ANMS Bridge Funding Program

ANMS will be offering one award – Deadline: November 1, 2025

We are accepting applications for an ANMS Bridge Funding Program. We will provide support to academic researchers with a minimum of 7 years of experience beyond fellowship or terminal training and holding appointments as Assistant, Associate, or Full Professors.

Up to one award of $50,000 will be awarded in 2026 for qualified applicants who are pursuing projects spanning basic science, translational investigation, and clinical research pertaining to neurogastroenterology and GI motility. Applicants must have a history of successful federal funding, such as a recently concluded (within the last 3 years) R-level award or an R-level award that will end within 6 months and must have applied for the renewal of federal funding. Applicants should explain why they need bridge funding to sustain their research programs and how they will maintain that program after Bridge Funding.

Applicants must be a member at the time of application to be eligible. Information on becoming a member of the ANMS can be found at www.motilitysociety.org. It is anticipated that successful candidates will maintain their membership with the ANMS. Membership dues covering the full duration of the award must be paid before funds are disbursed. Recipients may deduct ANMS membership fees from the total award amount, if desired. The application deadline is November 1 2025. Funds will be available in March 2026.

Objective: To assist faculty investigators sustain their research programs in neurogastroenterology and motility and obtain or competitively renew extramurally funded research grants. The ANMS welcomes applications related to a broad range of topics and research methodologies that are relevant to this field.

Description: The ANMS Bridge Award will provide support for academic researchers with a minimum of 7 years of experience beyond fellowship or terminal training who are dedicated to a research career in the area of neurogastroenterology and GI motility. Up to one award of $50,000 will be awarded in 2026 for qualified applicants. Researchers must be pursuing projects of a variety of methods including basic science, translational investigation, and clinical research but that must pertain to neurogastroenterology and GI motility. Grant applications should explain why they need bridge funding to sustain their research programs and how they will maintain that program after Bridge Funding.

Eligibility:  Established academic researchers with a minimum of 7 years of experience beyond fellowship or terminal training. Only applicants with appointments as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Full Professor level are eligible. Applicant’s primary focus should be neurogastroenterology and motility research relevant to the mission of the ANMS. Applicants should explain why they need bridge funding to sustain their research programs and how they anticipate maintaining that research program after Bridge Funding. Applicants must have a history of successful federal funding, such as a recently concluded (within the last 3 years) R-level award or an R-Level award that will end within 6 months and must have submitted an application for the renewal of federal funding. Applicants should be ANMS members at the time of application and maintain the membership for at least two years.

Awards and Requirements: Up to one grant totaling $50,000 will be awarded. Funds may be used for study costs, supplies, equipment, and/or towards salary for support personnel. Salary support for the Principal Investigator is not allowed. Overhead costs and/or indirect costs are not allowed.

The funds can be used in one year. Sixty-five % of the funds will be provided at the start, 25% upon receipt of satisfactory progress report before the end of the 6th month of the award period, and 10% upon receipt of final report. The interim progress report must document adequate progress in order to justify continuation of the award. The final progress report should summarize the research project and explain how the award grant helped advance efforts to obtain or competitively renew R-level funding. It is also required that any publications resulting from this funding, or any publications (even though not specifically related to the subject of the award) during the period of award, should acknowledge the ANMS supported research grant award. Any unspent funds at the end of the award period need to be returned to ANMS. Recipients must return the unused portion of their grants upon securing new or renewed R-level funding. Receipt of overlapping grant support or any changes to the profile of the awardee, such as a change in institution, or acquisition of a disqualifying level of extramural grant support (i.e., PI status on an unrelated R-level NIH award), must be communicated immediately to the ANMS.

Institutional and Sectional Commitment: There must be a commitment from the applicant’s Division Head or Department Chairperson to provide the applicant at least 20% protected time for research and adequate access to needed resources. Details of current financial commitments to the candidate (such as start-up funds or other institutional support) and/or plans to provide matching funds should the candidate receive ANMS funding would further strengthen the application. These commitments must be clearly outlined in the letter from the applicant’s Division Head or Department Chairperson.

