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 * CLINICAL RESEARCH GRANTS

The Intuitive Foundation grant program is accepting applications for Clinical
Research Grants for Robotic-assisted Surgery in 2024-2025.

Overview: The purpose of these grants is to support clinical research at
non-profit institutions worldwide focused on the field of robotic-assisted
surgery. Successful proposals will study important questions related to surgical
care and patient outcomes


AVAILABLE GRANTS:

Applicants may apply for grant funding total costs up to $75,000 (US) per
project.

Grant funds can be used to support salaries for statisticians, lab technicians,
fellows, research coordinators, and other support personnel. Funds can cover
equipment, supplies, and/or travel required to support the proposed research
project for a period of up to one year. Funding may not be used to support
physician salaries.


RESEARCH AREAS OF INTEREST

The Intuitive Foundation has identified key research areas of interest for the
2024-2025 clinical grant programs. Principal Investigators are encouraged –
 although not required – to submit proposals that fall into one or more of the
following areas:


CLINICAL OUTCOMES-BASED RESEARCH 

Research related to clinical outcomes for robotic-assisted surgical procedures
with a particular focus on comparative studies between robotics and alternate
surgical modalities, or therapies. Examples include:

 * Assessment of clinical outcome differences (including variation in outcomes)
   comparing robotic-assisted surgeries vs. other laparoscopic invasive and/or
   open surgical techniques.
   * For applications from the United States, we are most interested in clinical
     outcomes related to Thoracic Surgery and General Surgery.
   * For applications from APAC (Asia, Australia, and New Zealand),we are most
     interested in clinical outcomes related to Urology, Gynecology, Colorectal
     Surgery, General Surgery, Head and Neck procedures, Thoracic surgery, and
     other emerging surgical procedures.
   * For applications from Europe, we are most interested in clinical outcomes
     related to Colorectal Surgery, General/Visceral Surgery, Thoracic Surgery,
     Gynecology, and Urology.
   * For applications from Africa and South America, we are most interested in
     clinical outcomes related to Colorectal Surgery, General/Visceral Surgery,
     Thoracic Surgery, Gynecology, and Urology.
 * Comparison of opioid use and/or pain between robotic-assisted procedures vs.
   other minimally invasive and/or open surgical techniques.
 * Assessment of clinical outcome differences comparing robotic-assisted
   instruments to hand-held instruments (e.g., stapler).
 * Evaluating the impact of ERAS or similar protocols.
 * Proposals related to public health or other of-the-moment topics.


IMAGING, VISION AND/OR NAVIGATIONAL RESEARCH (ALL REGIONS)

Research focused on enhanced visualization during surgical procedures. Examples
include:

 * The application of preoperative imaging modalities during surgical
   interventions.
 * The use of intraoperative imaging modalities during surgical interventions.
 * Novel use of fluorescence imaging technology. Note that research that has
   been published or presented by other groups will not be considered.
 * The use of novel imaging modalities during interventions.
 * New techniques to discriminate between healthy and diseased tissues.


HEALTH ECONOMIC AND OUTCOMES RESEARCH INCLUDING COST-EFFECTIVENESS AND
COST-UTILITY STUDIES RELATED TO ROBOTIC-ASSISTED SURGERY (ALL REGIONS)

Research related to local services utilization, clinical and economic burden of
the disease, cost of care, and research focused on quality of life or utilities
related to surgical care. Examples include:

 * Patient care pathway or epidemiological studies on clinical and economic
   burden of illness.
 * Patient/clinician-reported outcomes, quality of life, health utilities.
 * Cost-effectiveness modeling incorporated local services utilization and costs
   from local data sources (not from the literature.)

The Intuitive Foundation strongly recommends that research within this category
include a health economist as a part of the research team. Please identify this
individual in the capabilities section of the grant submission.


NEW PROCEDURE EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH (ALL REGIONS)

Research focused on emerging robotic-assisted surgical procedures using existing
technologies. Please note that research conducted on human subjects may require
applicable authorizations or favorable opinions from any relevant authorities,
such as governmental and medical institution authorities, prior to funding.
Example proposals may include:

 * Robotic-assisted procedures that do not have a laparoscopic analog.
 * Procedures that benefit from parallel entry of instruments (e.g., da Vinci
   SP).
 * Development of replicable workflows to achieve critical surgical access in
   high volume procedures that do not have standardized port placement
   positions, such as lysis of adhesions. Such workflows should reliably apply
   to variations in patient body habitus and pathology.


