Secondary Analysis Pilot Program (SAPP): Call for Proposals

Issued by: ECO-Health and the UC Center for Climate, Health and Equity (CCHE)
Funding amount: Four awards of up to $10,000 each
Project period: April 1st, 2026 – May 1st, 2027

  1. Program Purpose & Focus

The ECO-Health Center and CCHE invite proposals for the Secondary Analysis Pilot Program (SAPP). This program is designed to catalyze innovative, high-impact research that leverages existing environmental and health datasets to examine how ecological and contextual factors influence health outcomes.

SAPP aims to foster interdisciplinary research and generate actionable insights to inform data-driven decision-making for policy and practice. Applicants are encouraged to use available datasets for California (e.g. CalEnviroScreen, Healthy Places Index, UCSF Health Atlas, etc.), but proposals may also draw on other relevant datasets, especially for health outcomes. 

A. Priority Research Areas

Proposals must address one or more of the following critical areas:

  • Environmental influences on health outcomes

  • Population-level patterns in environmental exposure and disease

  • Methodological innovation in secondary data analysis

  • Systems-level or policy-relevant approaches to improving health outcomes

  • Development or validation of indicators and metrics using existing datasets

B. Funding Priorities

Priority will be given to projects that:

  1. Focus on environmental and health contexts relevant to California (with applicability beyond) or address policy-relevant questions for the state.

  2. Include collaboration of an Early-Stage Investigator (ESI).

  3. Utilize secondary data analysis to address high-priority questions of applied relevance.

  4. Leverage open-access datasets and publish any newly generated datasets and codes via GitHub or similar platforms

                       II. Key Dates and Eligibility

  • Proposal Submission Due: January 31st, 2026

  • Award Notification: April 1st, 2026

  • Project Period: April 1st, 2026 - May 1st, 2027

  • Final Report Due: June 1st, 2027

  1. Eligibility

The PI or a Co-Investigator must be affiliated with the UC system. Eligible applicants are:

  • Doctoral students/candidates (PhD or equivalent advanced degree programs, e.g., MD/MPH, MD/PhD)
  • Medical Residents, where applicable
  • Post-docs
  • Junior faculty (Assistant Level)

Collaborations across UC campuses and with community-based researchers are strongly encouraged.

  1. Application Components (2 pg. max)

All applicants must submit a single PDF by the deadline, in NIH formatting guidelines:

Section:

Content Focus:

Abstract (300 words)

Plain language abstract for a general audience: Research question, hypothesis, and potential community/policy impact.

Background & 

Significance

Identification of the literature and data gap and relevance to policy or practice.

Methods & Data 

Utilization

Specific datasets (including dashboard use), study design, analytical approach, and feasibility timeline. Brief Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP). 

Team Engagement & Mentorship Plan

Qualifications of the PI, Co-Is, and ESI (if applicable). Description of the ESI mentorship and community engagement plan (where applicable, e.g., using community-derived datasets). 

Expected Outcomes & Dissemination

Deliverables (publication, policy brief, dashboard update), dissemination strategy (academic, policy, community), and plan for sharing code/data.

  1. Required Attachments (Outside Page Limit)

  • Budget and Justification (1 page max)
  • CV or Biosketch (PI and Co-Is, 5 pages max each)
  • Letter of Support (from mentor, and if desired from community partner, if applicable)
  • IRB documentation, if required

  1. Review Criteria and Budget

Applications will be evaluated by ECO-Health and CCHE reviewers: Applications will be evaluated by ECO-Health and CCHE reviewers.

  1. Review Criteria

  • Scientific rigor & innovation

  • Policy/practice relevance

  • Feasibility within timeline

  • ESI involvement & mentorship

  • Community engagement plan (if applicable

***Please note: Community engagement is encouraged but not required for secondary data analyses.

 

  1. Budget Guidelines ($10,000 Maximum)

Category

Examples might include:

Personnel

RA stipends, community researcher compensation, ESI effort.

Data & Technology

Software licenses, computing, data acquisition.

Dissemination

Conference fees, community meetings, open-access publication fees.

Training/Capacity

Workshop attendance, skill-building for partners.

Indirect Costs

Max 10% for UCs outside of UCSF

If applicable, must not exceed 10% of total award.

***Please note: Budgets must include a detailed cost breakdown, a rationale for community researcher compensation, and any cost-sharing commitments.

  1. Submission and Reporting 

  1. Submission Instructions
  • Full Proposals: Applicants will submit full proposals as a single PDF (including all components) by January 31st, 2026 to the following email: [email protected]
  1. Reporting Requirements: Awardees must submit a final report (5 pages max) summarizing findings, policy implications, and data/code sharing documentation by June 1st, 2027. All resulting publications and presentations must acknowledge support from ECO-Health and CCHE.

***Please note: Awardees will receive periodic follow-up communications from the SAPP team, including brief email check-ins and progress report touchpoints during the award period. We also ask that recipients notify us of any publications or products resulting from the grant, and we are happy to provide follow-up support during the writing or dissemination process.