Selection Criteria: The ANMS Research Committee will review the applications considering the review criteria described in the Overview of ANMS Research Grants Applicants who have previously submitted R-level applications that were scored but did not receive funding are encouraged to include their Summary Statement in the Appendix.

Questions about the grants program and potential application topics should be directed to the Chairs of the ANMS Research Committee (Andrea Shin, asshin@mednet.ucla.edu or Tamas Ordog, Ordog.Tamas@mayo.edu).

All research must be conducted under institutional and federal regulations including appropriate IRB approval for all clinical research studies and IACUC approval for animal studies. The necessary approvals should be applied for well in advance of the starting date of the award. Awards will not be made until successful regulatory approval is obtained.

Application Instructions:

Applications must be submitted electronically via the ANMS website. The application should be assembled in the order listed below. Use Arial 11 point font, single space. The award application will comprise of the following eight sections.

1. Title Page: Fill out the application form provided on-line below.

2. Abstract: Limit to 350 words and to one page. Use the abstract to summarize the proposed research plan, career development trajectory, and the anticipated benefits of the award to the candidate’s plans for obtaining independent, R-level grant funding.

3. Research Plan:  This section should follow the NIH guidelines and be divided into the following sections: a) Specific Aims; b) Background/significance; c) Preliminary data; d) Research Project; e) References. The proposed research should be clearly outlined. Clearly state the research hypotheses to be addressed, the immediate objectives of the research, and the ultimate goals. Give details of the research plan, including the methods to be used, the kinds of data that are to be collected, and how the data will be analyzed. For clinical studies involving patients, provide inclusion/exclusion criteria and power/sample size estimates. Anticipated experimental problems and alternative approaches should be discussed. There is a 5 page limit to sections a, b, c, d using Arial font 11 point single space. There is a 2 page limit to the references, section e.

4. Budget:  Begin on a separate page, indicate how the funds of this award will be allocated and justify each budget item. Funds can be used for study costs, supplies, equipment, and/or salary support for other personnel needed for the research.  Salary support for the Principal Investigator is not allowed. Overhead costs and/or indirect costs are not allowed. The maximum total that can be requested is $50,000 for one or two years of research support.

5. Curriculum Vitae: Provide a CV of the applicant using the NIH Biosketch format  and adhering to the NIH five page limit. This document should include current and past research support; listing the title of project, objective of the project, funding agency and duration of award.

6. Cover letter and Candidate’s Statement. This should describe the anticipated benefits of this Transition Award to the candidate’s research career. The review committee will be particularly interested in discussion of the applicant’s faculty position, research progress and career goals, and which extramural grants the applicant is currently applying for (or has recently applied for).  Applicants should also discuss what benchmarks need to be achieved to enhance the likelihood of obtaining independent funding.  Limit to 2 pages.

7. Letter from Applicant’s Division Head or Department Chairperson:  This letter should indicate strong commitment from the Division Head or Department Chairperson to support the candidate by providing time for the proposed research and adequate research facilities. The letter must certify that at least 20% protected time will be provided to the award recipient. The letter should summarize the applicant’s attributes and assess the impact of this award on the applicant’s career development. Limit to 2 pages.

8. Appendix:  This section, if used, may include up to 3 items of additional material to help supplement the review of the grant. This may include manuscripts and abstracts or questionnaires or data instruments to use if the proposal is for clinical studies. Critical material for understanding and reviewing the grant must be included in the 5 page research proposal.  We specifically encourage applicants who have previously submitted R-level applications that were scored but did not receive funding to include a copy of their Summary Statement in this section.

Any table or figure pertinent to the grant application must fit within the grant itself, rather than being included in the appendix.

11:59 pm EST on November 1, 2025