The physical therapy profession’s first center of excellence for health services and health policy research is now accepting letters of intent for pilot study funding, but the July 15 deadline is fast approaching.
The Center on Health Services Training and Research (CoHSTAR) pilot study program is designed to provide funding for pilot research into areas related to health services research, and will be funding up to $25,000 in direct costs for each study approved.
According to CoHSTAR, pilot studies “may be designed to provide preliminary data that will support larger subsequent funding efforts, or develop new infrastructure … needed to pursue physical therapy health services research questions.” Application details, funding priorities, and other resources are available at the CoHSTAR pilot study webpage.
Launched this year, CoHSTAR was created with a $2.5 million grant awarded by the Foundation for Physical Therapy (Foundation) through its “Center of Excellence” initiative. APTA contributed $1 million to the initiative, with additional donations made by foundations, corporations, individual physical therapists, and 50 APTA components. A recap of the efforts to create CoHSTAR is featured in the Foundation’s 2014 annual report released recently.
The debut of CoHSTAR occurred in addition to the Foundation’s ongoing efforts to support physical therapy research, including its postprofessional doctoral scholarships and fellowships program. A complete list of this year’s winners is available at the Foundation website.