Grants

The Children’s Discovery Institute, a collaboration between St. Louis Children’s Hospital, its Foundation and WashU Medicine, is the result of a shared vision to change the way pediatric research is conducted and an intense commitment to bring about dramatic results in pediatric care to offer innovative, therapeutic treatments for patients who were previously considered untreatable.

With philanthropic gifts to the CDI, St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation drives pediatric discoveries to uncover what may now seem unfindable — lifesaving treatments and cures for childhood medical conditions. Since CDI’s inception in 2006, our research award commitments for CDI investigator-led projects have generated more than 1,666 scientific papers and more than $655 million in external grant funding, including prestigious awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding.

The CDI is an invaluable resource that allows us to turn promising research concepts into real-world strategies that can save lives and improve patient care.

CDI applications are now submitted through an online portal. To submit a request for funding, please contact Holly Kelley at [email protected].

Pediatric Research (CDI)

• Approval is required when submitting a request for funding that exceeds the amount of donor restricted funding on hand, designate to your department/program.
• Only St. Louis Children’s Hospital vice presidents/senior leaders, hospital president or pediatric division chiefs/Pediatrician-in-Chief can be listed as the grant approver on your application.
• If there is more than one option below, please select the senior leader or division chief the grant recipient reports to.
• If you do not see the approver in the list below, please contact Desiree’ White at [email protected].

Please find the granting workflow for requests

All requests are reviewed by a multi-step review process.

For requests which require $15,000 or less of general Foundation/unrestricted funds the application is reviewed by a committee made up of Foundation and hospital representatives. The committee makes recommendations to fund, not fund or request clarification before a decision is made. Those recommended for funding are presented to the Foundation CDO for a final decision.

For requests which require more than $15,000 of general Foundation/unrestricted funds the application is reviewed and scored by the senior leadership team and the WashU Medicine Pediatrician-in-Chief. Those recommended for consideration are presented to the Resource Allocations Committee (RAC). RAC is a subcommittee of the Foundation Board of Trustees and committee members ensure responsible stewardship of dollars raised by the Foundation and maximize the impact of these funds in support of hospital programs and services. Upon RAC review, those recommended for funding are presented to the Foundation Board of Trustees for a vote.

Direct award/Donor restricted requests are initiated by our donors who have expressed an interest in fully funding a program/initiative. The intended use of the funds is determined prior to the application being submitted. Upon signed agreement and/or receipt of the restricted gift, the Foundation will reach out to the appropriate hospital leader to request an application be submitted for funding. Because the determination of need is approved prior to the application submission, this funding does not require committee review and voting by the Foundation Board of Trustees. Instead, all donor restricted funding requests will be submitted to the Foundation CDO for approval. This process can take up to four weeks to complete. There is now a short-form option to request donor restricted funds — please visit the application portal to complete!

Children’s Discovery Institute (CDI) requests are limited to pediatric research requests and established priorities. Please contact the CDI Administrative Contact, Holly Kelley at [email protected], for access to the online application portal.

Established Center Requests Following receipt of the submitted application, the document is reviewed by the CDI Executive Director and Foundation leadership for thoroughness and approval to move forward to the CDI Board of Managers for final review and vote. (Center Directors are expected to present their requests to the CDI Board of Managers.)

Child Health Discovery (Unrestricted) Requests These requests begin with an LOI (Letter of Intent). The CDI Scientific Director and established adhoc reviewers will determine who will be approved to apply. Upon invitation, the completed application will go to an established scientific review board (including the CDI Executive Director). All requests recommended for funding are presented to the CDI Board of Managers for final review and vote.
 

The published deadlines are based on the amount of unrestricted funds required. For requests which will require more than $15,000 of unrestricted funds, the application will be included in the next Resource Allocation Committee meeting. Requests utilizing less than $15,000 of unrestricted funds will be reviewed at the Under $15K committee. And requests utilizing fully restricted funds are welcomed to submit their request at any point. Leaders are welcome to contact the Foundation before submission to verify funds' availability.

You are invited to submit a request at any point, however, any application submitted after a published deadline will be moved to the next scheduled meeting for review, which may result in delays to your project.

Absolutely! The login that you have used in the past is still active. You are welcome to submit a request by the published deadlines above. If you cannot remember your login credentials, please contact the grant coordinator for assistance at [email protected].

Yes! We ask that you verify with your finance business partner and senior leader to determine if your program or initiative can/should be operationalized and/or is revenue-generating, prior to submitting a funding request. Your application and budget should provide a complete overview of the program including total expenses and a sustainability plan to fund in future years if applicable, etc.

Absolutely! We strongly encourage you to submit any stories and highlights at any time. Please note: the Foundation no longer requires reports from all awards. You will be contacted by November if a report is required. At that time you'll receive confirmation on questions and format as this may vary from award to award.

You may request a one-year extension up to three times unless the original award requires funding to be used in the original allotted time frame, or the original award is under $5,000 and has been directly transferred to your department’s cost center. We ask that you request an extension at least 30 days before the end date of the award period (project deadline) to prevent disruptions and no later than November 30th. Please contact our Grants Coordinator at [email protected] to confirm if an extension is possible.

