Request for Proposals
While health inequalities have long been one of the major injustices impacting millions of people around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has made these inequities visible to an unprecedented degree. The disparities in acquisition of the infection as well as the differential ravages of its direct and indirect impacts track along long-standing social fissures related to race, ethnicity, and poverty in the United States and globally. Now, in the face of this historic plague and at a moment of more wide-spread sensitization to the horrors of inequitable health outcomes, UVA’s Center for Global Health Equity (CGHE) calls on faculty members to engage with or to expand efforts to combat health disparities and the tragic outcomes they entrain. With the 2023 call for the Dick & Nancy Guerrant Global Health Equity Professor Award, CGHE invites University of Virginia faculty members from any school and of any rank to apply for three years of support for a new or expanded program to address a global health disparity of the faculty member’s choosing.
Since 2001, UVA’s Center for Global Health Equity (CGHE) has sustained a commitment to health for all. Committed to values of parity, reciprocity, and humility, CGHE strives to advance global health equity through direct research, institutional capacity-building in resource-constrained settings, and, especially, support for UVA faculty members’ and students’ participation in meaningful and ethical global health research and engagement. As we reflect on the stark challenges to health equity laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, we commit to working to expand opportunities for faculty members of all levels and tracks to explore and/or to expand engagements that support the pursuit of more equitable health outcomes.
To that end, the Center for Global Health Equity is delighted to announce the 2023 Dick & Nancy Guerrant Global Health Equity Professor Award. Applications for the 2023 awards will be due September 15, 2023. The recipients shall be known as the Guerrant Global Health Equity Professor for the duration of the Award. In keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of the Center, as noted above, the Award will provide three years of support to faculty members from any School. Up to three awards will be made each year, creating a cohort and community of global health equity practice.
The funds available (approximately $10,000 per year, depending on proposed budget) are meant to enable innovative projects addressing global health equity domestically or abroad. The Award is intended to catalyze the faculty member’s engagement with either a new or on-going project that promotes global health equity. It is expected that the project will include engagement with students; separate, additional funding will be available to support student engagement.
The applications for the rotating Award will be reviewed, with the winner/s (up to three in any given year) selected by a committee chaired or appointed by the Director of the Center for Global Health Equity.
Important Dates
Proposal Submission Deadline: September 15, 2023
Award Decision: Mid-October 2023
Project Start Date: Award recipients become a member of the Dick & Nancy Guerrant Global Health Equity Professor Award cohort at the time of notification of award and will be expected to attend quarterly events with other awardees. Applicant may choose the start date for the proposed project; however, all applicants must start their project no later than June 1, 2024.
Availability of Funds: The first year of funding will be available from November 2023 and no later than June 1, 2024.
Research Topics
The proposed project must focus on improving the health and well-being of those in greatest need, no matter their location. Topics may include those related to healthcare and its delivery, but we invite applicants to think more broadly and to imagine projects that interrogate other social, environmental, cultural, political, and design-related determinants of health and well-being, independent of healthcare delivery. This award will strive to support a diversity of research types and expertise. If you would like to discuss your ideas with a member of the CGHE leadership team, please feel free to reach out, and we are happy to discuss your idea.
Who May Submit Proposals
Any faculty member (including tenure track and general faculty) from any school or any academic area may submit a proposal. This opportunity is not intended for post-doctoral students.