i can help

I collaborate with biomedical scientists to write grant applications that are clear, significant, and compelling.  I can help whether you are developing your project idea; need to choose the framing to write a logical, exciting grant story; or want to make sure your grant is organized and spoon feeds the reviewer.  

To my friends in Public Health

I have been interested in public health for some time. My main interest is infectious disease (present and emerging), and I have begun working on projects related to community violence prevention.

Summary of what I do

I have experience with many NIH grant activity codes (as examples: R01, R21, K08, K23, DP2, R34, P01, Katz, MIRA, UH3), and with DoD, CDC, NSF, and multiple foundations.

I am most comfortable with basic and translational research projects. I am not an expert in writing clinical trials grants; I’m fine with clinical research that involves human subjects, but is not a clinical trial.

We can focus on getting just one application completed ("grant writing") or we can work in-depth to improve your skills ("coaching").  

I enjoy doing workshops on grant writing and scientific writing; they are informative and somewhat entertaining, I've heard ;-)  See Services for more.

To my friends who don't speak English as their first language

If English is not your first language, don’t worry!  I've worked hard to learn Spanish, German, and a few words in Romanian and Hungarian, so I understand the difficulties of writing in another language.  Plus, I have a LOT of experience writing with scholars from different cultures and am sympathetic to how cultural background influences US-style academic writing. 

Who benefits most from working with me?

• People who like to start their grants early

• People who have a perfectionist streak

• People who like to work from a structure (whether they define it themselves or they need help defining it)

• People who want the logic of their grant story to be precise

how it works

We first talk (phone, Zoom, etc.) about your needs and decide if working together makes sense. If we decide to go forward, and if you are at the concept stage (i.e., have not written the first draft), we will discuss your project ideas and options. We will probably develop a schematic of your Specific Aims, and then make a plan for how to proceed. If you have written a draft, you send it to me, I read it (I never share grant ideas) and make some initial comments, then we meet by Zoom/Teams to discuss it and make a plan for next steps.  

You should expect a back-and-forth process: discussion, written edits/suggestions/comments from me, discussion of the edits/suggestions/comments, revision from you (wash, rinse, repeat).  

If you are local, we can meet in person; otherwise, phone, Zoom, Teams, a shared drive, and/or Google docs are all good. 

Oh yes, money. Once we decide we want to work together and make a plan, I start tracking my hours.  I will be able to give you an estimate of the number of hours needed. I will keep you up to date on hours spent.  Feel free to contact me with specific questions.