Grain Foods Research Institute

Committed to better understanding the role of grain foods in healthy lifestyles

Grant Program

Grain Foods Research Institute Grant Program

At the Grain Foods Research Institute (GFRI), we champion the role nutrition scientists play in conducting research to understand how nutrients, foods, and dietary patterns can help improve public health. 

We appreciate that research grants and funding opportunities have been in flux, particularly within federal nutrition research programs, and we also understand that funding support for your current or upcoming research may be evolving.  GFRI may be able to support work already underway – or ready to commence – that is relevant to our mission. 

GFRI is a nonprofit organization committed to supporting research to better understand the nutritional role of grain foods in balanced diets and healthy lifestyles. Our Board of Directors represent stakeholders across the grain foods supply chain, and we are advised by nutrition science experts from industry and academia.

Request for Applications

Do you have a new or in-progress research project that may align with GFRI’s research priorities?

Use the link below to submit a brief overview of your idea and learn more about our Nutrition Research Integrity Principles. You can learn more about our previously supported research here.

SUBMIT PROPOSAL

A non-exhaustive list of our potential research interests includes projects involving wheat-, corn-, and/or oat-based foods and the following:

  • Cardiometabolic health
  • Interactions with weight loss and obesity drugs
  • Strategies for increasing whole grain consumption using enriched grains as catalysts
  • Deeper understanding of nutrient contributions versus processing and/or other ingredients
  • Novel combinations of wheat-, corn-, and/or oat-based foods and other grain ingredients toward enhancing nutrient profiles

We value high-quality human feeding trials but would evaluate other study designs.  Grant amounts range from $50,000 to $300,000, including indirects, and we will consider multi-year investigations requesting larger funding packages. 

A comprehensive, detailed proposal is NOT necessary at this stage. We invite you to submit 2-3 paragraphs outlining your research question and potential approach, and we will then follow up with you to discuss the needs for a full proposal. (We will contact everyone who submits an idea to discuss next steps.) We are open to funding research that is already underway, as noted above, as well as new projects.

Nutrition Research Integrity Principles

GFRI is committed to supporting credible, evidence-based research to better understand the role of grain foods in healthy lifestyles. This support includes issuing a Requests for Application (RFA) to identify studies to fund, as well as directly funding studies as investigators submit opportunities for consideration. GFRI is proud of the caliber and quality of the research it supports, and proposals are thoroughly vetted by external, third-party scientist reviewers who help guide the selection of projects, based on their areas of expertise.

As part of this commitment to high-quality research, GFRI adheres to the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) Guiding Principles for Managing and Conducting Nutrition Research Funded by Entities at Interest and respectfully requests that all scientists collaborating with GFRI do the same.

ASN Guiding Principles for Managing and Conducting Nutrition Research Funded by Entities at Interest

Key Terms

Entities at interest: External individuals or groups (including but not limited to: individuals, foundations, public/private partnerships, academic institutions, commodity organizations, industry, trade associations, government agencies, and other scientific, medical, or not-for-profit organizations) with a stake (financial, commercial, or otherwise) in the outcomes of a planned cosponsored or managed activity/ program/ partnership with ASN or the ASN Foundation.

Overview

Members of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) receive support, both financial and in-kind, from various stakeholders to conduct nutrition research. In this document, Guiding Principles are presented to help ASN members and other nutrition researchers transparently conduct and communicate nutrition research that has been financially supported by entities at interest. ASN recognizes that nutrition researchers may engage in collaborative, purposeful, transparent relationships with entities at interest as a means to advance nutrition science and encourages them to transparently communicate balanced, science-based information as a result of such research and work. Relationships with entities at interest should in no way jeopardize a researcher’s objectivity, autonomy, credibility, priorities, or actions. As an authoritative, independent, and trusted voice in nutrition science, ASN has developed Guiding Principles for Managing and Conducting Nutrition Research Funded by Entities at Interest to help ASN members and other nutrition researchers minimize bias, enhance transparency, and manage any potential conflicts of interest when working with others.

Guiding Principles for Managing and Conducting Nutrition Research Funded by Entities at Interest 1

In the conduct of nutrition research, all relevant parties should:

  • require that all researchers make clear statements regarding all their affiliations, sources of funding, and real or perceived conflicts of interest;
  • conduct or sponsor nutrition research that reflects rigor, quality, and transparency in accordance with the ASN Guiding Principles for Membership;
  • conduct or sponsor research that is factual, transparent, and designed objectively; according to accepted principles of scientific inquiry, the research design will investigate appropriately phrased hypotheses and/or questions and the research will test the hypotheses and/or answer the questions, rather than favor a particular outcome;
  • require the study design, the research itself, and data analysis and interpretation to remain in the control of the scientific investigators;
  • not offer or accept remuneration geared to the outcome of a research project;
  • prior to the commencement of studies, ensure that there is a written agreement that the investigative team has the freedom and obligation to attempt to publish the findings;
  • require, in publications and conference presentations, full disclosure of all relevant conflicts of interest;
  • not participate in undisclosed paid authorship (publications or presentations) arrangements; and,
  • guarantee accessibility to all data and control of statistical analysis by investigators and appropriate auditors or reviewers.

1 Adapted from Rowe S, Alexander N, Clydesdale F, Applebaum R, Atkinson S, Black R, Dwyer J, Hentges E, Higley N, Lefevre M, et al. Funding food science and nutrition research: financial conflicts and scientific integrity. Nutr Rev. 2009;67(5):264‐272. doi:10.1111/j.1753-4887.2009.00188.x

In addition, GFRI believes:

  • Researchers should retain control of all aspects of GFRI-funded studies, including the study design, management of the research and interpretation of the results.
  • Scientific investigators should be encouraged to publish study results, regardless of the outcome, in a timely fashion.
  • Payment to academic institutions should be based on the scope and terms of the agreed contract established prior to a study commencing, not the study results.
  • Transparency is key when communicating research to all audiences, and funding sources should always be disclosed in the published manuscript and in any communications materials distributed by scientists and GFRI.
  • Science communications content should be created and reviewed by credentialed nutrition experts, who help ensure information about a GFRI-funded published study is accurately and relevantly communicated in the context of the complete body of evidence.