Research Grants Program

Now accepting proposals for the 2020 grants cycle! Apply by December 3 at 12:00 pm Central Time.

Since 1997, AOFAS has offered grant funding opportunities for AOFAS members and their research teams. These grants provide vital resources to discover new treatments and advance patient care.

Hear from past Research Grant recipients in the videos below and view the full list of past awards. 

MaCalus V. Hogan, MD

Amiethab A. Aiyer, MD

Research Grants Program Information

Grant Categories

The AOFAS awards one-year research grants (July 1-June 30) in three categories:

Pilot Project Grants (up to $5,000)
Grant recipients are expected to use data obtained from the projects to develop future grant applications. No more than four pilot grants will be awarded in any grant cycle.

Small Project Research Grants (up to $20,000)
The core grant category, providing seed funding for promising research projects.

Established Project Research Grants (up to $50,000)
Offering one opportunity in the 2020 cycle, this competitive grant category is intended to support innovative research for basic science, a clinical trial, or pre-trial work that could be used to obtain additional grants from national funding sources. Applications must be backed by preliminary work, data, and/or publications or abstracts to demonstrate feasibility of projects and capabilities of the research team.

Review Process

Applications are reviewed and ranked by the Research Committee on a competitive basis using a blinded NIH-style process. Any committee member or reviewer, including the Board liaisons, with any real or perceived conflict of interest with respect to a grant application is recused from deliberations and scoring of the application.

Grant recipients are announced in March at AOFAS Specialty Day.

Eligibility

Eligibility for grant funding is a benefit of membership in AOFAS; therefore, the principal investigator or co-investigator must be an AOFAS member in one of the following membership categories:

• Active Member

• Candidate Member

• International Member

• Allied Health/Associate Member-Basic Science with an AOFAS physician member as primary investigator or co-investigator

Surgeon in Training Members may be co-investigators on a grant if the applicant team includes an AOFAS Active Member, Candidate Member, International Member, or Allied Health/Associate Member-Basic Science as the principal investigator or project advisor. To determine your eligibility, please see the AOFAS Research Grants Program Policy and Guidelines. Research Committee members and application reviewers may not submit applications.

Questions?

Please contact the AOFAS Executive Office by email at research@aofas.org or by phone at 800-235-4855 or +1-847-698-4654 (outside US)

Congratulations to the 2019 AOFAS Research Grant Recipients!

Established Project Grant

Immunoassay for Diagnosis and Tracking Treatment Response in Foot and Ankle Infection
Irvin Oh, MD; Stephanie Hao, BS; John Daiss, PhD

Small Project Grants

Evaluating Posterior Tibial Tendinopathy's Biochemical Profile as a Means to Improve Early Stage Diagnosis of Adult-Acquired Flatfoot Deformity
J. Benjamin Jackson III, MD; F. Baker Mills IV, MS

Ultrasonography for Diagnosing Medial Sided Ankle Instability: A Cadaveric Study
Damien Richardson, MD, MPH; Brian Fenn; Christopher DiGiovanni, MD; Daniel Guss, MD, MBA; Noortje Hagemeijer, MD; Jirawat Saengsin, MD; Bart Lubberts, MD, PhD; Gregory Waryasz, MD

Nano-FT3C+: An Innovative Liposome-Based Formulation for Thyroid Hormone Controlled Delivery. An In Vitro Study on Tendinopathic Human Achilles Tendon Tenocytes
Nicola Maffulli, MD, FRCS, PhD; Alession D'Addona, MD; Giovanna Della Porta, MS, PhD; Paolo Trucillo, PhD

Pilot Project Grants

Blood Flow Restriction Training After Ankle Fracture Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study
Jeannie Huh, MD; Kenneth Nelson, MD; Andrew Contreras, DPT

The Effect of Platelet-Rich Plasma on the Synovial Fluid Biomarkers in Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis of the Ankle
Yoshiharu Shimozono, MD; Eoghan Hurley, MBBCh; Lisa Fortier, DVM, PhD; John Kennedy, MD, FRCS

Randomized Trial of Dilute Betadine Soak and Scrub for Foot and Ankle Surgery
Kamran Hamid, MD, MPH; Connor Wakefield; David Rossi, BS; Alexander Idarraga, BA