APPLICATION GUIDELINES

Selection Process: Applicants must first submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) to
Propose as detailed below. Grant LOIs will be reviewed and ranked by a selection
committee. LOIs reaching a predetermined scoring threshold will be invited to
submit a full grant proposal. All LOIs, as well as invited full grant
applications, will be reviewed, and scored on the following criteria:

 * Clarity of research goals and objectives
 * Novelty (building on existing literature)
 * Clinical relevance and value
 * Evidence of feasibility
 * Strength of evaluation methods and measures including statistical power
   analysis as appropriate
 * Availability of required resources
 * Appropriately defined research scope, timeline, and budget

LOIs and full grant proposals will be handled in a confidential manner and will
not be distributed beyond the Intuitive Foundation’s grant selection committee.
Due to the expected volume of proposals, the foundation regrets that its
committee will not be able to provide detailed individualized feedback on
unsuccessful grant proposals.

LOI Guidelines: A LOI to propose should be submitted by all grant applicants.
Submissions should consist of five parts:

 * Summary: one- or two-sentence proposal overview.
 * Description of Problem/Background.
 * Purpose, Hypothesis, and Methods of Research.
 * Capabilities: Indicate the identities, capabilities, and credentials of
   investigators as well as any participating institution. Include contact
   information for principal investigator.
 * Budget: Include a specific request for funds that includes permanent hard
   equipment, statistical analyses, consumable equipment, salaries to staff, and
   other direct expenses. No more than 20% of the total budget can be allocated
   for indirect costs. Funds from the grant may not be used to purchase
   equipment or instruments from Intuitive Surgical.
   * Hard equipment purchases should not exceed $5,000.
   * The budget should not include salaries for physicians, although salaries
     for statisticians, lab technicians, fellows, and other support personnel
     may be included.

Deadlines for All Clinical Research Grants:

Grant Cycle for Funding in July 2024 – June 2025:

 * Interested applicants should submit a Letter of Intent by Jan. 5, 2024.
   Invitations to submit full grant applications will be sent by the week of
   Feb. 12, 2024 (this invitation will include grant application guidelines and
   forms).
 * The deadline for submitting a full, invited grant application is April 5,
   2024. Only complete application packets will be considered. Awardees will be
   notified by the week of June 10, 2024. Grant monies must be used to support
   research expenses during the 2024-2025 calendar year.

Grant Cycle for Funding in January 2024:

 * Interested applicants should submit a Letter of Intent by June 9, 2023.
   Invitations to submit full grant applications will be sent by the week of
   July 17, 2023 (this invitation will include grant application guidelines and
   forms).
 * The deadline for submitting a full, invited grant application is Sept. 8,
   2023. Only complete application packets will be considered. Awardees will be
   notified during the week of Nov. 13, 2023. Grant monies must be used to
   support research expenses during the 2024 calendar year.

Eligibility and Grant Conditions

 * Multiple grants will not be funded simultaneously to any principal
   investigator.
 * Multiple grants to the same institution for different principal investigators
   will be considered.
 * Awards must be used to fund research at not-for-profit institutions. Grants
   are not to be used to fund for-profit activities.
 * Grants are awarded to principal investigators at their institution. If there
   are any changes in the principal investigator or group’s ability to conduct
   the proposed research, the Intuitive Foundation reserves the right to
   reconsider the award.
 * Grant funding must be used to support research expenses and activities, which
   occur from Jan. 1, 2023 through Dec. 31, 2024 only.
 * Awardee institution must allow Intuitive Surgical reasonable access for
   servicing any Intuitive Surgical loaned equipment, including network
   connectivity for remote support.
 * Total costs may include no more than 20% indirect costs and the total budget,
   including both direct costs, indirect costs, and any applicable taxes, should
   not exceed $75,000 (US).
 * Grantees will be invited to present their work at our headquarters in
   Sunnyvale, California, (travel costs covered by the Intuitive Foundation).
 * All applicants selected to receive a grant are required to submit a mid-year
   progress report, as well as a final status report that details study results
   and conclusions.
 * If the funded project does not take place, all monies awarded will be
   refunded to the Intuitive Foundation, and any loaned equipment will be
   promptly returned to the lender of the equipment. If the project is
   terminated early, then a partial refund, with an accounting of the funds
   expended up to the termination date, will be provided by the principal
   investigator. Any unused funds as of Dec. 31, 2024 will be refunded to the
   Intuitive Foundation.



Please email grants@intuitive-foundation.org with questions regarding the grant
process.


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LOI GUIDELINES



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