The Diabetes Research Connection was established by a group of experienced diabetes researchers who were concerned over the scarcity of funding for innovative, discovery-stage science.

We created a crowdfunding platform to connect ambitious early-career research scientists with potential donors so they could launch innovative diabetes research projects as quickly, and with as little bureaucracy, as possible.

The Diabetes Research Connection facilitates up to $75,000 in seed funding to young scientists to perform one-year-long experiments in the categories of Cure, Care, Complications or Prevention. Scientists who manage to establish proof of a concept are positioned to leverage it to apply for larger grants from major funders.

This crowdfunding model empowers donors to influence the direction of diabetes research, diabetes prevention, and a type 1 diabetes cure while providing a platform for young scientists to promote and pursue innovative ideas. Through social networking, we connect investigators with sponsors – hence the word “Connection” in our name.

All reviewers are selected by Diabetes Research Connection’s Internal Scientific Committee and its Board of Directors. Our 80+-person Scientific Review Committee is comprised of eminent diabetes researchers. Our Layperson Committee is a group of well-informed non-scientists who have diabetes themselves, or have a family member or friend who is affected by the disease. Together, these committees provide rigorous peer-reviews to assure our donors of the scientific validity and exciting potential of the projects they hope to fund. Diabetes Research Connection reviewers foster the connection between young scientists and donors.

Our reviewers offer valuable skills and expertise to make a meaningful contribution to the organization’s mission. If you are an established diabetes researcher, you are naturally concerned about the continuity of exploration in your field – and you know how difficult it is for young researchers to secure funding for anything beyond the most conventional projects. If you are someone who is affected by diabetes, you look at innovative investigations as a source of excitement and hope.

Applicants for Diabetes Research Connection grants are the next generation of innovators, and you have the power to make a positive impact on their future. This is your chance to leave a legacy, to make a difference. We are deeply grateful for your participation.

There are three phases to our review process.

When Diabetes Research Connection receives a one-page Letter of Intent, we screen it for completeness and then send it electronically through our grant management system to all members of our Scientific Review Committee for a Phase 1 review.

Every member of the committee is asked to read the Letter of Intent and approve or reject it based on the quality of the basic concept.

If the proposal is approved, it proceeds to Phase 2 where the applicant is invited to submit a detailed three-page Grant Application.

In Phase 2, we select three reviewers who are specialists in the applicant’s area of investigation to independently review the Grant Application. These specialists approve or reject it based on the NOVELTY, SCIENTIFIC MERIT and FEASIBILITY of the proposed science, as well as the applicant’s ability to perform the study.

If the proposal is approved by two out of three reviewers, it is approved for funding and proceeds to Phase 3.

In Phase 3, approved grantees create a website presentation to “sell” their idea to donors. Members of our Layperson Committee – people who represent our donor demographic – work with scientists on their presentations to be sure that non-scientists can comprehend them and will be inspired to donate to them.

The Diabetes Research Connection invites applications from graduate students, post-doctoral Fellows, Instructors, Assistant Professors (or their equivalent at research institutions) and other pre-tenured scientists who propose novel, early-stage diabetes research.

Your own associates, as well as personal acquaintances, are welcome to apply as long as you recuse yourself from all aspects of the decision-making process pertaining to their applications.

We have created a crowdfunding platform where young research scientists showcase their approved concepts to potential donors – people visiting our site who are looking relentlessly for solutions to Type 1 Diabetes. Our Layperson Committee helps grantees create website presentations that are both comprehendible and compelling to non-scientists in order to optimize their chances of reaching their fundraising goal.

Whenever possible, Diabetes Research Connection will supplement funding to support deserving projects that are falling short of their fundraising goal.

Diabetes Research Connection gives early-career scientists the opportunity to perform innovative Type 1 Diabetes research in the broad areas of cure and care, including complications.

DRC will accept grant applications running from January 15, 2024, until February 15, 2024.  Please contact DRC by email if you have any questions.

We invite early-career scientists from post-doctoral fellows to assistant professors, or equivalent, whose work is focused on Type 1 Diabetes to apply.

Private donors select projects they want to support from an array of meritorious, peer-reviewed proposals. Scientists keep their donors informed and involved throughout their diabetes investigations by sending updates via emails and posting updates on their project page on the website and in popular social media forums.

Grants range from $25,000 up to $75,000 for one year.  Scientists will receive 100% of funds donated to their project!
Due to the small size of these grants, we limit the amount your institution takes for overhead (IDC) to 10%.

Example:
Grant amount requested: $50,000
Institutional overhead (IDC): $ 5,000
Spendable budget: $45,000

Budgets should include expenditures on salary, consumables, equipment, IDC (maximum 10%), etc.

Diabetes Research Connection does not support travel, meeting registration fees, professional memberships or publication costs.

Some of the funds may be used for salary; if you provide evidence that your salary is fully covered by other sources, all of your funding can be used for research expenses.

Please justify equipment purchases that will exceed 10% of your budget.

All members of our Scientific Review Committee sign confidentiality agreements. However, as with projects submitted to other granting organizations such as NIH, JDRF and ADA, once you post descriptive materials on the Internet, your work is in the public domain, viewable by your colleagues and competitors. The Diabetes Research Connection does not accept any responsibility for confidential information released to the public via postings on its website, or for information submitted by scientists seeking research support.

You may want to discuss applying to Diabetes Research Connection with your Office of Technology Transfer or other advisors.

Researchers own the rights to research discoveries, subject to their agreements with their host institutions. We ask you to list Diabetes Research Connection and the names of your larger donors as sponsors in any public presentations or publications related to the project. Should a discovery ultimately derive a monetary benefit, we ask you to consider repaying the grant so it can provide support for additional innovative, early-stage research.

