2021 Grant Applications now being accepted!
Free Money for Research Endeavors
The American Hand Therapy Foundation (AHTF) offers grant funding for research projects related to rehabilitation of the upper extremity. The Board of Directors of the AHTF is seeking qualified applicants whose projects have the potential to impact hand therapy practices worldwide. The AHTF Grants Committee is making preparations for the 2021 application cycle. This post contains information on the available research grants, the funding amounts for 2021, and how to submit a formal application.
What happened in 2020?
In 2020, the AHTF grants committee completed a formal peer review process for six grant applications. The AHTF awarded the Burkhalter New Investigator Grant to Emily S. Ho, PhD, MEd, OTReg(Ont.) and her colleagues Kristin Davidge, MD, Sevan Hopyan, PhD, MD; Andrew Price, MD, and Howard Clarke, PhD, MD, for a project entitled “Musculoskeletal Characteristics of Elbow Flexion Contractures in Infants and Children with Brachial Plexus Injury.”
Also, in 2020, the Doris Ann Slack Upper Extremity Education and Research Innovation Fund was created through a generous donation from Doris Ann Slack, a master clinician and educator in the field of hand therapy. The purpose of the fund is to support innovations in clinical education and research in upper extremity rehabilitation. Each year the AHTF Board of Directors will designate proceeds from the Doris Ann Slack Fund toward an existing AHTF research grant to promote clinical innovation or toward an innovative educational program to be held at a professional meeting.
What is next for 2021?
The grant application cycle opens January 1, 2021, and closes March 1, 2021. Four research grants are available this year. The Burkhalter New Investigator Grant is for clinical research in hand and upper limb rehabilitation by a novice researcher (funding up to $12,500 by the AHTF). The Burkhalter Grant is supported by additional funds from the Doris Ann Slack Fund for the 2021 grant cycle.
The Judy Bell-Krotoski Grab the Evidence Grant targets more seasoned researchers, whose aim is to facilitate evidence-based practice in hand therapy and upper limb rehabilitation (funding up to $10,000 by the AHTF). Ideally, the purpose of the award is to allow a skilled researcher to develop their role as a principal investigator and to provide seed money for procurement of larger external funding.
The ASHT Founders Award honors the original founders of the ASHT and seeks to promote meaningful research in hand therapy (funding up to $30,000 by the ASHT, AHTF, and HTCC). Grant proposals are accepted for research within any domain of hand therapy and for both experimental and non-experimental designs. Ideally, applications should target categories of research identified as part of the current AHTF research priorities.
The Joint AFSH & AHTF Collaborative Research Grant is offered by the American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand and the AHTF. The call for proposals is open to hand surgeon/hand therapist teams in the areas of hand or upper limb surgery and/or therapeutic techniques. The chosen project will be awarded a one-year $20,000 clinical research grant, following the style of an NIH R21 grant. Applications for this grant will be accepted through March 29, 2021. Application materials can be found at www.assh.org/afsh/s/ahtf-grant.
For details about the individual grants and application materials, click here. Research grant applications for the AHTF funded grants can be submitted electronically at grants@ahtf.org. For any questions about the application process contact April Cowan, Director of Grants, at grants@ahtf.org.