Mary Anne Koda-Kimble Seed Award for Innovation

About the award

The Mary Anne Koda-Kimble Seed Award funds truly innovative projects that have the potential to advance the mission of the school in new ways. Applicants are encouraged to bring forward their boldest, riskiest, and most blue-sky proposals for which there is no ready or traditional source of funding. Projects may be large or small.

In 2024, the Center for Collaborative Innovation (CCI) in the UCSF School of Pharmacy began administering the award, and the award will now offer funding in two categories:

1. Innovation: Open to individual applicants.
2. Collaborative Innovation: Open to applicants seeking cross-departmental collaborations.

Multiple awards may be given, totaling $50,000 in each category.

About Mary Anne Koda-Kimble

Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD

Mary Anne Koda-Kimble’s tenure as UCSF School of Pharmacy dean from 1998 to 2012 represented a leadership style of relentless support for new directions in science, education and patient care. The Seed Award for Innovation honors Koda-Kimble, who believed in planting seeds that have the potential to take root and flourish. These could be novel research ideas, new methods of teaching or presenting our curricula, new approaches to delivering pharmaceutical care to patients and populations, and new ways of working with new partners.

“Innovation is key to our success,” she said. “It must be constantly encouraged and nourished.”

Award amount

A total of $100,000 has been reserved for multiple awards during this award cycle, however this is subject to change based on availability of funds. Applicants are expected to find supplemental funds to complete their projects if proposal budgets exceed the award amount.

Awardees may spend their entire award amount only within 12 months of the initial award date. Remaining unspent funds will not carry over to the following cycle year.

The awards are not intended to fund the continuation of current research.

Budget restrictions

Award funding may be used for

• Supplies or project expenses (does not include computer workstations or laptops)
• Animal care or core facility services
• Salaries or benefits for outside consultants
• Research participant accrual or maintenance not to exceed the amount of $75 per participant per annual basis (See university policies.)

Award funding may not be used for

• Travel
• Budget overdrafts
• Computers or laptops
• Faculty salaries
• Administrative costs (such as school and department surcharges)
• Compensation or gifts for participants in excess of $75 per person per annual basis (See university policies.)

University policies

• Understanding the Taxability of Employee Non-Cash Awards and Gifts
• Paying Research Subjects

Selection process and criteria

• Complete applications must be electronically submitted by the deadline.
• A review panel coordinated by CCI will evaluate all applications.
• The name of the award must be acknowledged in all publications: Mary Anne Koda-Kimble Seed Award for Innovation, or Mary Anne Koda-Kimble Seed Award for Collaborative Innovation.
• Award recipients will submit a one-page progress/status report within six months of the funding end date.
• Award recipients will send publications (PMID, links or PDF) supported by the awards to [email protected].
• Award recipients will give a presentation at CCI-organized events if invited.
• Award recipients agree to be reviewers of future applications if invited.

All recipients must continue to stay employed or remain with the respective School of Pharmacy-related position that meets the eligibility requirement during the time of receiving the award. Termination of employment or position with the School of Pharmacy, any related graduate program or residency will result in termination or forfeiture of the award.

Projects submitted for a Seed Award will be judged on

• Originality and novelty of the proposal
• Likelihood the project will result in clear, measurable outcomes
• Likely impact the seed funding will have upon the project
• Likelihood the Seed Award will lead to other sources of funding (if appropriate)