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Relink: Request for Proposal

The request for proposal (RFP) for Round 3 of the CDAF-Relink Grant is now open and we are accepting applications. The deadline for submission is November 1st, 2024 at 11:59 pm MT (US).

The RFP, the Application Form, the Budget & Timeline Form, as well as the Contract and the Data Use Agreement (that your organization is expected to sign if your application is approved) can be downloaded below. We ask all applicants to review the Contract and Data Use Agreement with their legal team before submitting their application. If the terms of these documents are not acceptable, please do not apply.

Register here for project updates.

If you have any questions, please contact us at relink@cdafound.org.

Relink RFP

Relink Grant Application

Relink Budget & Timeline

Relink Agreement and DUA

Interested in past relinkage programs and studies? Click here for a resource list.


Frequently Asked Questions

Budget

Is there a general range or a cap for the grants?

Starting in Round 3, the cap is $200K.  If the budget is over this amount, the proposal will be rejected and returned to the applicant.  The expected range is $20–200K with an average grant size of $100–120K.

Is there an indirect cap?

There is not.  The advisory board discussed this and agreed that any indirect cost would be acceptable with the understanding that the project cost per individual accounts for 60% of selection criteria.

How many grants will be given?

The number of grants awarded will depend on the proposals. 

Is this grant funded on a calendar year basis or fiscal year?

Neither. It can span over a calendar or fiscal year.

Are indirect costs available for admin?

You can add indirect costs for admin.  That said, a higher the total cost could increase your Cost per Individual which accounts for a significant amount of the weighting system used to select proposals.

Are supplies and equipment allowed (e.g., laptop, portable drive, portable devices etc.)?

It is not forbidden but we do not recommend anything that will drive up your costs because your proposal will be judged relative to the other applicants. Thus, if another group can link the same number of people to care at a lower cost than your group, then their application will be selected over yours. Feel free to include these costs if you can maintain an efficient program.

Would the grant cover the cost of sending a phlebotomist to a patient’s home for a lab draw?

No. The grant does not cover direct medical expenses related to screening or treatment. It is focused exclusively on finding already diagnosed individuals (who were lost to follow up and so remain untreated), in order to relink them to care, i.e., connecting them to a physician with whom they can review treatment options.

Personnel

Can more than one investigator be included? Relatedly, is the budget restricted to the personnel listed on the RFP (Primary Investigator, Patient Navigator, IT Manager) or was this just a suggestion?

Yes, more than one investigator may be included. There is no limit to the number of co-PIs as long as they also have tax-exempt/​​non-profit status. The budget sheet does have empty grey rows that allows applicants to add other personnel. What is listed is suggestions only.

Can we partner with sister organizations? We have other local smaller organizations we work closely with.

As long as they meet the Inclusion Criteria (Eligible State, Tax Exempt, Non-Profit, Healthcare Institution etc.), yes.

Can the patient navigator role be performed by two staff at .50FTE?

Yes.

When you say “physician”, does that include mid-level providers (NP, PA)?

Yes.

Who qualifies as primary investigator? Are they clinical leads? Can they be from QI?

Whoever we can contact to talk about the program/​progress with. They do not have to be clinical leads.

Data Management

If we are not using Epic, how do we proceed? Do we need to build a registry?

You can use any data management system you have access to. However, for aggregate analyses, we will use REDCap so we ask that you plan to send us data in a format that can be imported to REDCap (e.g., Excel)

For Epic will you provide an extraction template used by the study cited to identify DBU from NY or do you expect us to use our own process?

Yes. Mt Sinai will provide the template free of charge, but you’re welcome to use your own if you prefer.

Will you consider the preliminary data on our target population (demographics and how sure we are of their RNA status) beyond just the number of patients? We have a well-defined population we will be targeting though it may not be the highest number of patients.

In the absence of better information, we will use the Mt Sinai protocol.

Other

Is Gilead considered a third party sponsor for the grant and/or will Gilead have rights to any of the data/results that come from the work? When the deidentified data is shared among other grantees and with CDAF, is that data also reviewed by Gilead?

Gilead is not a third-party sponsor for the grant and will not have access to any data/results that comes from this work other than what will be available in the public domain (peer review publications and/or posters and presentations). In addition, Gilead will not review any of the data.

In Level of Experience, how is “linked to care” defined? Does this mean that patients have started treatment for HCV/HBV or is it to receive a referral to HCV/HBV services? In Proposal Details, how is “setting” defined?

We define linked to care as the patient seeing a physician with whom they can review treatment options. We define setting, as the different locations where HBV or HCV-infected individuals can access or be referred to care. This includes clinics, hospitals, emergency rooms, prisons, opioid substitution centers or a community settings like immigration centers or homeless shelters.

What does “DBU” stand for/mean?

“DBU” stands for diagnosed but untreated.

Do we need an IRB approval to request and qualify for the grant?

You do not need IRB approval to qualify for a Relink grant. We do, however, recommend that you follow your organization’s policies about publishing data which might include getting IRB approval.

How can you claim exemption as a QI intervention and then publish- unless you choose to retrospectively analyze and submit an IRB then?

See two reference papers, Doyle and Rowan for examples on how two studies circumvented IRB approval requirements. It is also possible to start the program without an IRB and obtain one if needed during the process.

If your program already has a robust program for HCV and goals to build an internal HBV program, could resources for HBV registry and relinkage be prioritized.

Yes. The Relink grant is for both HBV and HCV, so you can focus on either one.

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