The application process has three phases:

PHASE 1 – Letter of Intent

The Letter of Intent is brief and to the point. It should cover:

• The scope of your project and its relevance to type 1 diabetes
• An outline of your experimental plan and a feasibility assessment
• Why your project is novel
• Your qualifications to perform the study
• Why you believe the proposal merits funding

The Letter of Intent is restricted to one typed page, single-spaced in 11 point Arial font.
We will let you know the results of your Letter of Intent review within two weeks. If your Letter of Intent is not approved, we encourage you to submit a new one, explaining how the modified research proposal differs from the original. If it is approved, you will be invited to proceed to Phase 2 – Grant Application.

PHASE 2 – Grant Application

Diabetes Research Connection only accepts Grant Applications from scientists whose Letters of Intent have been approved by our Scientific Review Committee. You have four weeks to submit your Grant Application. If you are awaiting IRB approval and need more time, let us know as soon as possible.

Your Grant Application should consist of the following:

• Hypothesis – what do you propose to do?
• Background and rationale for the project
• Experimental plan

The Grant Application is restricted to three (3) letter-size pages, single-spaced in 11 point Arial font. You should put your budget, citations, and CV in separate attachments where indicated.

We will let you know the results of your Grant Application review within four weeks. If your Grant Application is not approved, you may receive a short critique to help guide a re-submission and/or future applications. If it is approved, you will be invited to proceed to Phase 3 – Website Presentation.

PHASE 3 – Website Presentation

The Website Presentation is simple. All we need is a photo of you and a brief explanation of the project and what the intended results are for the project.

PHASE 1

Your one-page Letter of Intent will be reviewed by a Scientific Review Committee (link to roster), a group of top diabetes experts. They will assess your basic concept for NOVELTY, SCIENTIFIC MERIT and FEASIBILITY.

If your Letter of Intent is approved, you will be asked to submit a three-page Grant Application. We may occasionally pass along constructive input received during the Letter of Intent review that you may find useful in perfecting your Grant Application.

PHASE 2

A three-person Specialist Advisory Panel, comprised of selected members of the larger Scientific Review Committee who are experts in your specific area of inquiry, will review the Grant Application based on the NOVELTY, SCIENTIFIC MERIT and FEASIBILITY of the science proposed, as well as your ability to perform the study.

If more than half of the reviews of your Grant Application are positive, you are invited to raise the funds you need for your project. You will then create a Website Presentation.

DRC will accept grant applications between January 15, 2024 and February 25, 2024. Please contact DRC by email if you have any questions.

You are strongly encouraged to send us updates so we can post them on our site and on Twitter, Facebook and other Social Media at least once a month so your sponsor(s) can follow your progress.

To keep your donors apprised of your progress, we will also ask you to submit a PROGRESS REPORT no more than 6 months after the research project is funded, and a FINAL REPORT no more than 3 months after the research project is completed.

We will provide a template reporting form and we will send a copy of your final report to your donors.

We encourage you to publish encouraging results in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

We hold every hope that your project will result in proof of a concept that you can leverage to apply for additional grants from larger funding institutions.

Regardless of outcome, every research project advances the body of knowledge, which is why Diabetes Research Connection posts ALL final reports on its website.

Projects can go from submission to funding in as few as 3-6 months. While we cannot guarantee this time-frame, we strive to adhere to this schedule:

Three years. Shorter terms may be possible on request.

We administer the entire review process through a user-friendly grant management system. Phase 1, the one-page Letter of Intent, should take less than half an hour to read and cast a yes/no vote. If asked to review a three-page application (Phase 2) due to your particular expertise, you will likely spend one to two hours reading and thinking about it. We do not require a detailed written review, merely your yes or no vote, however all comments are useful and welcome. Particularly if you vote against a proposal, we encourage you to write a few lines explaining your concerns. This will be helpful to the other reviewers and the applicant.

In Phase 3, members of the Layperson Committee will be asked to look at and comment on website presentations and should expect to spend an hour or so on each.

Applicants are advised that once they post descriptive materials on the Internet, their work is in the public domain, viewable by your colleagues and competitors. The Diabetes Research Connection does not accept any responsibility for confidential information released to the public via postings on its website, or for information submitted by scientists seeking research support.

All reviewers are asked to sign conflict of interest, confidentiality, and non-disclosure agreements when they join the panel.

Membership is by invitation only. If you are interested in participating on a committee, submit an inquiry with CV to ckalberg@diabetesresearchconnection.org

We estimate that that we will send out up to 50 LOIs a year. Because we use a rolling review process, members of the Scientific Review Committee will never be deluged with LOI’s at any time.

Kindly submit your vote within one week after we send a Letter of Intent to you.

After receiving notification that the Letter of Intent was approved, the applicant is asked to submit a three-page detailed Grant Application, and Diabetes Research Connection forms a Specialty Advisory Panel to review it. This panel is comprised of three members of the Scientific Review Committee who have expertise in the particular area of the proposed research.

This panel assesses Grant Applications based on the NOVELTY, SCIENTIFIC MERIT and FEASIBILITY of the science proposed, as well as the applicant’s ability to perform the study, and either approves it rejects it. Panel members who reject the application are asked to provide explanations and recommendations to the applicant – things they like as well as suggestions on how the applicant might modify the proposal for re-submission. This feedback is passed along anonymously.

It depends on how your area of expertise matches the proposed projects. We estimate we will ask for your participation in this important step five to 15 times a year. As with the Letter of Intent, our rolling review process assures you will not be deluged with Grant Applications at any time.

Please submit your vote (and your explanatory paragraphs if you rejected the application) within two weeks after we send the application to you.

Send any questions you have about this initiative to Casey Davis at cdavis@diabetesresearchconnection.org or phone 844-484-3372.