SAMF Collaborative Grant Program

SAMF Collaborative Grant Program is sponsored by San Antonio Medical Foundation (SAMF). Supports collaborative initiatives between healthcare and bioscience research organizations. Focuses on novel research and patient care strengths, including medical device development in fields like trauma, cancer, and infectious diseases.

2026 Collaborative Grant Cycle – Medical Foundation 2026 Collaborative Grant Cycle Application link and materials can be found at the bottom of the page. All 2026 Collaborative Grant Applications are required to be submitted online by March 31, 2026, by 5:00 PM to be considered.

COLLABORATIVE GRANT OVERVIEW & GUIDELINES WE REQUEST YOU PLEASE REVIEW THIS ENTIRE DOCEMENT BEFORE BEGINNING YOUR APPLICATION The San Antonio Medical Foundation (SAMF) established the Collaborative Grant Program in 2016 to foster and encourage San Antonio/Bexar County based healthcare and bioscience research organizations to come together as partners to develop new collaborative initiatives designed to explore new area(s) targeting innovative/novel research and patient care strengths already present in the greater San Antonio area by those entities performing the research and/or the patient care.

Proposals should be submitted for the purpose of developing exploratory or novel collaborative initiatives that break new ground or extend previous initiatives leading in a new direction or toward new and innovative approaches likely to raise the leadership profile of the San Antonio community in healthcare and bioscience innovation and/or result in national or international preeminence or recognition.

Ideally, the findings of the proposal will lead to further research collaboration funded by other sources (NIH, DoD, etc.). Collaboration is an important goal of the program. There must therefore be a clear demonstration in the application as to how the participating institutions will leverage their strengths to create a foundational collaboration or alliance.

The San Antonio healthcare and research community has developed recognized excellence, expertise and notoriety in several areas over the past number of years including: Neurologic Disorders; and Trauma/Wound Care/Regenerative Medicine Even so, other research and/or healthcare topics have become important areas of focus and are showing promise such as: The focus of a research application is therefore broad and will not exclude research that can be shown to improve the human condition.

A proposal may only be submitted by a not-for-profit or governmental entity but that does not exclude the involvement of for-profit companies or the purchase by not-for-profit or governmental entities of goods or services from for-profit companies which may be used in conducting the research; provided no for-profit company may receive grant funds directly and purchased goods or services must not be in a manner where the effect is the funding of a for-profit venture’s research or development efforts.

Applications must demonstrate collaboration between at least two distinct organizations. UTSA and UTSA Health Science Center will be considered two separate organizations for the purpose of satisfying this requirement only when the proposed collaboration involves substantive activity at both campuses.

Grant dollars cannot be used to pay salaries/wages for faculty, doctors, researchers or employees of the institution or for expenses such as fringe benefits (insurance, car, pension, etc.) or for office equipment (computers), workspace/lab/building expenses, utilities, or travel not related to project research.

Grant dollars can be used to pay for post-doctoral students, graduate students, laboratory technicians, interns, research/clinical coordinators and for individuals that are not regular employees of the institution. This would include individuals paid using “soft money” who, without our Collaborative Grant dollars, would not get paid as they are responsible for bringing in paid projects to pay their salary.

A proposal is not eligible for funding if Intellectual Property (IP) is developed during the proposal timeframe and that will be owned all or in part by a for-profit entity. All applications will be reviewed by the SAMF Grant Review Committee. This committee consists of a combination of internal and external reviewers, approved by the SAMF Grant Review Committee.

Proposals will be reviewed by a panel with broad expertise and who may not be deep domain experts in your field. It is therefore vital that proposal ideas, details and descriptions are written in layman’s terms using a minimum amount of jargon unique to your field .

Additionally, proposals are not being reviewed primarily based on the science presented, but also on the collaborative relationships to be developed and community impact and likelihood for recognition for our region. Successful proposals tend to focus on those aspects of the project more than technical data and descriptions of the underlying science.

Assume you are writing to an audience that includes a limited number of medical professionals and PhDs. The San Antonio Medical Foundation receives a great many proposals that will be reviewed and scored. A proposal that does not follow the above requirements as well as those contained within the application will not be reviewed and will thus be rejected from consideration.

The maximum amount of an award is up to $200,000, although a proposal may receive or seek a lesser amount. The duration of the grant will be one year. It is anticipated that the grant performance period will begin in the fourth quarter of each year and run through the course of that next calendar year.

The proposal will begin with a concise 400 word (maximum) Executive Summary of the project written in lay terms and that summarizes the essential elements of the proposal, including: Who is the Initiative Leader and their corresponding organization. Other Initiative Leaders and their corresponding organization. What scientific research area(s) is the focus of the proposal.

Please be specific Is this a new or expanded collaboration? If this is an expansion, please describe existing collaboration and proposed expansion. If the project targets a public health issue, which one?

What innovation is the proposed research/collaboration likely to result in? Describe why/how the results of the proposed research will raise the profile of San Antonio in healthcare, the biosciences or a specific research area. How will this research specifically benefit the South Texas patient population?

Will intellectual property (IP) be created or used during the proposed program or activity and describe who would own the intellectual property.

