Our Grant Process

VISION

Epilepsy Canada is excited to begin a new grant processing system. Our new granting process will allow researchers to apply year-round (rather than once a year) thus creating more opportunities through a more active and diverse research model.

The rolling Request for Proposals (RFP’s) will be based on 3 Pillars: 

• Discovery/Preclinical Research -typically occurs in a laboratory setting and aims to investigate potential disease processes/mechanisms; or targets and treatments to stop, reverse, or improve seizures and epilepsy.

• Applied/Translational Research -Known as “bench to bedside”, applied/translational research aims to carry over the findings from discovery/pre-clinical research to directly benefit persons with seizures or epilepsy. The endpoint of translational medicine is the production of safe, efficacious treatments that can be integrated into clinical practice, as supported by evidence-based research.

• Clinical informatics and Outcomes - combines medical practice, information technology, and real-world medical data to ultimately improve patient care and outcomes. This research aims to create systems that support health professionals and health care, advance medical research, and improve patient outcomes in a manner that is low-cost and efficient.

METHODOLOGY & PROCESS

Letter of Information (LOI):

• LOIs are short letters from potential Epilepsy Canada grantees that succinctly and clearly describe their proposed research project and its relevance to Epilepsy Canada’s mission;

• Letter of Information (LOI) is submitted and reviewed by the Scientific Committee (SC); if approved, the investigator is invited to submit a full grant proposal; full grant proposals are reviewed by expert reviewer(s);

• Applicants whose LOIs are accepted will be invited to submit full grant proposals that contain detailed scientific and budget information for the proposed Epilepsy Canada project.

Full Grant Proposal:

• Each full grant proposal is reviewed by two external scientific reviewers and by member(s) of Epilepsy Canada’s community. The community member is either a person living with epilepsy or has a loved one who is. Members of the epilepsy community assist the grant review process by reading research proposals from a lay perspective, which helps ensure that the stakeholder point of view is critically represented in the grant review process;

• Criteria for approval: Innovation; Feasibility; Facilities; Impact; PI/Team;

• Final approval and grant review recommendations resides with Epilepsy Canada’s Board of Directors.

AWARDS:

Awards range from $25,000 to $150,000 annually.