biosketches should follow the budget (they do not count in the page numbering).
• A detailed project budget and brief budget justification must be included. 
• The budget should not exceed $20-25,000.  In the past we have awarded 3-5 grants each cycle, this year we anticipate awarding only 1-2/cycle.
• The budget must not include any faculty salary support or travel expenses.

Eight copies + original should be submitted to Melissa Brennan on Dowling 3-S.  Applications that do not follow the above format will not be reviewed.

1st Grant Cycle:

May: Proposals accepted
June: Award notifications
July: Year long funding begins

2nd Grant Cycle:

November: Proposal Accepted
December: Award Notifications
January: Year long funding begins


Please contact Melissa Brennan at (617) 414-7424 with further questions.