Injury Research Pilot Grant Program for Early-stage Researchers

Check back for future funding deadlines.

Help us accelerate the pace of research to keep children safe -- reducing injury and violence and promoting recovery. Apply for this pilot grant to help you advance an injury and/or violence prevention research program. It is our intention that you use this opportunity to accelerate your efforts to seek extramural funding or start a new partnership for further advancement.

Injuries, both physical and psychological, affect everyone, regardless of age, race, or economic status. For young people under age 25, unintentional injury, suicide and homicide are the 3 leading causes of death-- together claiming nearly 32,000 lives in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fatalities are the tip of the iceberg; the burden of serious injuries that lead to physical and emotional consequences is large.

About the Pilot Grant Program

In partnership with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Research Institute and Center for Injury Research and Prevention, the Penn Injury Science Center (PISC) invites proposals for this Pilot Grant Program to fund injury and/or violence prevention projects for up to $10,000 each, with a total of $20,000 available each cycle. PIs must be trainees and early-stage investigators affiliated with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Scholars affiliated with CHOP’s Center for Violence Prevention and the Center for Injury Research and Prevention are encouraged to apply, but an affiliation with these centers is not required. 

The first grant was awarded in January 2026 to Dr. Priyanka Joshi, an attending physician in the Division of Emergency Medicine and a Research Scholar with the Center for Violence Prevention, whose work is focused on suicide prevention practices. 

 

Funding Opportunity Purpose

This program supports trainees and early-stage investigators in conducting rigorous research that can help build or contribute to an injury and/or violence prevention research program and lead to extramural funding. Applicants may have multiple institutional affiliations, and PISC partners do not need to be affiliated with CHOP.  

Proposals should focus on research priorities on one or more of the following topics: 

  • Adverse childhood experiences
  • Drug overdose
  • Suicide prevention
  • Drowning prevention
  • Older adult falls
  • Transportation safety
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Violence prevention (child abuse and neglect, cross-cutting prevention, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, youth violence). 
Eligibility
  • Principal Investigator must be CHOP-based and have their grants managed by CHOP
  • PhD or Postdoc Trainee or early-stage investigator (ESI). ESI is further defined as not previously competed successfully as PD/PI for a substantial NIH independent research award (R or R-equivalent).  
  • A Penn-based PISC (see link here!) investigator must serve as a Co-Investigator. This Co-I cannot have CHOP or PSoM Department of Pediatrics as their primary appointment. CIRP and PISC leadership are happy to facilitate introductions as needed. 
Application Timeline

Applications for the FY2027 cycle were due May 29, 2026.

Funds Available & Allowable Costs
  • Maximum Award per Project: $10,000
  • Total Funds Available: $20,000
  • Funds cover direct costs only and will be awarded on July 1, 2026
  • Allowable Expenses: Research supplies, equipment, participant costs, data collection expenses, statistical support, research staff costs, intern stipend
  • Not Allowed: Salary support for investigators or travel.
  • IRB approval required before funds are disbursed 
Application Guidelines

Applicants must submit a single PDF that includes:

  • Face Page – Title, PI name(s), role, department(s), and contact information. For PhD and postdoc trainees, a mentor must sign, confirming good standing and program/training duration through at least May 2026.
  • Scientific Proposal – Specific aims, background/significance, innovation, methods, and timeline (max 3 pages; references not included in page limit).
  • Plan for Use of Pilot Funds to Build or Contribute to a Research Program (max ½ page).
  • Project Relevance to Injury Science (max ½ page).
  • Budget & Justification (max 1 page).
  • NIH Biosketch for PI(s) and co-investigators. 

 

Applications and questions should be submitted to Veronica Rog, MPA at rogv@chop.edu. 

Review & Selection Process

Applications will be peer-reviewed by a PISC and CHOP review committee using the new simplified peer review framework.

  • Factor 1: Importance of the Research (Significance, Innovation), scored 1-9
  • Factor 2: Rigor and Feasibility (Approach), scored 1-9
  • Factor 3: Expertise and Resources (Investigator, Environment), to be evaluated as either sufficient for the proposed research or not (in which case reviewers must provide an explanation) 

Funded Pilot Grants

Fiscal Year 2026

Variability in Suicide Prevention Practices in US Pediatric Emergency Departments Nationally

PI: Priyanka Joshi, MD, MSHP

This study leverages a national consortium to establish a baseline understanding of current practices and identify opportunities to standardize care for youth presenting to an Emergency Department (ED) in mental health crisis. The project aims to:

  • Aim 1: Describe current suicide risk screening practices across pediatric EDs — including whether screening is universal or selective, which screening tools are used, and common workflow approaches (e.g., triage-initiated screening, nursing-driven protocols, electronic health record prompts).
  • Aim 2: Describe secondary suicide risk assessment and ED-based interventions for youth who screen positive — including which assessment tools are used, which clinicians conduct assessments, and what interventions are provided (safety planning, lethal means counseling, mental health referral pathways).

 

This multicenter survey of 66 pediatric EDs will produce the first national snapshot of pediatric ED suicide prevention practices, identify gaps and scalable core practices, and provide the foundation for developing pragmatic, evidence-based interventions to strengthen suicide prevention pathways across pediatric acute care settings.

Fiscal Year 2027

Evaluating Implementation of Person-Centered Care Plans in a Pediatric Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP): A Mixed-Methods Study of Fidelity and Determinants

PI: Hillary Kapa, MPH

Co-Is: Katelin Hoskins, PhD, MBE and Rachel Myers, PhD, MS

There is an urgent need for the design and refinement of timely, holistic, and individualized care for young victims of violence. This study seeks to optimize implementation fidelity of person-centered care (PCC) plans through identification of potentially modifiable implementation factors. The project aims to:

Aim 1: Establish fidelity of care plan documentation in program records.

Aim 2: Characterize associations between patient- and program-level factors and fidelity of care plan documentation and completion.

Aim 3: Identify facilitators and barriers to care plan implementation from the perspectives of case managers.

This mixed-methods study will use a novel approach to refine implementation processes to promote uptake by case managers, completion of discrete care plan components, and successful delivery to patients and families. Ultimately, findings will help create disseminable tools and accompanying implementation processes that can contribute to standardized PCC provided by hospital-based programs supporting recovery after trauma and violence.

 

Evidence-Based Firearm Safe Storage Counseling in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A National Multi-Center Qualitative Study

PI: Anireddy Reddy, MD, MSHP

Co-Is: Charlotte Woods-Hill, MD, MSPH and Katelin Hoskins, PhD, MBE

Expanding evidence-based safe firearm storage counseling and gun lock distribution to the PICU increases the number of patients and families that are exposed to a potentially life-saving intervention. This project aims to leverage a multi-center collaborative of 15 PICUs across the United States to qualitatively investigate PICU provider perspectives on implementation barriers and facilitators, supplying invaluable feedback from stakeholders to inform intervention adaptations.  Our long-term goal is to establish firearm safe storage counseling as a sustainable, evidence-based component of routine pediatric critical care practice nationwide.