Racial and Ethnic Minority Population Health Research at Ball State University

Nationwide, racial and ethnic minority groups suffer from health disparities. Ball State University took a unique initiative this summer to research the predictors and outcomes of racial and ethnic health disparities.

Jagdish Khubchandani
MBBS, PhD

Jagdish Khubchandani, MBBS, PhD (Assistant Professor of Community Health Education and faculty fellow of the BSU Global Health Institute) sponsored five health science students for the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation summer research program (funded by the National Science Foundation). Alicia McClendon, Eryn Pulliam Cannon, Chaztan Moore, Jillian Hicks, and Emily Sullivan received a funding of $3,000 each for the summer 2012 research.

The group is researching minority youth health disparities, adolescent dating violence in minority youth, and diabetes in racial and ethnic minority adults in the United States. In addition, a special topic, minority youth mental health disparities was also researched by the group. Dr. Khubchandani and his group have been invited to present the research on minority youth mental health at the Annual American School Health Association Conference in San Antonio, TX (Oct 10th, 2012).

Taking a step forward, Dr. Khubchandani and his students applied for Ball State University to become the Official summer host for NIDDK/ NIH Summer Student Research. BSU student Emily Sullivan has been sponsored by Dr. Jagdish Khubchandani for the NIDDK STEP-UP summer research fellowship. The Short-Term Education Program for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP) is a federally funded program managed and supported by the Office of Minority Health Research Coordination (OMHRC) in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health. NIDDK STEP-UP emphasizes increasing the participation of students from backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical research on a national basis to promote the mission of NIDDK/ NIH.   To accommodate Dr. Khubchandani and Emily Sullivan’s proposed research, an exception was made by the NIDDK STEP-UP to make the Department of Physiology and Health Science at Ball State University a designated epidemiologic research center via the BSU Sponsored Programs Office.  Sullivan will be paid a stipend, and BSU will be given an award by NIDDK STEP-UP for supporting the research program. Currently, Sullivan and Dr. Khubchandani are looking at the National Health Interview Survey to assess the correlates of diabetes in minority adults. Dr. Khubchandani and Emily Sullivan presented part of their research at NIDDK/ STEP-UP conference in Boston on August 8th, 2012.

From left to right, Chaztan Moore, Emily Sullivan, Alicia McCledon, Eryn Cannon, and Jillian Hicks

8 Reasons You'll Get the Grant

The Grantsmanship Center posts mini-webcasts that give good advice to potential investigators. This one is all of 137 seconds!

The Grantsmanship Center: http://www.tgci.com/

Deadline Approaching: WIPB's Student Program Initiative

WIPB's Student Program Initiative offers funding up to $10,000 to student teams to support the creation of original local video projects. Students will be asked to describe in writing (500 words or less) how their team will collaborate with other students to develop their video project. Teams may include two or more Ball State University students from any academic discipline and must be enrolled as full-time status. All work must be completed by April 2013.

To apply, interested students should download the 2013 Call for Proposals (pdf) available at wipb.org and submit their proposal by Friday, August 31, 2012. No late applications will be accepted.

General Information: Direct questions about the Program Initiative to Bill Bryant, Production Manager, wipb@bsu.edu.

About WIPB-TV 
A PBS affiliate, WIPB is licensed to Ball State University and serves more than 1.5 million people in east and central Indiana and western Ohio. WIPB multicasts three channels: WIPB-HD 49.1, WIPB CREATE 49.2 and WIPB Radar 49.3 broadcast on cable, over the air and Dish Network. Station information is available at wipb.org.

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Stipends

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Stipends program supports research that contributes to the scholarship, the public's understanding, or the advancement of teaching of the humanities. Projects may be completed during the award period or may be part of a longer-term undertaking. Recipients' work often results in articles, books, databases, or other scholarly tools.

An outright award of $6,000 is provided for two consecutive months of full-time research and writing. In accordance with NEH guidelines, Ball State may nominate two faculty proposals.

Ball State internal application deadline is August 27, 2012.
Deadline for final submission to the NEH is September 27, 2012 for projects beginning May 2013.

Click here for full guidelines.

Materials to submit for the August 27 internal review:

• The Ball State NEH Summer Stipend Internal Application Coversheet
  **This form is in lieu of ATTACHMENT 1: Supplemental Information for Individuals Form
• A single copy of the application, including:
• 3-page (single-spaced) narrative
• 2-page (single-spaced) resumé
• 1-page (single-spaced) bibliography
• 1-page appendix (graphical materials or edition/translation sample, if applicable)
• You do not need to include reference letters at this time.
• You do not need to have processed a Ball State clearance sheet.
• Proposals will be submitted electronically through grants.gov.

Please submit your completed internal application to Justin Miller by August 27, 2012.

Questions about this program may be directed to Justin Miller.

