2023 Request for Proposals

Required Online LOI Submission Deadline: 11:59 PM (EST), February 1st, 2023

Invited Full Proposal Submission Deadline: 11:59 PM (EST), April 3rd, 2023

A required Letter of Intent (LOI) and invited full proposals may be submitted in response to this RFP until 11:59 PM (EST) on Feb 1, 2023 and April 3, 2023, respectively.

Applicants will be notified of the invitation to submit full proposals by Feb 22, 2023, and after review, awards will be announced, with a July 1, 2023 start date.

A LOI using the Online Form is required to ensure consistency of the proposed research with the research mission of the Consortium for Medical Marijuana (MMJ) Clinical Outcomes Research as defined by Florida statute, as well as to allow recruitment of external reviewers with subject matter expertise in the proposed area of inquiry.

Download the full RFP for submission guidelines [PDF]

Purpose

The Consortium for Medical Marijuana Clinical Outcomes Research is comprised of public and private university member institutions within Florida. The Consortium provides awards to support clinical and translational research related to MMJ to investigators within member institutions.

The Consortium is charged by Florida statute to conduct and support “research that contributes to the body of scientific knowledge on the effects of the medical use of marijuana and informs both policy and medical practice related to the treatment of debilitating medical conditions with marijuana”.

The statute requires “the board to award funds to members of the consortium; requiring the board to collaborate with and authorizing the board to award funds to teaching nursing homes for certain research”.

This award mechanism will consider fully developed research studies that generate novel evidence, as well as studies intended to facilitate the collection and/or analysis of preliminary data that will support future extramural funding applications.

For pilot grants, there needs to be a clearly delineated plan for securing future funding. The Consortium discourages applications that repeat previous research projects with unclear justification for innovation.

Timeline

Step	Date
RFP Announcement	October 31st, 2022
Online Letter of Intent Deadline	11:59 PM (EST), February 1st, 2023
Invited Proposal Submission Deadline	11:59 PM (EST), April 3rd, 2023
Notice of Awards	July 1st, 2023
Award Funding Period	Level 1: July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 Level 2: July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025*

*dependent on continued state support, and internal board review of progress made towards year 1 goals

Eligibility

All applicant principal investigators (PIs) must be faculty members of Consortium member institutions, which currently include:

Florida A&M University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Gulf Coast University
Florida Memorial University
Florida International University
Florida State University
University of Central Florida
University of Florida
University of Miami

There is no restriction on the affiliation of the Co-investigators. All applicants who propose human subject/animal research must comply with their institutional IRB, IACUC, or other regulatory approvals as appropriate.

Applicants may submit only one proposal for this RFP as the PI and there are no restrictions regarding the number of proposals where the investigator is listed as a co-investigator.

An applicant awarded in 3 consecutive cycles must skip one cycle of the grants program.

All proposal submissions will be treated as new submissions regardless of previous participation in the consortium grants program.

Research Priorities

The following are Consortium research priorities that were derived in consultation with scientific and subject matter experts, evidence review, input from stakeholder engagement and NIH areas of programmatic interest.

Priority will be given to human subjects research, but preclinical translational research with strong rationale for clinical applicability will also be considered.

Proposals addressing these priorities are highly encouraged:

Clinical Outcomes of Medical Marijuana Use: with particular emphasis on human subjects research, with priority granted to studies investigating efficacy and safety, for the treatment of qualifying conditions listed for medical marijuana use in Florida at the OMMU website.
Effect of Medical Marijuana Use in Reducing Opioid Dependence: human subjects research on the effectiveness of MMJ as an analgesic/adjuvant in pain management and reduction in opioid use.
Routes of Administration: effect of dosing and routes of medical marijuana use on efficacy and safety; of particular interest are studies that evaluate effects of smoking and vaping.
Interactions of Medical Marijuana with Other Drugs/Medications:
a. with particular focus on medications that are commonly used by patients who seek medical marijuana treatment
b. impact of polysubstance, including interactions with alcohol, tobacco, benzodiazepines, and prescription and nonprescription opioids
Epidemiology Research to study trends for cannabis use and cannabis use disorder (CUD), including new products, patterns of use, and reasons for use in different populations, and medical, sociological and/or economic disparities in the access to and outcomes of medical marijuana across diverse communities.
Evaluating Components of Medical Marijuana/Cannabis and contrast their clinical outcomes:
a. comparing different components of medical marijuana (e.g. different terpenes)
b. research on different potency levels of THC products (e.g. >10% vs <10% THC)
c. standards for measuring cannabis dose, intoxication, and impairment

Download the full RFP for submission guidelines [PDF]