Celiac Disease Foundation/NASPGHAN Foundation Celiac Disease Pilot Grants

The Celiac Disease Foundation/NASPGHAN Foundation Celiac Disease Pilot Grants are designed to encourage and fund pilot projects in North America that address critical issues related to celiac disease and gluten-free diet management. The intent with this grant is to support celiac disease and gluten-free diet related innovative research or education proposals focused on: 

• Improving the diagnosis and treatment of celiac disease 
• Developing innovative tools or technologies to improve celiac disease management 
• Understanding and improving adherence to the gluten-free diet among individuals with celiac disease 
• Advancing the nutrition care of patients and families of children with celiac disease

Applicants must: 

• Be a NASPGHAN, APGNN, or CPNP full member in good standing for at least one year. APGNN and CPNP members and post-doctoral fellows are invited to submit grant applications under the clinical mentorship of a NASPGHAN member. 
• The primary investigator must hold a medical or postdoctoral degree (MD, PhD, or equivalent), an advanced nursing degree (BSN with an MS/PhD), or a degree in Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Dietetics/Nutrition, or Social Work and work full- or part-time in a clinical or academic setting.  
• Investigators at all career stages are encouraged to apply. For individuals with independent funding such as R01, P01, or similar, or recipients of K08, K23, or similar, this pilot funding must represent a departure from current areas of funding.   

• Individual projects requesting up to $25,000 for one year will be considered. Grant range expected can be from $5,000 to $25,000. The following expenses are allowable:
  • Salary and benefits of the principal investigator 
  • Salary and benefits of research assistants, laboratory technicians, and/or other key personnel 
  • Biostatistics support 
  • Supplies, equipment, or other materials necessary for the proposed research 
  • Incentives for research participants 
• The following expenses are not allowed:
  • Salary and benefits of the mentor 
  • Indirect costs 
  • Travel costs 
• A complete end-of-year financial statement and summary report are required. 
• Funds for grants awarded in 2025 will be dispersed in mid-December 2025 following submission of Final Protocol, documentation of IRB/IEC approval, regulatory approval (if applicable), exemption, or waiver. 
• All publications resulting from work supported by the Celiac Disease Foundation and NASPGHAN Foundation must acknowledge support by the relevant funding mechanism. 
• All publicity relating to this award will acknowledge the Celiac Disease Foundation. Awardee(s) will affirm the Celiac Disease Foundation has their permission to use their name, likeness, progress reports, and other materials they supply, in promotion of their work and that they agree to be videoed annually regarding their work (with prior approval and not-withstanding infringement upon IP laws and confidential scientific findings/information). 
• The awardee must attend the 2025 NASPGHAN Annual Meeting to accept the award. 

Completed applications must include the following: 

1. Biographical sketches of the principal investigator, co-investigators, and/or mentor (if applicable). Instructions are posted at grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm. This should include the educational background and relevant professional experience of the principal investigator, including any prior experience in research or quality improvement. For individuals with R01, K08/K23 funding, please include a description of how this work represents a departure from currently funded work. 
2. Research Plan (no application more than THREE single spaced pages will be reviewed) including: 
   1. Specific aims 
   2. Background and significance 
   3. Innovation 
   4. Approach 
      1. Describe the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project. Include how the data will be collected, analyzed including statistical or other relevant analytic plan, and interpreted as well as any resource sharing plans as appropriate.
      2. Discuss expected results, potential problems, alternative strategies, feasibility, timeline, and benchmarks for success anticipated to achieve the aims. A power calculation is encouraged where relevant to underscore feasibility.
      3. If the project is in the early stages of development, describe strategies both to enhance feasibility and address the management of any high-risk aspects of the proposed work.
   5. Future directions, as the application must indicate how the principal investigator will use the pilot data as an extension of their work that will allow them to apply for additional funding through another agency 
3. Detailed Budget and Budget Justification (one page maximum) 

Primary emphasis will be given to scientific strength and innovation of the proposed work and qualifications of the applicant and how the principal investigator will use the pilot data as an extension of their work that will allow them to apply for additional funding through another agency.

The NASPGHAN Research Commitee, Celiac SIG members and invited ad hoc experts (as invited by the Research Commitee Study Section Chair) will review the applications and score proposals using the National Institutes of Health scoring system. This scoring system uses a 9-point scale for the overall impact score and individual scores for (at least) five scored criteria (significance, innovation, approach, investigator, and environment).

Members of the review panel will follow strict conflict of interest guidelines. Contact between the applicant or sponsors with commitee members regarding applications is strictly prohibited prior to grant review and will lead to potential disqualification.

Applications are currently being accepted through the NASPGHAN Grant Submission Site.

The deadline to submit applications is July 1, 2025.

This research award is offered in partnership with the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) Foundation for Children’s Health and Nutrition. Learn more at naspghan.org/naspghan-foundation.