Abstract
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF FELINE PRACTITIONERS
203 Town Center Drive
Hillsborough, NJ 08844
The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) has announced its support for a second grant. The AAFP will present an annual award for meaningful research on a specific topic in feline medicine and/or surgery which is of great interest to practicing veterinarians and is in need of further research. This year the AAFP Research Committee is calling for proposals of controlled randomized clinical trials investigating the efficacy of treatments that have not been well validated, but are commonly used for cats with chronic renal disease (CRD). Such treatments include: phosphate binders, calcitriol, ACE inhibitors, potassium supplementation, alkalinization, antihypertensives, etc.
In attempting to provide the standard of care for CRD cats, practitioners currently recommend multimodality, cumbersome treatment plans. It is our hope that results from the proposed research will help practitioners to prioritize and justify realistic treatment plans for CRD that would have optimum compliance and benefits for CRD cats.
This is a new direction for AAFP research funding. The specific topic grant competition will be held annually in addition to the general grant proposals solicited by the AAFP each fall. The $15,000 topic-specific award will be given for research showing the most clinical merit.
The research committee will give special consideration during the review and selection process to the following:
Completed application
IACUC guidelines followed if animals are used
Clinical significance
Likelihood of valid findings based on experimental design and statistical analysis
Review of literature and references
Strong preference will be given to non-euthanasia studies
Preference will be given to clinical studies utilizing patients, rather than research animals
Preference will be given to proposals where less than or equal to 20% of the grant is required for technical service
Preference will be given to proposals utilizing clinical studies, rather than proposals for methodology development.
The recipient is required to sign an agreement outlining his/her obligations to the AAFP, and to provide an approximate timetable of the research planned. Thereafter a check will be forwarded from the AAFP. Eighteen months after receipt of the grant, the recipient must submit a 1,500 word progress report to the AAFP for inclusion in the AAFP newsletter. Within three years of receiving the grant, the recipient must present a 45-60 minute presentation of research findings and related clinical material at the AAFP annual meeting. The AAFP will reimburse the recipient for airfare and one nights lodging. The recipient must acknowledge the AAFP in any publication of data derived from the project. A copy of any paper in print resulting from the funded research must be submitted to the AAFP. The award will be announced at the AAFP annual meeting.
All applications and 10 copies of the proposal must be received by the AAFP office. Please submit applications to:
Rick Alampi
Executive Director, AAFP
203 Towne Centre Drive, Hillsborough, NJ 08844-4693/USA 973-379-1105