Community Sleep Health Award

The Community Sleep Health Award provides funds for one year and can be for up to $20,000 per award (includes direct and indirect costs). There are no restrictions on the distribution of expenses, however, indirect costs are capped at 8%. The award is issued as a contract between the AASM Foundation and the awardee’s organization. A sample contract is available here.

The following individuals are eligible to apply:

• Leaders of a community-based organization, healthcare providers with advanced degrees (MD, DO, RN, PA, etc.), individuals with doctoral or graduate degrees (PhD, MSW, MPH, etc.), and undergraduate, graduate, or professional students (medical, nursing, public health, social work, etc.) are eligible to apply.
  Note: Awards given in response to applications from individuals will be issued as a contract with the individual’s organization, rather than directly to the individual.
• Charitable organizations (e.g., non-profit patient organizations) with tax exempt status, in collaboration with (an) individual(s) listed above, must be clearly identified in the application.
• We encourage applicants to be members of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
• Applicants outside the US are eligible to apply; however, payment of award funds must be accepted by the organization in US dollars.

The AASM Foundation encourages applicants to collaborate with other groups who wish to contribute to the proposed project/initiative. Please note that the AASM Foundation will not fund ongoing projects/initiatives that are currently funded by another awarding body or organization, and the applicant will be required to make a statement to this effect prior to execution of the contract.

A Letter of Intent (LOI) is required prior to submission of a full application. Applicants will then be notified whether they will be invited to submit a full application. If the LOI is not approved, the applicant may not apply for the award.

The following criteria will be considered in determining whether the applicant will be invited to submit a full application for consideration.

1. Responsiveness to sleep health community needs and inclusion of vulnerable and/or underserved populations.
2. Alignment of project with AASM Foundation Vision and Mission.
3. Potential impact/significance and innovation of the project.
4. Feasibility of the planned project.
5. Overall quality of the methods and consideration of analytic plan (if applicable).
6. Expertise and experience of the project leaders and other key personnel conducting the project.

Please note that the information submitted in the LOI (e.g., key personnel) is final and those invited to submit a full application will be bound by the content of their approved LOI unless a modification was specifically requested or approved by the AASM Foundation.

For individuals who are invited to submit a full application, an award review committee, appointed by the AASM Foundation Executive Committee, will evaluate and score all submitted applications. Factors that will be taken into consideration include:

1. Significance: Strong premise of planned project in addressing community sleep health need(s).
2. Project personnel: Experience, training, and record of accomplishments of project leader and key personnel.
3. Approach: Strategies to ensure an impactful and efficient approach, methodology, analyses (if applicable), and benchmarks for success are well-reasoned and appropriate for the specific aims of the planned project.
4. Innovation: Use of novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions that challenge and seek to shift current population sleep health practices.
5. Environment: Organizational support and capacity needed to carry out project, availability of equipment and other physical resources that contribute to the probability of success of the planned project.

Only materials submitted within the application will be used in the evaluation of applications. The AASM Foundation Executive Committee will submit funding recommendations to the AASM Foundation Board of Directors based on the Award Review Committee scores. The AASM Foundation Board of Directors will make the final funding decisions.

If unique circumstances are explained in the budget justification of the applicant’s proposal, the Board of Directors will consider requests for an alternate payment schedule, with a maximum variance of 10%.

Note: Once awarded, reallocation of funds of <10% do not require approval.

The AASM Foundation intends the Community Sleep Health Award to provide funding for projects that will serve a targeted population and that there will be a measure of impact of the project on sleep health within the community.

Applicants are expected to address the aims as described in the application. Major modification of the proposed aims requires AASM Foundation Board of Directors or Executive Committee approval.

The expected results and deliverables should be clearly stated in the application. The applicant must submit progress and final reports during the project period, describing project activities and results, as outlined below. Failure to meet the deliverables or submit progress or final reports may result in termination of project funding.

If the proposal is a research project using human subjects, the applicant will be responsible for obtaining Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. The IRB letter of approval for the specified project must be on file with the AASM Foundation office prior to the execution of the contract. No funds will be released for the project without receipt of written approval by an IRB. Failure to obtain IRB approval will result in retraction of the award.