For PTs Engaging in Research

Online Resources 

• ClinicalTrials.gov is an online searchable database listing clinical studies being conducted worldwide.

• The Grants Learning Center (available through grants.gov) answers some of the most commonly asked grant questions, provides eligibility information for grants, and helps you navigate the world of grant policies.  

Research Funding Agencies

• The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation supports research on a variety of fronts, including: neuroprotection; axon growth and remyelination; growth inhibition; stem cell research; rehabilitation; epidural stimulation; and more. Additionally, they currently support an International Research Consortium on Spinal Cord Injury and two clinical research networks, the NeuroRecovery Network (NRN) and the North American Clinical Trials Network (NACTN). 
  
  
• The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation focuses on research that fit within their core values:  Excellence, Leadership, Accountability, Innovation, and Collaboration  The Foundation awards grants to "qualifying non-profit organizations in the U.S. and Canada...across a broad spectrum [of research], including mechanistic, translational, clinical and psychosocial research."  To learn more about funding categories, eligibility, and deadlines, visit http://chnfoundation.org/how-to-apply/.  

• The Foundation for Physical Therapy seeks to improve the quality and delivery of patient care by supporting emerging investigators to "promote scientifically based and clinically relevant research related to the effectiveness of physical therapist practice."  The Foundation supports research in any specialty in which the interventions are being done by or directly supervised by physical therapists.

• Grants.gov provides a centralized location for grant seekers to find and apply for the over 1,000 federal grant funding opportunities. 
  
  
• The National Institute on Disability, Indepedent Living, and Rehabiltiation Research (NIDILRR) aims to "generate new knowledge and to promote its effective use to improve the abilities of individuals with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in the community."  NIDILRR programs fund engineering research, field-initiated rehabilitation projects, small business innovations, and more.  
  
  
• NIDILRR also sponsors the Spinal Cord Injury Model System.  Each year, SCI Model Systems Center grants are awarded to "institutions that are national leaders in medical research and patient care and provide the highest level of comprehensive specialty services." 

• Paralyzed Veterans of America funds projects, conferences, and symposia to help "improve the lives of patients with spinal cord injury/disease (SCI/D)".