Pilot Grant Application

Call for Proposals

Internal funding opportunity for Stanford graduate students, medical students, medical residents, postdoctoral and clinical fellows, as well as Instructors.

Deadline: June 16, 2025 - 11:59PM (see application deadlines below)

Purpose

Stanford Department of Medicine (DoM) is providing an internal funding opportunity for Stanford graduate students, medical students, medical residents, postdoctoral and clinical fellows, and faculty to facilitate collaborative translational research projects.  The goals of TRAM include: pilot funding to support translational projects, to provide access to a core facility to assist in translational studies, and to provide a seminar series workshops and an annual symposium to highlight the translational research supported by the program.

TRAM projects should focus on therapeutics and/or diagnostics involving drug therapy and delivery, vaccines, immunotherapy, gene therapy, or AI diagnostics, AI-driven thrapeutics and computational medicine, and can include a range of translational research activities from early-stage clinical translation (T0/T1) to preclinical optimization and validation (T2) to clinical validation and integration (T3) to implementation and dissemination in real-world settings (T4). 

Amount of Funding

  • Student (medical, graduate or undergraduate) awards for up to $5K for one year
  • Fellow (post-MD or post-PhD) or clinical resident awards for up to $20K for one year
  • Instructors may apply for the Fellow Award (up to $20K for one year)year

Eligibility

  • Proposals may be submitted by students, residents, fellows, postdocs and Instructors*
 
  • Fellows (post- PhD or -MD) who agree to serve as project leads or coaches for M-TRAM student teams will receive higher consideration for the grant.
 
  • Instructors may submit applications for the Fellow Award 

 

  • We encourage cross department/school and cross discipline collaborations, but AT LEAST ONE KEY FACULTY MENTOR MUST BE A DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE (DoM) PROFESSOR, ASSOCIATE OR ASSISTANT PROFESSOR.
 

 

  • Funds must be applied to specific translational research questions that require direct patient interactions. (Funds can be used for research reagents, kits, assays, and other research consumables, as well as core facilities' service fees, but are not to be used for salary support).
 
  • Scholar must have at least two Stanford faculty mentors: one of whom must have a clinically-based program, and the other must have a basic research lab.
 
  • This must be a new collaborative translational project idea (TRAM will not support an ongoing project). 
 
  • Scholar is required to participate in MED221, a TRAM course that includes lectures and project updates, every Wednesday 3-5pm (September 2025 through June 2026) BY ZOOM (remote).  

 

  • Scholar needs to present project progress at the TRAM Annual Symposium: May, 2026 - exact date tba - in person).

 

Application Guidelines

By June 16, 2025 (11:59PM), please send one merged Word file containing the following in the order listed below via email attachment to:

Joanna Liliental
jlili@stanford.edu

Last name_TRAM_2025.docx

Institutional representative: not applicable. You do not have to generate a PDF form or submit your proposals to your Research Process Manager (RPM) in RMG or RMG Fellowship Office for approval. You can submit them directly to Joanna.

1) Title Page
Translational Research and Applied Medicine (TRAM) 
Pilot Grant Program 2025-2026
Project Title
Proposal type (select one: Medical Student, PhD Student, Undergraduate Student, post-PhD Fellow, post-MD Fellow, Instructor)
Applicant: name, title, department, address, phone, email address
Faculty Mentors: name, title, department, address, phone, email address (please note: at least one faculty mentor must be from the department of Medicine - https://med.stanford.edu/tram/pilot-grant/grant-application.html)

Are you interested in serving as a mentor for a master's of TRAM student TEAM project? (Yes/No)

TEAM (Translation, Entrepreneurship, and Applied Medicine) is a core component of M-TRAM, where student teams develop solutions to unmet needs in translational medicine, spanning early research to commercialization. We are especially seeking project leads with expertise in cardiology, neurology, rare diseases, women's health, rheumatology, autoimmune disease, and AI diagnostics. This role would involve guiding small student teams through identifying unmet needs, project development, meeting with them semi-regularly, and helping them brainstorm their research, clinical, and commercialization ideas. TRAM Scholars also have the opportunity to involve master's students in supporting research or expanding their own TRAM projects. It’s a great way to gain mentorship and leadership experience while staying engaged with translational research.

2) Research Proposal (maximum 2 pages-not including figures, and references)
Format: single-spaced, 1/2 margin, Arial or Helvetica Font Size 11 or larger 
a ) Background
b) Hypothesis
c) Aims
d) Research Methods
e) Statement of direct clinical relevance

3) Budget justification (1 page)

4) NIH Biosketches (applicant, each mentor, and all key personnel)
NIH Forms webpage containing biosketch template for the new NIH biosketch:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm

5) Description of other funding support (applicant and each mentor) 

6) Faculty letter of support
Each application must include a letter of nomination from a faculty mentor addressed to the TRAM Pilot Grant Review Committee. This letter must also state that:
(a) the scholar (applicant) will participate in MED 221 (every Wednesday 3-5 pm), 
(b) Key personnel (mentors) will attend the scholar’s MED221 progress presentations
(c) Scholar will provide a progress report of the findings at the TRAM Annual Symposium in September, 2025 (date to be confirmed), and 
(d) will mention TRAM funding in all presentations, abstracts and publications.

(e) If the applicant agrees to mentor an MTRAM student TEAM project, this commitment should be mentioned in the letter



Questions? Contact Person
Joanna Liliental, Ph.D.
Associate Director-TRAM 
jlili@stanford.edu

 

Questions?

Joanna Liliental PhD
Associate Director, TRAM Program
jlili@stanford.edu