Research Grant Opportunities
USF Health Graduate Medical Education Research Grant Program 2025-2026
Mission
Encourage residents and fellows to conduct research, engage in quality improvement initiatives, and promote scholarly activity.
Support those who have curricular research requirements associated with their program.
Proposals
Proposals are being accepted from a wide-range of disciplines. The following are priority projects and will receive favorable consideration during this grant period:
- Health Outcomes (For 2025-26 at least 1 award will be reserved specifically to fund a Health Outcomes project)
- Quality Improvement
- Patient Safety
- Wellness
Awards
- The Program has been allocated up to $50,000 to fund approved research projects.
- The maximum amount awarded for each project is $6,000.
- Awardees will be notified via email within four weeks of application deadline (by Wednesday, August 13, 2025).
Jagdish U. Kothari Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Research
The Kothari Aware is an additional monetary award in addition to the GME grant for $1,000 for excellence in cardiovascular research. If you would like for your proposal to be considered for this additional award, please provide a paragraph summarizing your cardiovascular research and its impact, or potential impact, on society. One proposal will be selected to be awarded this award for 2025-26.
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- 2024-2025 Lorena Martinez - Emergency Medicine
- 2023-2024 Dae Hyun Lee - Cardiology
USF Center for Families Impacted by Substance Use (USF CFISU) - Research Support
The USF Health GME Grant program is partnering with the USF Center for Families Impacted by Substance Use where any grant that involves substance use will receive 20% of the funding from USF CFISU with the remainder of the funds being provided by USF Health GME. In addition, this will provide access to the Center and resources within that center for assistance with the project.
Receiving official designation from the Florida Board of Governors in 2022, the USF CFISU aims to organize a platform for faculty and learners to promote research, innovation, and high-quality clinical care for families impacted by substance use. The Center is a recognized entity to increase collaborations across all USF Health clinical departments, colleges, and community partners with unrecognized potential due to their previously siloed structure.
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- Current USF residents and fellows
- Grantees are required to be supervised by a mentor
- Research projects receiving funding from an internal or external entity are NOT eligible to apply
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Completed applications must be received by Friday, July 11, 2025.
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A completed application includes the following required components:
- Completed application form (Qualtrics link)
- A 1500-word (max.) project proposal addressing the following key areas:
- Specific aims
- Purpose
- Narrative (including references)
- Methods
- Anticipated Outcomes and Impact
- Budget justification - Please see the section below "Budgets" for important information related to non-allowed expenses.
- Letter of support from program director (summarizing the trainee's qualifications and research prospects in a brief statement of recommendation)
- CV for Mentor(s)
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All applications must include a detailed budget. The budget must show line-item expenses. Budget funds cannot be used for travel, publication costs, or food. Funds cannot be used for personnel where the funds go to a specific person. Funds can be used to pay facility fees or fees for service where the funds are paying an invoice and not going directly to an individual. (Please reach out with questions if you need clarification.) Clinical biostats cannot be funded using grant funds. Please consult with the RISE Office regarding clinical biostats support. For biostats that cannot be supported through RISE or are related to bioinformatics or genomics, grant funds can be used (e.g. Moffitt core). The usage of gift cards will like need to be coordinated through the Office of Clinical Research (OCR) and will incur additional fees. Under no circumstance can gift cards be awarded to USF or UMSA employees to include residents and fellows.
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All allocated funds must be used fully during the current academic year unless you apply for and receive a 1-year extension. If you will be leaving your training program prior to the award period end date, funds will not be transferred to another awardee and must be used by your program termination date.
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For projects that require IRB approval, funds will not be released until there is final IRB approval or an appropriate IRB waiver.
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The GMEC Research Sub-Committee will review proposals and award funding each academic year. Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- The conceptual and methodological quality of the research
- The potential impact of the research program
- The feasibility of the research project
- The educational value anticipated for the resident/fellow or residency program
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All awardees are required to present their findings at a local conference (e.g., USF Health Research Day, Moffitt Scientific Symposium, etc.). In addition, it is strongly encouraged to submit the research for publication.
Six-month and final progress reports must be submitted to the GMEC Research Sub-Committee. The final progress report must summarize research findings and detail how the funds were used. The progress reports must come from the awardee and signed by their mentor.
All research-related protocols and policies established by the site where the research will be conducted must be followed.
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Should include: "This project was supported by a grant made possible through the USF GME Research Grant Program."
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Download a sample project proposal and budget document from a previous year's GME research grant program.
