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Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern University

Community Partners & Pilot Grants

Community-Academic Partnership Pilot Grant Program

For established partnerships

 

2026 Award range: $5,000- 25,000 | Duration: 12 Months | No Indirect Costs
Total Awards: Up to 3

Important Dates: 

  • Application Due Date: June 15, 2026
  • Award Date: July 31, 2026
  • Funding Date: September 1, 2026

Overview

The Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern University invites applications for Community-Academic Partnership Pilot Grants to support established collaborative projects between Chicago-area community-based organizations (CBOs) and Northwestern University faculty. 

These awards are designed to catalyze equitable, mutually beneficial partnerships to develop, implement, and/or evaluate integrative health programs that advance whole-person health and address community-identified priorities.

This program seeks to strengthen bidirectional learning between community and academic partners, build sustainable programmatic infrastructure, and generate preliminary evaluation data, implementation experience, or evaluative insights that can support future longer-term programmatic impact and external funding. 

Scope of Projects

Projects should align with the Osher Center’s mission to advance whole-person health and may address physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of wellbeing. Proposed projects may include, but are not limited to:

  • Co-development of integrative health programs or services (e.g., mind-body, culinary medicine, music, nature engagement)
  • Pilot implementation of integrative health programs in community settings
  • Feasibility, acceptability, or pilot evaluations
  • Community-engaged or participatory research approaches
  • Implementation science, dissemination, or sustainability planning
  • Workforce or community capacity-building related to integrative health 

Partnership Requirements

This award is intended for ESTABLISHED community-academic partnerships. Applications must be jointly developed and submitted by one community-based organization and one Northwestern faculty member. Partnerships should demonstrate shared leadership, clearly defined roles, and reciprocal benefit. Proposals should reflect meaningful community engagement in project design, implementation, and interpretation of findings.

Funding and Project Period

  • Maximum award: up to $25,000 in total direct costs
  • Number of awards: Up to 3
  • Project period: 12 months
  • No indirect costs are permitted for either academic or community partners, including sub-awards
  • Allowable costs may include personnel effort, program materials, participant incentives, evaluation activities, and other expenses necessary to carry out the proposed work 

Regulatory and Data Considerations

Projects involving human subjects that meet criteria for IRB review will be submitted through Northwestern University’s Institutional Review Board, with the academic lead serving as the responsible investigator. Data ownership will reside with the community-based organization, with agreements for shared access, analysis, and publication developed collaboratively to ensure transparency, trust, and appropriate stewardship. Authorship and dissemination plans should reflect equitable contribution and recognition of both community and academic partners.

 Eligibility

Community Partner Eligibility

Community partners must:

  • Be nonprofit (501(c)(3) or fiscally sponsored) organizations
  • Be located in, or primarily serve, communities in the greater Chicagoland area
  • Have an existing or emerging interest in integrative health-aligned programming
  • Demonstrate organizational capacity to participate in a one-year collaborative project
  • Identify an organizational member to serve as the Community Co-Lead 

Academic Partner Eligibility

Each application must include a Northwestern University faculty member who will serve as the academic Co-Lead. The NU Co-Lead will be responsible for regulatory oversight, including IRB submission if applicable, and for serving as the primary liaison with the Osher Center. 

 Application Components

Submit the following in a single PDF in your application.

1.Cover Letter (1 page)
  • Community need or opportunity
  • Rationale for the partnership
  • Alignment with the Osher Center’s mission and integrative health priorities
  • Anticipated benefit for the community and for the academic partner
2. Title Page (1 page)
  • Project title
  • Community organization name, address, and primary contact
  • Academic PI name, department, appointment, and contact information
  • Key personnel and roles
3. Project Narrative (Maximum 5 pages, single-spaced, 11-point Arial, 0.5” margins)
Include the following sections:
  • Background and Significance
  • Community Context and Need
  • Specific Aims or Objectives
  • Partnership and Engagement Plan
  • Project Design and Methods
  • Evaluation Plan and Outcomes
  • Timeline and Milestones
  • Sustainability and Future Funding Potential
  • Roles and Responsibilities of Community and Academic Partners
4. Budget and Budget Justification (Maximum 2 pages)
  • Itemized budget (no indirect costs)
  • Clear allocation of funds between community and academic activities
  • Justification for all requested costs
5. Biosketches and Organizational Profiles
  • NIH-style biosketch for the academic PI
  • Brief organizational profile for the community partner (up to 2 pages)

 Review Criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on:

  1. Community relevance and potential impact
  2. Strength, equity, and clarity of the partnership
  3. Scientific, programmatic, and evaluation rigor
  4. Feasibility within the one-year timeline and $25,000 budget
  5. Alignment with integrative and whole-person health principles
  6. Potential for sustainability and future external funding

 Awardee Expectations

Funded teams will be expected to:

  1. Participate in a mid-project progress meeting with the Osher Center
  2. Present project outcomes at an Osher Center-sponsored research or community forum
  3. Share final products, data summaries, and lessons learned with the Osher Center
  4. Acknowledge Osher Center for Integrative Health support in all resulting presentations and publications

Apply

To apply, please compile all proposal documents listed in the Application Components section into a single PDF document and upload it using the submission button below.

 Submit Here

 

Previous and Current Community Partners

Our community partners are integral to many of our research projects. By working with these established community organizations, we can develop studies with true relevance to real world problems where volunteers feel comfortable in participating in the work.

  • Common Threads: Cooking Up Health (CUH) is a culinary medicine course for health professionals and students developed by faculty from the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern University in partnership with the non-profit community organization, Common Threads. Together we are passionate about promoting health and preventing disease through nutritious and delicious food to combat the obesity and chronic disease crisis by educating future healthcare professionals and at-risk children and families.
  • Cultivate Collective: Their vision originated in 2013 in response to decades of systemic inequities facing Chicago’s southwest side. They have developed an evidenced-based community model where education, wellness, sustainability and economic vitality work in harmony to drive meaningful, multi-generational impact. We have partnered with them to help build sustainable and equitable futures within our community, and establish continued progress for future generations.
  • Roots & Wings: This charitable foundation supports integrative & wellness programs that increase emotional, physical & spiritual well-being during the continuous oncology treatment for Metastatic Breast Cancer. The Osher Clinic supports this goal by offering acupuncture and massage therapy to MBC patients in order to improve their quality of life. 
  • ALAS-Wings: Conducted a 12-week Spanish language yoga research study (ESTOY LISTA) with women diagnosed with breast cancer and their care providers. They are also currently working with us on a Lurie-funded Spanish-language mindfulness pilot study focused on Latinx cancer survivors using the Wakeful app.
  • Above and Beyond: The vision of Above and Beyond is to build an individualized treatment experience that is available to anyone in need regardless of their economic status. This substance abuse recovery center in Garfield Park is a longstanding partner with whom we have been developing and testing a mindful garden intervention called GROW.
  • Universidad Popular: Joins us in the Health Literacy Initiative (HEALIN), including movement classes, healthy cooking, monthly seminars and annual fairs, to respond to health issues facing Latino communities in the Chicago area
  • Imerman Angels: Works with us to recruit teens and young adults with cancer into one of the first RCTs of mindful meditation vs yoga. 

 

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