2026 Hub Spark Grants Program Announcement
The Translational Research Hubs are foundational to the goals of the BIDMC Institutional Strategic Plan for Innovation, Research, and Education (InSPIRE) to create interactive research communities within BIDMC. The mission of the Hubs is to prevent, cure, and eradicate human disease through the accelerated translation of research from bench to bedside enabled by the inter-departmental collaboration between investigators and physician-scientists with complementary scientific priorities.
Goal:
The Hub Spark Grants will provide a pilot grant mechanism for innovative collaborative projects within the unique scope of the Translational Research Hubs by utilizing the advanced technologies offered by the BIDMC Institutional Research Cores.
Eligibility:
- Members of Translational Research Hubs who are BIDMC faculty at the level of Instructor and up are eligible to apply for a Hub Spark Grant.
- Grant applications should include a BIDMC basic/translational and a BIDMC clinical PI (multiple PIs or PI and Co-PI). Collaborations between different departments/divisions/ centers/programs and across disciplines are strongly encouraged.
- Preference will be given to novel collaborative projects between clinical and basic science investigators for projects with the potential for translational implementation.
- Investigators (PIs or Co-investigators) of SPARK Grants awarded in 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025 are not eligible.
- PIs must be members of the BIDMC/HMFP faculty; collaborators may be from BILH or HMS member institutions.
- Junior faculty are strongly encouraged to apply.
- Recipients of the CAO funded Early Career Stage Investigator Awards or recipients of 2025 Ignition Grants are not eligible.
- If Investigators who receive Spark Awards change institutions during the Award period, they will forfeit the remaining award funds at the time of their departure.
Award Project Period:
- The Hub Spark Grant is a $50,000 award that may be spent over two years.
- Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline has been extended until January 16, 2026.
- Full applications will be invited by January 30, 2026.
- Full application submission deadline is February 27, 2026.
- Award recipients will be announced by June 4, 2026.
- Based on the novelty, innovation and potential impact of the proposal, we anticipate to fund up to eight Spark Grants. Please note that major changes in federal grant funding policies may prompt deviation from this plan
Application Process:
Letter of Intent (LOI): No more than 2 pages (excluding NIH bio and other support)
- Specific Aims
- Significance, innovation, feasibility, potential for new intellectual property, and external funding
- Relevance to translational research
- NIH Biosketches and PHS other support of all investigators
Criteria for Evaluating Proposals:
- Magnitude of impact and clinical relevance
- Innovation
- Collaboration between clinical and basic/translational researchers
- Potential for extramural funding and sustained collaborations
- Use of BIDMC Core Facilities
- Potential for translation to clinical use
- Time to impact (preference given to projects with well-defined timelines and with early and clear go/no-go points)
Submission Format:
- Letters of Intent must include the appropriate cover sheet and all documents in the order specified on the relevant instruction sheet and submitted as one combined PDF.
- LOIs should be emailed to CAO@bidmc.harvard.edu by 5 pm on January 16, 2026.
Questions?
Please contact Teresia Osborn, PhD, Research Program Manager with any questions about the Translational Research Hubs.