The project description must be concise and is limited to three typed, single-spaced pages with an Arial font size of 12 points with one-inch margins, and must include the following elements, in this order: General background on the targeted public health issue or disease of global impact Describe if this is a new and unique collaborative project Describe if this is an unconventional, ground-breaking approach to the problem outlined in the topic and how the proposed research or other collaboration is of high risk – high reward Describe how this research has the potential for major social impact The mission of the San Antonio Medical Foundation is to provide leadership and active stewardship of our land and other assets to improve healthcare, advance biomedical science and enhance community well-being.

Describe how the proposal or activity recommended for grant consideration relates to the mission of the SAMF Describe specific goals, objectives and anticipated results; and a description of methods including anticipated barriers or technical difficulties Describe how the value or benefit to be obtained through the grant is to be tracked and measured Specify the resources needed for this project (equipment, materials, etc.) and indicate their availability Specify if intellectual property (IP) be created or used during the proposed program and who would own the intellectual property.

This section of the proposal will summarize the task-level activities to be performed by each organization as they relate to the project’s overall objectives. Describe areas of interdependence, the coordination and handoff of interim project materials and data, and the timeline of each organization’s participation in overall project efforts.

This section is expected to contain a mixture of narrative and illustrative/graphical information to aid the evaluators’ assessment of the proposed scope, roles and responsibilities within the team and collaborative environment. If any intellectual property (IP) is created or used during the proposed program or activity, describe who would own the intellectual property.

BUDGET SUMMARY & JUSTIFICATION Awards will be up to $200,000 for a grant performance period from the date of funding to end of the following calendar year. Proposals selected for funding will be ranked and awarded based on the dollars available and allocated for that calendar year. This means that a proposal selected for an award may be offered a lesser amount than was requested by the proposal’s collaborating entities.

If the amount awarded is less than the aggregate cost of the entire project because of a partial award, the SAMF may request assurances of availability of gap funding without sacrificing the scope of the research project or extending the timeline for completion of the work prior to disbursing funds. Funding that is not spent or encumbered by each organization’s stated funding timeline will automatically revert to the SAMF.

In addition, a budget justification (no more than 1 page per Initiative Leader) must be submitted providing details for all proposed expenditures and any other funding sources, for each participating organization. The budget justification must address each budget item that contains the proposed cost.

The budget justification must convey an integrated understanding of the types of resources (labor, materials, equipment, etc.) necessary to complete the proposed effort. PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION Biographical information for each Initiative Leader for each collaborating entity must be included and should not exceed two pages per participant.

The Initiative Leader for each entity must agree to the responsibilities listed by filling out and signing the Awardee Responsibilities section. The appropriate Department Chair/Vice President of Research (or equivalent level) must also agree to the responsibilities by signing the Awardee Responsibilities. (Link to downloadable PDF document below) The Initiative Leader and their corresponding organization must be specified in the grant.

This organization will receive all grant funds and be responsible for distributing them appropriately to each collaborating organization. Each of the Collaborating Initiative Leaders is responsible for the administration of grant funds within the terms of their respective organizations’ rules and regulations.

In particular, he/she must be certain that cost overruns do not occur and that all funds are fully expended according to grant year end deadlines. All work must be completed in the approved grant performance period.

FINAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS Each Initiative Leader or his or her designee is responsible for presenting a Final Grant Report to the San Antono Medical Foundation Board of Trustees at their meeting in October of the year following disbursement of funds.

Additionally, the following questions should be answered in a formal document to the San Antonio Medical Foundation in an end of Grant Report: Was the study/research conducted and completed? What were the results and conclusions? Did conclusions match the hypothesis?

Does the collaborative team intend to apply for additional funding to further the research? Has the collaboration received additional funding? Do the collaborators intend to continue to collaborate on this or other research projects together?

What impact did this project have to the health of the citizens of San Antonio? Has the research resulted in any publications or submissions for publications? ” Has the research been presented?

If so, where. Was Intellectual Property (IP) created or anticipated to be created because of the research? Is a product expected to be commercialized because of the research?

Collaborative Grant Program Informational Breakfast – January 28, 2026 Grant Application Due – Tuesday, March 31, 2026 (Due by 5:00 p. m.)

2026 Proposals Reviewed/Scored, Interviews Conducted & Award Winner Announced – mid 3 rd Quarter 2026 Collaborative Grant Funding is Executed & Grant Performance Period Begins – Late 3 th Quarter 2026 Collaborative Grant Awardees Final Reporting Presentations to SAMF Board of Trustees – October 5, 2027 Karen Blanchette Director, Board and Public Relations San Antonio Medical Foundation Phone: (210) 614-3724 E mail: karen@samedfoundation.

org President, San Antonio Medical Foundation 2026 SAMF Collaborative Grant Application Link to Submit Online 2026 SAMF Collaborative Grant Application Link 2026 Collaborative Grant Guidelines 2026 SAMF Collaborative Grant Application WORKING/DRAFT Copy (application must be submitted on link above) 2026 Grant Awardees Responsibilities Page (required for application upload) To view the PDFs on this page you will need to have Adobe Reader installed.

COLLABORATIVE GRANT APPLICATIONS STMC ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY