Quality Improvement Competitive Grant Program

In collaboration with Pfizer, the Headache & Migraine Competitive Grant Program is designed to incentivize and fund quality improvement work that will address gaps in headache medicine. The goal of the program is to produce information or tools that can be widely used in the field and lead to measurable improvements in healthcare services for individuals with headache. Individual projects are to be completed in two-years and can request up to $375,000, but projects of lower budgets are encouraged to apply as well.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have updated the milestone dates for this RFP as follows:

• Anticipated full proposal invitation date: November 7, 2024 (previously September 3, 2024)
• Full proposal submission deadline: January 7, 2025  (previously October 30, 2024)
  • Full proposals will only be accepted from invited applicants, based on assessment of LOI
  • Please note the deadline is 23:59 Eastern Daylight Time (e.g., New York, GMT -5).
• Anticipated decision notification date: March 2025 (previously September 3, 2024
• Anticipated project start date: May 2025

Please note that no additional action is needed from applicants and these new dates will not impact your grant application, regardless of the dates you submitted. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Lauren Small at [email protected].

Request for Proposal

Click here to download the Request for Proposal (RFP) for full details.

Applicant Eligibility Criteria

• Must be a member of the American Headache Society. Learn about AHS membership and join here.
• The following may apply: medical, dental, nursing, allied health, and/or pharmacy professional schools; healthcare institutions (both large and small); government agencies; and other entities with a mission related to healthcare improvement.
• Only organizations are eligible to receive grants, not individuals or medical practice groups (i.e., an independent group of physicians not affiliated with a hospital, academic institution, or professional society).
• Collaborations within institutions (e.g., between departments and/or inter-professional), as well as between different institutions / organizations / associations, are encouraged. Please note all partners must have a relevant role and the requesting organization must have a key role in the project.
• The applicant must be the Project Lead/Principal Investigator (PI) or an authorized designee of such individual (e.g., Project Lead/PI’s grant/research coordinator).
• The Project Lead/PI must be an employee or contractor of the requesting organization.
• Requesting organization must be legally able to receive award funding directly from Pfizer Inc.. We strongly recommend that applicants confirm this with their organization or institution prior to submitting an application. Grants awarded to organizations that are subsequently found to be unable to accept funding directly from Pfizer Inc. may be subject to rescission.
• For projects offering continuing education credit, the requesting organization must be accredited.

Project Criteria

Projects are expected to have measurable outcomes and contribute to the core goal of the American Headache Society (AHS) – improving the lives of people impacted by migraine and other headache disorders.

Projects should focus on quality improvement in safety, clinical effectiveness, rapidity of diagnosis/proper treatment, efficiency, patient centered care, and/or equity. The program is not intended to support laboratory science or clinical trials.

Example Topics

Some potential projects include, but are not limited to:

• Diagnosis and management for under-represented populations
• Large-scale evaluation of “real world” patient experiences
• Delivery of headache care in the primary care and emergency department settings
• Education regarding headache disorders in medical school and residency training
• Letter of Intent (LOI) submission deadline: August 5, 2024
  • Please note the deadline is 23:59 Eastern Daylight Time (e.g., New York, GMT -5).

Funding Range and Project Length

Individual projects requesting up to $375,000 total over two (2) years will be considered.

Proposals with smaller budgets and size are welcome and highly encouraged to apply.