These documents should be used for reference only.
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All allocated funds must be used fully during the academic year in which they are dispersed and may not be carried over into the next academic year.
GME Research Grant Program Contacts
Stephanie Tomlinson
smtomlinson@usf.edu
Research Grant Awardees
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Grantee & Program Name Project Name Sara Abu Mehsen
HematopathologyA study of clinicopathologic and molecular signature of STAT5B mutated myeloid disorders with or without eosinophilia. Humdoon Choudhry
Allergy ImmunologyUrinary Adductomics Analysis to Identify Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarkers of Asthma. Zachary Connelly
UrologyUnderstanding the Nuclear-to-Cytoplasmic Ratio of the Androgen Receptor to Predict Prostate Cancer Outcomes. Mohammad Hammami
Hematology/OncologyExploring Mechanisms of Bispecific Antibody-Associated Skin Adverse Events. Mohammad Nassan Nour El Dine
NeurosurgeryComparative Analysis of Surgical Approaches to the Basilar Apex: Exposure, Angles, Maneuverability, and Clinical Feasibility. Utsav Joshi
Hematology/OncologyDeep Learning-based Morphologic Assessment to Distinguish Response and Residual Disease after Induction in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Benjamin Kennedy
General SurgeryTransversus Abdominis Plane Block for Trauma and Emergency General Surgery Patients Using Liposomal Bupivacaine: A Fight AgainstTransversus Abdominis Plane Block for Trauma and Emergency General Surgery Patients Using Liposomal Bupivacaine: A Fight Against Narcotics. Raahil Patel
Orthopaedics SurgeryFeasibility of Intraoperative Video and LiDAR-Based 3D Modeling for Quantitative Assessment in Primary Shoulder Arthroplasty. Mohsen Rostami
NeurospineMetal Fatigue in Spinal Fusion Constructs: A Biomechanical Study of Rod Fracture Risk. Xinting Yu
Internal MedicineMitochondrial Dynamics in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease-Related Liver Fibrosis: Genetic Underpinnings and Clinical Correlates.
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Grantee & Program Name Project Name FNU Amisha
Hematology/OncologyPredictive biomarkers for immune-mediated toxicities in adult patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with CD19 directed chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy. Niharika Baviriseaty
Internal Medicine - Chief Resident for Quality and Patient SafetyAssociation between healthcare perceptions and self-reported cardiovascular risk factors and outcomes among self-identified Hispanic females and non-Hispanic females. Syed Hamza Bin Waqar
Hematology/OncologyImmune Cell Profiling in Patients with Advanced Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) Undergoing Extracorporeal Photopheresis: An Exploration of Racial Disparities and Clinical Implications. Constance Bindernagel
Allergy and ImmunologyNoninvasive Eosinophilic Esophagitis Monitoring Utilizing 3-Bromotyrosine as a Urinary Biomarker. Gerry Eichelberger
CardiologyClonal Evolution with Respect to Outcomes in Orthotopic Heart Transplant Patients: Understanding the Role of Clonal Evolution for Improved Clinical Outcomes. Himara Koelmeyer
Internal MedicineInvestigating Clonal Evolution Following Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR-T) Therapy. Zhiyu Liu
Internal MedicineThe Role of Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminant Potential (CHIP) in Outcome Analysis of Left Ventricular Assisted Device HeartMate 3 Implantation (LVAD-HM3). Lorena Martinez
Emergency MedicineCPR-TEACH - Cardiac Position using Real-time Transthoracic Echocardiography to Identify the Area of Maximal Compression for Hemodynamic Optimization. Keaton Piper
NeurosurgeryDefining the transorbital approach working corridor and potential applications comparisons of virtual reality and cadaveric models. Sruthi Selvakumar
Internal MedicineInvestigation of the Effect of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Use and Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential on Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Melanoma Patients. Chelsea Walker
Internal MedicineDifferentiating Hypoplastic Myelodysplastic Syndrome from Aplastic Anemia.
Alpha Omega Alpha Postgraduate Fellowship
The Opportunity
Postgraduate awards will be given to residents and fellows for research or scholarly projects in the spirit of the AΩA mission. Priority will be given to those projects that include elements of leadership, professionalism, and teaching.
The Fellowship
Up to 10 fellowships of $2,000 each, with one-half paid on announcement of the fellowship, and one-half paid on approval of the final report. Schools, departments, and/or programs are encouraged to provide additional or matching funds. Only one candidate per school may be nominated.
Additional Information can be found on the AOA Fellowship page.