Fall Workshops: Searching For Funding

Focus on the Search
Our Focus on the Search is one-hour long intensive workshop session  that highlights the resources SPO has to offer for grantsmanship as well as how to effectively search for funding opportunities. The session is held in the SPO conference room and is intended to be a personalized, one-on-one experience. Participants are asked to bring their own Internet-ready device, like a notebook or tablet computer. 

To register: Please follow the following link to the mini-course registration system through Learning and Development. Search for keyword “Focus on the Search”.
URL: https://www.bsu.edu/webapps/minicourse2/default.asp?SponsorID=2

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Workshops with University Libraries
University Libraries and the Sponsored Programs Office (SPO) are combining forces to assist faculty in finding funding sources for their research and creative activity agendas. SPO’s Augusta Wray will give a tutorial on COS Pivot, the largest funding opportunity and researcher expertise database, as well as other resources SPO has to offer. You will also learn about Web of Science, a powerful database helpful in crafting necessary literature reviews for grant proposals.

Grants for Graduate Students: Identifying Sources
Monday, September 10        10:00am - 11:30am      BL 225

Finding Funding for Faculty: Identifying Sources
Wednesday, September 12        3:00pm - 4:30pm      BL 225

Visit the University Libraries workshop page to register! Check back often for updates! 

From GRC GrantWeek: Landing the Corporate Grant

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has compiled a set of strategies for organizations seeking support from corporate giving programs. The primary reminders are to research, research, research and network, network, network.

Tori Kaplan, assistant vice president of corporate social responsibility at CSX Corporation, tells the Chronicle she expects grantseekers to be familiar not only with the corporation’s philanthropy mission, but also with its business mission. Where possible, applicants should stretch their social networks to connect with company employees. According to Jacquelline Fuller, director of charitable giving at Google.org, employee-recommended proposals “absolutely […] carry more weight” than great proposals from unknown applicants.

In addition to building pre-submission awareness and support from the prospective funder, applicants should also take every opportunity to establish relationships with potential collaborators. Although corporations operate in a competitive, market-driven environment, they appreciate the value of cooperative solutions and prefer to work with organizations that have already built successful partnerships.

Measurable results are critically important to all sponsors, but especially to organizations rooted in profit-generation. “There’s a greater expectation for grant recipients [to deliver] a return on that investment,” says Torrence Robinson, senior director of the Fluor Foundation. In spite of their insistence on performance, corporate foundations tend to be generous and responsive to their applicants – successful or not. If a grant application is rejected, always ask why.

Prior to a virgin submission or following a negative funding decision, applicants may choose to offer the funder access to the project prior to a full-on commission of funding. This can involve inviting representatives to campus, engaging them as volunteers, or seeking support for just a small piece of the proposed project. 

From {Centered}: Four questions to ask before responding to an RFP

When a funder issues a Request for Proposal (RFP), what's the best way to decide whether or not to invest the time required to develop a reponse? In "Beginning With the End in Mind" (Local/State Funding Report, May 28, 2012), Christine Heft recommends asking four questions in the following order:

1. Are the funds offered for a purpose that fits within your organization's mission? If so, move on to Question 2.
2. How many grants will be awarded from the total amount available? If this is a national competition and the number of grants is limited and the total amount to be awarded is relatively small, don't bother to apply. Otherwise, make a judgment about your organization's chances of success; if they seem good, go on to Question 3.
3. What is the application deadline? If you will have enough time to gather data, do any research necessary, and get input from all relevant parties inside and outside your organization, then proceed. Heft estimates that, on average, it takes about four weeks to prepare a federal grant proposal, while a proposal to a state government or to a foundation takes two to three weeks. [See editor's note.]
4. How will the grant impact your organization's budget if you are successful? Does it require a match? If so, of what type? Will it require hiring new staff, increasing office space, or upgrading information technology? Will the total grant amount be more than a third of your total budget? If so, and if grantees will get the funds as reimbursements, rather than up front, how will you front the costs? Don't submit an application unless you know your organization is prepared to accept the financial consequences of receiving the grant. 

Editor's Note: We asked two of The Grantsmanship Center's Competing for Federal Grants trainers to weigh in on the length of time it takes to prepare a federal grant proposal.
Chuck Putney: "I'd say four weeks of work (140-160 hours) spread over eight to ten weeks is close to the mark for federal grants. Or four weeks, uninterrupted by other concerns, maybe - but it takes a collaborative process, conversations, the engagement of program staff, etc."
Barbara Floersch: "I agree with Chuck. It can be done much faster in certain circumstances, but other times it may take longer. It also depends on who's doing the work. Is one person is carrying almost the whole load? Or are other team members making significant contributions?"

Source: {Centered} July 2012 - Volume 5, Issue 7 © 2012 The Grantsmanship Center. All rights reserved. www.tgci.com