Since its inception, the Health Services Foundation General Endowment Fund (HSF-GEF) has played a pivotal role in advancing UAB’s mission of excellence in research, clinical care, and medical education. Established to support institutional initiatives that often fall outside traditional funding mechanisms, the HSF-GEF has become a cornerstone for building cutting-edge capacities within the academic health center. The program empowers faculty innovation, fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, and ensures UAB remains at the forefront of medical advancement.
“I think the core mission is to provide funding for institutional initiatives that are difficult to fund on their own, particularly core research infrastructure for patient-oriented research,” said Orlando Gutierrez, M.D., senior associate dean for Clinical and Translational Research and associate vice president of Medicine and Biomedical Research. “The HSF-GEF program provides teams with the opportunity to build that environment and get it funded so the institution can continue to be at the leading edge of research, clinical care, or education.”
The Health Services Foundation (HSF) was founded in 1973 by John W. Kirklin, M.D., with the goal of fostering and supporting excellence in the medical center at UAB. The General Endowment Fund was established within HSF in 1996 to support research proposals in the School of Medicine. Since then, the HSF-GEF has invested in 442 research proposals, with funding reaching over $66 million.
Evolving priorities for institutional growth
In the early days of the HSF-GEF, the focus was primarily on growing laboratory research and funding clinical care initiatives. “Over the years, the definition of research has expanded,” said Robert Kimberly, M.D., senior associate dean for Strategic Initiatives. “We’ve intentionally included patient-oriented research, and there’s been strong encouragement for creativity and innovation in medical education. We’ve also emphasized collaborative, team-oriented initiatives aligned with support from Centers and Departments.”
“Frequently, proposals consider emerging opportunities that combine research, workforce development and clinical care,” added Jennifer Croker, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Medicine. “It creates a rising tide mentality in which faculty-led innovations advance multiple aspects of our mission.”
Nearly 30 years later, the HSF-GEF program continues to emphasize institutional innovation and fostering dynamic relationships and collaborations. Whereas many pilot projects focus on individual labs, HSF-GEF is focuses on enterprise-wide advances with long-term sustainability. The funding from the program helps build capacities that support laboratory, clinical, and educational needs, as well as patient-oriented research.
The importance of the HSF-GEF program was recently emphasized in a peer-reviewed article published in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. Titled “Grassroots: Leveraging mission-aligned developmental programs to enhance the academic health center,” the article discusses how programs like HSF-GEF act as differentiating catalysts for institutional change by aligning developmental funding with strategic mission goals. The publication highlights the value of faculty-led innovation and a synergistic culture of collaboration in advancing academic health centers.
Keys to a successful proposal
When submitting a project for funding, HSF-GEF leadership stresses the importance of reaching out. “Have a conversation with the chair of the committee your grant will go to,” said Gutierrez. “If you don’t know who that is, talk to the program leadership. All the chairs are happy to talk through projects and help determine if they’re in scope.”
“That’s one of the things I love about this program,” Croker added. “The chairs are invested in the success of these projects. Having these conversations in advance strongly benefits everyone.”
According to leadership, one of the keys to a project’s success lies in its long-term sustainability. Gutierrez notes that an ideal proposal would be able to run on its own or secure internal or external funding. “In patient-oriented research, we look for new grants that continue funding the infrastructure that you’ve created once the HSF-GEF grant ends,” he said. “For education, it might be a department deciding to fund the program because it’s doing a lot of good. For clinical care, the health system might support it. That’s the kind of success we’re looking for.”
With teamwork already playing such a vital role in the process, Kimberly encourages departments to get involved even further. “Departments can encourage investigators to participate in the program, not only by understanding the opportunity, but by brainstorming with their colleagues,” he said. “They can also provide matching funds, whether in-kind effort or with tangible dollars.”
The next request for HSF-GEF applications will tentatively launch in spring of 2026. Learn more about the program or submit an application by clicking here.