Yale Researchers Take the Mystery out of Grant Writing

At a time when competition for research grant funds is at an all time high, researchers at Yale School of Medicine have turned a popular course on grant–writing into a practical “how–to” article published in the February 15 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

The article stemmed from a course developed by Sharon K. Inouye, M.D., professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. Inouye taught the course with David Fiellin, M.D. for the Yale Investigative Medicine Program and the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program.

“High quality research and advances in medical science are dependent on grant funding,” said Inouye. “In this era of budget cutbacks, obtaining grant funds has become intensely competitive. The course has been so popular and well–received that we wanted to make it accessible to anyone who writes grants in clinical research.”

The article summarizes the content of the course. The practical examples provided come, with permission, from Yale investigators. Inouye and co–author Fiellin extracted the review sheets of 66 NIH grants of one study section, and categorized major areas of critique raised by the reviewers of each grant. Based on this evidence, the authors propose a systematic approach that will enable grant–writers to avoid common pitfalls in the grant–writing process.

“We provide guidance to grant–writers to maximize their chances for success,” said Feillin. “We also provide specific recommendations, including a grant–writing checklist, and highlight areas that are frequently critiqued by reviewers.”

“While basic scientists may benefit from some of the points in the article, the target audience is intended to be investigators in patient–oriented research,” Fiellin added. “But anyone writing grants for research, clinical programs or quality improvements may find helpful hints.”

Citation: Annals of Internal Medicine, Vol. 142 No. 4, February 15, 2005.