AKC Canine Health Foundation

2022 Sports Medicine Request for Proposals

The mission of the AKC Canine Health Foundation (CHF) is to advance the health of all dogs and their owners by funding sound scientific research and supporting the dissemination of health information to prevent, treat and cure canine disease. This sports medicine-focused call for proposals supports the mission with an emphasis to advance high-quality basic, translational, biomedical, and clinical research to support the health, well-being, and performance of all dogs involved in physical activity and including canine athletes participating in performance and companion sports as well as working dogs.

We encourage proposals that emphasize incorporating a One Health model as a critical tool to achieve CHF’s vision of a multidisciplinary approach to address the health needs of all dogs and their people.

Basic research as it pertains to exercise, injury, pain, and rehabilitation can involve a wide variety of scientific disciplines, including immunology, molecular biology, genetics, “-omics” tools, structural biology, metabolism, infectious disease and pharmacology. Clinical research proposal topics may address but are not limited to diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive approaches for the following topics:

• Orthopedics
• Surgery
• Regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and musculoskeletal fitness
• Alternative modalities (e.g. laser therapy, ultrasound, TENS) and new technologies
• Musculoskeletal diseases and conditions
• Acute and chronic injuries
• Osteoarthritis
• Role of nutrition/nutritional intervention
• Gene therapy
• Aging
• Exercise physiology
• Behavior
• Pain prevention, detection, and management including multimodal approaches
• Epidemiological studies

The deadline for applications is Thursday, April 14th, 2022 at 11:59 PM Eastern. This request is for pilot studies or Acorn proposals (up to $15,000 including 8% maximum indirect costs) and Oak proposals (greater than $15,000 including 8% maximum indirect costs). Please contact chfgrants@akcchf.org as soon as possible if you have questions related to your budget. Collaborative studies are encouraged.

Application guidelines can be found here to help ensure all required elements of each application are complete prior to online submission. All work completed under this funding must strictly adhere to the Foundation's Humane Use of Animals Policy and eligibility requirements.

Administrative and scientific inquiries regarding this RFP should be directed to Programs Staff at chfgrants@akcchf.org or the following contacts listed below.

Jennifer MacLeay, MBA, DVM, PhD, DACVIM
Chief Scientific Officer
Email: jennifer.macleay@akcchf.org

Andrea Fiumefreddo, MS
VP of Programs & Operations
Email: arf@akccchf.org

Please forward this announcement to other researchers seeking funding in these areas of research.

Start a new Acorn Application – studies up to $15,000 including 8% maximum indirect costs.

Start a new Oak Application – for this RFP, studies greater than $15,000 including 8% maximum indirect costs.

Access Saved Applications

Previously awarded CHF grants and active research in this area can be found here: General Canine Health and Musculoskeletal Conditions & Disease

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

Notice to Genetic Researchers: The CHIC DNA Repository has canine DNA samples available to genetic researchers. The CHIC DNA Repository, co-sponsored by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals and the AKC Canine Health Foundation, collects and stores canine DNA samples along with corresponding genealogic and updated health information to facilitate future research and testing aimed at reducing the incidence of inherited disease in dogs. Any genetic researcher may apply to have access to these samples and any CHF funded project is pre-approved for access.