Deadline:

Feb 13, 2007 - Closed

Program Area:

Childhood Obesity

Purpose:

Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, supports research on environmental and policy strategies to promote healthy eating among children to prevent childhood obesity, especially among the low-income and racial/ethnic populations at highest risk for obesity. Findings are expected to advance the Foundation's efforts to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.

This special solicitation inaugurates a new funding opportunity from RWJF: New Connections grants through the Healthy Eating Research program. New Connections grants are for junior investigators from historically disadvantaged and underrepresented communities who have completed their doctorate or terminal degree within the last seven years. This round of funding focuses on children’s food environments and policies in selected community settings: preschool, child-care, school and after-school environments, as well as nearby food outlets.

Program Information:

• Call for Proposals

Eligibility & Selection Criteria:

Investigators must:

• have completed a doctorate or terminal degree (e.g., Ph.D., M.D., J.D.) within the past seven years. Doctorate or terminal degrees must have been obtained after September 1, 2000;
• be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States or its territories;
• be affiliated with or sponsored by a university or an organization that is tax-exempt under Section 50 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is not a private Foundation under Section 509(a) of the Code. The sponsoring institution must agree to receive and administer the grant;
• be from a group that has been historically disadvantaged and underrepresented in the research activities supported by RWJF. This includes people from ethnic or racial minorities, first-generation college graduates and people from low-income communities;
• hold a position as a faculty member or other research position in a university setting, or hold an equivalent position in a non-university setting, such as an independent research organization;
• demonstrate evidence of research skills relevant to the proposed study;
• propose a project that spans 12 to 24 months in duration; and
• devote at least 25 percent of their time to the project.

Total Award:

A total of up to three New Connections grants will be awarded for two types of research grants:

• Small-scale studies to identify and evaluate promising food environment and policy changes with the potential to prevent obesity among children. (12- to 24-month awards of up to $100,000)
• Analyses of macro-level policy or system determinants of food environments and policies that relate to the targeted community settings. (12- to 24-month awards of up to $75,000)

Contact:

Kathy Kosiak, research coordinator
healthyeating@umn.edu
Office: (800) 578-8636

Related Materials:

• View National Program Office


• View Program FAQs