2026 CARRA-Arthritis Foundation Mentored Career Development Award (MCDA)

Eligibility

Eligibility 

• The project principal investigator (PI) must be a CARRA member in good standing (up to date on membership dues and member profile is current and accurate).
• Applicants must hold an MD and must be at the instructor or assistant professor or equivalent level. Third-year fellows with offers of faculty positions are also eligible.
• The following current CARRA members are eligible to serve as PIs on this award: o Pediatric rheumatologists
• Current or past MCDA grant awardees are not eligible to apply.
• Previous and current CARRA awardees who wish to submit new grant applications must be up to date on all award deliverables. 

Summary

This mentored career development award is intended to support an early career investigator (fellow, assistant professor) who demonstrates a clear track record and commitment to developing an independent research career in pediatric rheumatology.  

All applications must focus on areas identified in the 2023-2025 CARRA-Arthritis Foundation Inflammatory Arthritis Research Agenda.  

Special consideration will be given to applications addressing the specific topics listed below, which were considered among patients, caregivers, and providers to be of critical importance:  

• Precision Medicine  
  • Biomarker identification; diagnostic and prognostic  
  • Starting/stopping medication  
  • Safety and the impact of use of specific medications (e.g., TNF-I in non-systemic JIA)
• Patient Outcomes and Outcome Measures
  • PROs, impact on health-related quality of life, health disparities, and other related issues  
  • Long-term outcomes; impact on childbearing, occupation, college, marriage, delays vs. peers, growth, and reproductive health
    • Transition
    • Health-related quality of life (HRQOL)
    • Environmental factors
    • Patient-reported outcomes (PROs)
    • Tools/outcome measure development, implementation, and ongoing validation
• Epidemiology
  • Use of the CARRA Registry (artificial intelligence and data science)
• Representativeness
  • Social determinants of health
  • Equitable participant representation in the CARRA Registry
• Treatment Development
  • Working with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on acceptable trial designs in pediatric patients
  • Evidence development (use of CARRA Registry and community data)
• Comparative Effectiveness Research
  • Consensus Treatment Plan (CTP) Program (development, revision, and implementation) 

All applications must focus on areas identified in the CARRA 2023-2025 Strategic Plan and 2023–2025 CARRA-Arthritis Foundation Inflammatory Arthritis Research Agenda. The Arthritis Foundation directly supports this award, and priority will be given to proposals with a focus on juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).  

Overhead

10% 

CARRA will allow up to 10% Facilities & Administration (indirect) costs, which must be incorporated into the project budget. If indirect costs are requested, total costs for this project must not exceed the amount awarded per year by the grant. 

Pre-application deadlines

Pre-application program deadline

Application deadlines

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

RESOURCES

Reminder: The sooner the researcher engages with Research Services, the more help we can be!

Contact the following Research Service units for support with:

Projects Involving Indigenous Research:

Support with incorporating wise practices in Indigenous research, community engagement, and Indigenous data management is available through the Indigenous Research Support Team (IRST).

Applicants can reach out by email to IRST at IRST@ucalgary.ca in advance of the RSO internal deadline. For more information about IRST, please visit the IRST webpage.

Knowledge Mobilization, Research Impact Assessment, DORA:

Support for knowledge mobilization/engagement/translation, community partnerships, research impact, responsible research assessment (DORA), and open science, is available through the Knowledge to Impact team.

Applicants can reach out by email to the KI team at knowledge.impact@ucalgary.ca.

For more information and access to resource archives, please visit the KI team webpage.

Research Data Management:

For information on research data management plans, processes, or best practices for your research program, please contact research.data@ucalgary.ca.

EDI in Research:

RSO can provide resources and support to research teams on the integration of equitable and inclusive practices in research design and research practice.

Contact edi.rso@ucalgary.ca for more information.

Research Security:

The Research Security Division is available to ensure researchers adhere to research security guidelines and policies, including the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships (NSGRP) and the policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC).

Visit the Research Security website to learn more or contact researchsecurity@ucalgary.ca.

Pre-Award Submissions:

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award LOI
RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application