Dear Researchers,

Summer is here! We hope the academic year ended well (aside from the Canvas snafu) and you have been able to enjoy a little bit of downtime. We know the summer is really busy for all of you—research, catch-up, hopefully some time with family and friends, and more.

See the information below; there is likely something offered by the Indiana CTSI that can support your research in some way.

Please hold October 21, 2026, on your calendars. We will be hosting our Indiana CTSI Summit (aka Retreat) at the Smith Ballroom at the Morris Inn here on campus. The theme of the retreat will be mental health. The specifics and details will be coming as soon as possible.

Enjoy the summer session, and please do take some time to relax and recharge!

Sincerely,

Melanie DeFord, Deputy Director and Assistant Vice President for Research
Prakash Nallathamby, Notre Dame Navigator of the Indiana CTSI

Tuesday,  June 9, 2026

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

Regenstrief Institute Social Hub, 1101 West 10th Street Indianapolis, IN and via Zoom 

In this session, we’ll share practical tips for using large language models (LLMs) in qualitative research and demonstrate live how an LLM can support tasks such as coding and thematic analysis. Participants will have the opportunity to try a guided prompting exercise themselves, followed by an open Q&A.

The Indiana CTSI Commercialization PDT is designed to provide early guidance to academic and clinical investigators interested in advancing their discoveries to the market. The programs are open to investigators from Indiana University (IU), Purdue University, or the University of Notre Dame; and includes a pool of advisors across these universities and industries around the state to provide investigators with a wide range of expertise and perspectives.

Letter of Interest: June 30, 2026

Submission Deadline: August 31, 2026

The objective of the new Indiana CTSI Clinical & Translational Science (CTS) pilot grant mechanism is to initiate or continue translational science projects that help identify translational methods and processes relevant across a range of diseases, treatments, and interventions. The key objective of the projects should be to develop methodological innovations and/or produce crosscutting solutions for common and persistent challenges to reduce, remove, or bypass significant bottlenecks across the continuum of translation

Contact: tsajdyk@iu.edu

Submission Deadline: July 7, 2026

This funding opportunity announcement invites applications from all Indiana CTSI investigators with a full-time academic appointment for up to $50,000 to support innovative research work that is in scope and aligned with the research activities of the IUSM-Purdue TREAT-AD Center.

Contact: apalkow@iu.edu

Letter of Interest: August 1, 2026

Submission Deadline: September 1, 2026

The NIAAA-supported Indiana Alcohol Research Center (IARC) is soliciting proposals for pilot projects from investigators who want to develop research on alcohol use disorders. Applications pertinent to basic mechanisms of alcohol misuse, neurophysiological and behavioral phenotypes of drinking, and genetic underpinnings of alcohol preference are welcome. The purpose of an IARC pilot grant is to allow an investigator to obtain preliminary data leading to extramural funding. Previous experience in research on alcohol use and/or alcohol use disorder is not required.

Contact: kkyoder@iu.edu and dkareken@iu.edu

Letter of Interest: September 17, 2026

Submission Deadline: October 1, 2026

Indiana CTSI Community Health Partnerships (CHeP) is soliciting proposals for the development of community-university partnerships to improve the health of Indiana residents, to result in future collaborative research proposals. The award can be used to establish new partnerships or to strengthen/expand existing community-university partnerships to solve critical health problems affecting Indiana residents. This award will not fund research pilot projects; instead, it will fund activities to help develop partnerships between individuals and organizations that have potential to later engage in joint research projects to improve the health of Indiana communities. The expected outcome of this award is the development of a future research proposal for opportunities such as the Community Health Partnerships Trailblazer Award. This RFA accepts applications which propose to serve residents in any of the counties of Indiana.

Contact: chep@iu.edu

Submission Deadline: Rolling submission

Commercialization Project Development Teams (PDTs) are groups of experienced entrepreneurial faculty located on each of the Indiana CTSI campuses who will connect you with resources and collaboration opportunities to support commercialization of your technology.

There are commercialization office representatives and regulatory experts on each team, and other experts are added to the team as needed when your application is discussed. You will have access to the expertise and knowledge you need all in one place. Full-time faculty (i.e., tenure-track, research, and clinical faculty) at any campus of Indiana University, the University of Notre Dame, or Purdue University who have submitted all relevant invention disclosures to their university’s commercialization office are eligible for funding. Awards are typically up to $15,000.

Contact: karagarc@iu.edu and pportono@iu.edu

Submission Deadline: Rolling submission

Research Project Development Teams (PDTs) are groups of experienced senior faculty located on each of the Indiana CTSI campuses who will connect you with resources, collaboration opportunities, and small (typically up to $15,000) awards for preliminary or additional data. Each PDT is designed around a common research theme.

There are biostatisticians and regulatory experts on each team, and other experts are added as needed when you meet with the team to discuss your application. You will have access to the expertise and knowledge you need all in one place.

Contact: tsajdyk@iu.edu

Submission Deadline: Rolling Submission

Rolling Submission

Rolling Submission

Take a moment to explore our past newsletters and summits. At Indiana CTSI, we’re committed to uniting Indiana’s life sciences community to drive research forward and improve health across the state.

The Indiana CTSI has experts across a wide variety of fields and research areas of interest. Click the button below to have the latest research discoveries and developments making news and positively impacting health in Indiana delivered right to your inbox. 

The Indiana CTSI includes Indiana University, Purdue University, and the University of Notre Dame as the major academic partners along with a number of other institutions and entities in the state.

It is funded by a Clinical and Translational Sciences Award from the National Institutes of Health amounting to some $38 million for the current seven-year funding period of 2023-2030. This funding is supplemented by additional support from many other institutional and corporate partners.

Funding is provided to researchers by many mechanisms to promote translational and collaborative research among the partner institutions.

For more information, please visit: indianactsi.org

If you have any questions about Indiana CTSI grants, programs, or upcoming events please feel free to reach out to navigator Prakash Nallathamby.