Funding & SupportBiospecimen Pipeline Support
Open a steady line from the clinic to your bench.
An OCR clinical research coordinator joins your team for a year to establish a new source of human biospecimens, or to make an existing one reliable. You finish with a working pipeline, preliminary data, and a proposal to sustain it.
Formally: Human Biospecimen Pipeline Development RFA
What you receive
Part of a coordinator's time, a database, and a path to long-term funding.
- 01
Clinical research coordinator
Up to 25% effort for one year, set by OCR based on need and availability: study setup, recruitment and screening, informed consent, sample acquisition, data collection, regulatory compliance, and patient communication.
- 02
Data manager at launch
New this cycle: limited support to set up sample inventory and core metadata databases, so the pipeline can scale and compete for future funding. This is launch support, not ongoing data management.
- 03
Grant development
At the end of the award, an OCR Research Development Strategist and Grantwriter works with you on a competitive proposal to fund the pipeline long term.
Eligibility
Who should apply
- Anyone in the UCSF research community: faculty, staff, and trainees
- Teams establishing a new clinical sample stream, or improving one that has limited support or access
- A PI or collaborator ready to lead a grant application with OCR support
Priorities
Priority goes to pipelines that
- Create highly collaborative opportunities for the UCSF research community
- Support high-impact or promising areas not yet extensively studied
- Improve access to diverse and vulnerable populations
- Have a clinical partner identified and committed
- Already have IRB approval in place
How to apply
From first conversation to launch.
Step 01
Scope it
Optional and useful: talk with OCR about the clinic, sample types, and realistic collection rates.
Step 02
Apply
Complete the online form by February 2026.
Step 03
Review
A committee of UCSF faculty and staff scores merit, feasibility, collaboration, and community benefit.
Step 04
Launch
Your OCR coordinator starts collection. Near the end, you write for sustained funding with an OCR grantwriter.
What to prepare
The online form asks for each of these. Drafting them first makes it quick to submit.
- 01The sample stream: biospecimen types, source population, clinical locations, clinic days, and expected rate and duration of collection
- 02Resources needed: CRC responsibilities, clinical workflows, space, equipment, databasing, language access, special skills
- 03The research questions these samples will answer
- 04Who else would use the pipeline, as an uploaded list of names and affiliations
- 05Regulatory status: not started, in preparation, submitted, or approved
- 06How access to the pipeline will be managed or shared
Review
How proposals are judged
A committee of UCSF faculty and staff, chosen by the OCR Director for expertise and fit with program goals. Reviewers complete UCSF anti-discrimination training and disclose conflicts of interest; those with conflicts are recused.
- 01Scientific merit
- 02Feasibility
- 03Collaboration
- 04Community benefit
If selected
What we ask of recipients
These opportunities build shared resources, so they come with a few commitments.
- Work with an OCR grantwriter at the end of the award on a proposal for long-term funding
- Share the pipeline with other researchers under the access plan you propose
CRC percent effort is assessed by OCR based on need and availability. UCSF does not use race, gender, sex, or other protected categories in eligibility or selection. All selection processes adhere to federal and state antidiscrimination laws (Title VII, ADA, FEHA, Prop 209) and UC policies.
Other opportunities
Before you apply
Talk through your idea with us.
We can tell you which opportunity fits, who to bring on as mentors or sponsors, and what makes a proposal competitive. A short email is enough to start.
Free
