2025 Request for Proposals

Required Online LOI Submission Deadline: 11:59 PM (EST), February 3rd, 2025

Invited Full Proposal Submission Deadline: 11:59 PM (EST), April 3rd, 2025

A required Letter of Intent (LOI) and invited full proposals may be submitted in response to this RFP until 11:59 PM (EST) on February 3, 2025, and April 3, 2025, respectively.

Applicants will be notified of the invitation to submit full proposals by February 24, 2025, and after review, awards will be announced, with a July 1, 2025 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, 2024
Online Letter of Intent Deadline	11:59 PM (EST), February 3rd, 2025
Invited Proposal Submission Deadline	11:59 PM (EST), April 3rd, 2025
Notice of Awards	July 1st, 2025
Award Funding Period	Level 1: July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 Level 2: July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027*

*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
Nova Southeastern University

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.

Grant awardees are eligible to apply again after one year from their Consortium grant end date. In case of a no-cost extension, the end date of the no-cost extension will be considered the grant end date.

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 priority granted to studies investigating efficacy and safety in humans, for the treatment of qualifying conditions listed for medical marijuana use in Florida (see qualifying conditions list at: knowthefactsmmj.com/patients), or within populations critical to monitor, including:
a. pregnant people (and exposed infants);
b. youth and young adults (with emphasis on the impacts on developing brain);
c. veterans (PTSD, mental health);
d. older adults and adults with chronic conditions.
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 use, including interactions with alcohol, tobacco, benzodiazepines, and prescription and nonprescription opioids
Public health outcomes of cannabis laws and regulations: studies on how state and local cannabis regulations, such as those related to licensing, zoning, product types, product additives, advertising, product labeling, and pricing influence:
a. public health outcomes, including health service use, disparities in treatment access, and health equity and
b. research outcomes, including limitations or other effects on ability to conduct research
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
d. health effects of emerging synthetic and semisynthetic cannabinoids and high-concentration products.
Mitigation of the risks of cannabis use by evaluating risk-mitigation strategies for cannabis use and their effectiveness in reducing problematic use and minimizing harm.