Supplements will be considered by the Foundation based on funds available. Please ensure you have reviewed your awarded budget to determine if there are under or unspent budget line items you could modify to cover expenses. The Foundation does allow budget modifications up to 25% of the total approved budget without prior authorization. Supplements are requested in the same manner as your original funding request and may require Board approval.

It is advised that conference expenses such as registration, travel, lodging, and meals be included in the department's operating budget. Exceptions are limited to approval by Hospital/WashU Medicine leadership and in instances where donor restricted funds are available for use.

The Foundation would like to remain aligned with set guardrails around funding for fellowships. You are invited to submit your request and justification whenever there is a need, however, the Foundation will limit the award, if approved, to restricted and/or endowment funds established specifically for this purpose. Please note for endowed funds, the total amount available to grant may be lower than in previous years due to market performance.

*For programs that do not participate in reimbursement and/or revenue income, prior approval from Foundation and Hospital/WashU Medicine leadership will be required for salary/FTE requests after three years.

The Foundation would like to remain aligned and consistent with set guardrails around funding FTEs. This best supports our ability to request funds from donors who are looking for the Hospital/WashU Medicine to have a plan for sustainability, meaning they will not be asked to fund positions long-term. Foundation funds may be requested for a pilot phase intended to demonstrate the need for the role and/or impact on patient outcomes and experience. After the pilot phase, salary/benefits must be built into the department's operating budget. Within the three-year period, FTEs will be evaluated to move to an operating budget based on set outcomes. An FTE may not continue if the pilot does not demonstrate intended outcomes. The only exceptions to this policy are specific FTEs supported by existing restricted and/or endowment funds established by our generous donors. Please note for endowed funds, the total amount available to grant may be lower than in previous years due to market performance.

*For programs that do not participate in reimbursement and/or revenue income, prior approval from Foundation and Hospital/WashU Medicine leadership will be required for salary/FTE requests after three years.

If you anticipate small requests throughout the year, we ask you to combine them into one comprehensive request and provide a detailed budget justification for each project. You are welcome to attach separate documents to your online request as needed.

Requests are not funded for a variety of reasons. Please do not be discouraged from submitting future funding requests. As stewards of donor dollars, the Foundation and the Foundation Board of Trustees must abide by the intent of our donors while also aligning with the Hospital/WashU Medicine mission, vision and goals.

Reasons could include:

• Insufficient funds available at the time of request.
• The request may not be well suited for the use of donor dollars. We advise you to work closely with your finance business partner to consider operationalizing or using other accounts within your cost center.
• The request falls outside of established guardrails and policies outlined.
• The application does not provide necessary answers to the questions including clear and concise goals, metrics, sustainability plan and/or a budget that is appropriate to the ask.
• Prior awards were not fully utilized or a budget balance remains, and additional funding will not be provided at this time.
• The annual Use of Funds Report was not provided by the January 31 deadline.

The Foundation makes every effort to provide feedback and guidance within the decision letter. Should you have additional questions, you are encouraged to speak with your senior leader/WashU Medicine Chief. You may also reach out to the Foundation director who oversees the granting process at [email protected].

For awards granted less than $5,000, which will be spent in full prior to December 31, the Foundation will now transfer to your department cost center. Funds must be used by the end of the calendar year in which they are awarded and will not be subject to an extension.  All unused funds as of December 31 will no longer be available for use.

For awards granted in the amount of $5,000 or higher or will accrue multiple expenses within a year or more timeframe, you will be given a project number with the Foundation Finance Office (Shared Services), formerly the GMO. As expenses occur, you will submit expenses against the award number provided. Please ensure all expenses are submitted/expenses against the project number regularly and no later than 30 days after the end date of an award and no later than November 30.

For Capital equipment awards, you will be given a Project ID, known as the Expense Authorization EA#. As charges occur, they will be charged to the EA#. We ask that the PI or grant contact reach out to Brian Hannel and [email protected] when your project is complete, and all items have been purchased and/or installed. The Foundation will then perform a reimbursement to the given EA#.

For awards granted to WashU Medicine, quarterly invoices are provided by WashU Medicine Special Projects, [email protected], and processed by the Foundation. Once payment is received by WashU Medicine, reimbursements are made to the necessary department.

It depends on which entity is awarded the funding. BJC and WashU Medicine are separate legal entities. If the foundation made an award to a BJC entity, BJC policies, including any applicable IRB, would apply. If the foundation made an award to WashU Medicine, WashU Medicine policies, including the WashU Medicine IRB, would apply.

To verify policies, please reach out to your respective Corporate Compliance Department:

BJC/SLCH
Karen James – Manager, BJC Compliance [email protected]
Sammie Fechter – Senior Counsel [email protected]

WashU Medicine
General inquiries – [email protected]
https://hrpo.wustl.edu/

You are welcome to contact our Grants Coordinator Desiree’ White. She can be reached by phone at 314.286.1545 or by email at [email protected].