The Stanford Center on Advancing Decision Making in Aging (CADMA) promotes the study of decision making processes and the determinants of choices that affect health and well-being in the later years of life. One of several distinguished NIA Roybal Centers, CADMA is a collaboration between the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research and the Psychology Department at Stanford University.

CADMA is seeking seed project proposals for 2006-2007. Projects focusing on research highlighting the following specific aims will be considered for one-year awards:

1. To investigate the roles that age-related changes in emotion and cognition play in decision making, especially those surrounding complex (e.g., Medicare D plans) and emotionally-charged (e.g., advance directives) topics.
2. To learn how decision making processes influence day-to-day decisions, such as choices regarding exercise and diet, that influence health and functional status at advanced ages.
3. To develop and evaluate support provided at or near the time of clinical encounters for patients who face difficult medical decisions, by integrating decision support tools with electronic medical records systems.

It is expected that these early-stage research projects will lead to additional external support and be developed into longer term, comprehensive projects. These projects should result in strategies and products that will improve the well-being of older Americans by facilitating decision making at both the individual and policy levels. Awards will be granted for the period from August 1, 2006 through July 31, 2007.

Individuals eligible to submit proposals

Applications are encouraged from Stanford-affiliated

• Trainees
• Post-doc Fellows
• Junior Faculty
• Senior Academic Staff

Junior investigators must collaborate with senior faculty who will act as project mentors.

Proposal Guidelines

Proposals should be approximately 2 pages in length and include the elements listed below:

1. Background/Purpose (This section should address the following questions.)
   
   • How can the proposed research positively impact health decision making among the elderly, their family members, or relevant policy makers? In other words, what is the significance of the issue, and its use and purpose?
   • How should the choices/decisions studied by each project be framed to elucidate the potential contributions of the research most clearly?
   • How will the proposed research impact the elderly and their kin networks?
   • What new contributions will the research make to the extant knowledgebase?
2. Methods/Statistical Analyses
   
   • What are the specific measurements that will be collected or assessed?
   • Details include data sources (primary and/or secondary), including sample size, data collection methods and sponsoring agency, data quality and limitations, pertinent variables, available data years, and proposed analyses.
3. Expected Results
4. Future Directions/Seed Project goals
   What next steps are planned following completion of the seed project?
5. Abstract (not part of page limit; appx. 300 words)
6. Biosketch (not part of page limit)
7. Budget (not part of page limit)

A projected budget should accompany the proposal. The budget should detail expected costs such as salaries, supplies, travel and data sources. The budget should not exceed $40,000; funded proposals are expected to range from $15,000 to $40,000.

Application Submission

Proposals and budget are due by April 7, 2006. Seed applications should be sent electronically as an attachment in Microsoft Word format (budgets may be sent in an Excel spreadsheet) to tamarasims@stanford.edu. If you are unable to submit your application via email, please contact Tamara Sims at (650) 724-3524 to make other arrangements. Feel free to contact Tamara if you have any questions regarding proposal submissions or CADMA.

Award Process

Proposals will be sent to the CADMA Advisory Committee for initial review. Committee members may contact applicants with questions about their proposals. It is expected that applicants will respond to questions in writing by the suggested deadline to be considered during the formal proposal review meeting.

*Advisory Committee members who serve as mentors on a project submitted for review must recuse themselves from evaluating their project's application.

Award notices will be issued following the Advisory Committee meeting in early May. The Advisory Committee may request budget revisions at that time.

Stanford Institutional Review Board

Award recipients must complete the Stanford human subjects tutorial and receive human subjects approval/exemption before beginning work on the seed project. Seed project protocols should be submitted to the Stanford IRB no later than June 1, 2006 to be included in the July review. For more information on IRB protocol submission, please visit http://humansubjects.stanford.edu.

Once investigators are notified of approval/exemption, the study protocol ID number and date of approval/exemption should be e-mailed to tamarasims@stanford.edu. Hard copies of approval/exemption notices must be sent to Tamara Sims at 117 Encina Commons, Stanford, CA, 94305-6019.

HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portabillity and Accountability Act):

All seed project investigators and their research staff are required to complete HIPAA online training at http://irt.stanford.edu/privacy/hipaa/.

Seed Project Initiation

Receipt of final IRB status and revised budgets are required to qualify for distribution of funds. Seed projects are expected to be initiated August 1, 2006. After submitting all required documents, you will be contacted with details about setting up your account. Your award end date will be one year from the date of your account initiation or your IRB expiration date, whichever is earliest.

Seed Project Requirements

• All investigators are required to present their work at the Health Services Research in Progress Seminar within 8 months of the award date. Oral presentations should be scheduled one quarter in advance through the project manager.
• A written progress report and second oral presentation to CADMA members is due after the first 12 months.

Expectations

• By the award end date, recipients should apply to external sources for extension of their research projects. Mentors are responsible for assisting with transition to outside support
• Grantees should submit articles for publication. All publications should comply with NIH guidelines, including appropriate recognition of the funding source (citing CADMA and grant number). Mentors should assist with targeting publications and reading publication drafts
• Grantees must notify the CADMA Project Manager in a timely manner about presentations, publications, and other notable seed project outcomes.

Grants Management

Principal investigators are required to meet with the Administrative Services Manager quarterly to review grant-related issues such as flow of funds, resource allocation, and preparation of NIA/NIH reports.

Center Personnel

Principal Investigator - Alan Garber

Co-Principal Investigator - Laura Carstensen

Program Director - Kathryn McDonald

Project Manager - Tamara Sims