Valued Friends, Colleagues and Partners,
From everyone at the Neilsen Foundation, we hope you and your families are staying safe, that you continue to protect your health and you use your voice to effect change in your community. During this crisis, which continues to evolve, we have remained committed to our grantees and appreciate your ongoing efforts to move the field forward in the face of so much uncertainty.
In April we announced that all active SCIRTS and PSR portfolio grants could use Neilsen Foundation funds to pay trainee stipends and staff salaries, even if progress on the project has been temporarily impacted. No-Cost Extensions were adjusted as needed for grantees affected by institutional closures. And, now that we are beginning to carefully re-engage, it is time to address the additional costs of these delays and the measures that will need to be taken to ensure the safety of personnel as researchers return to laboratory and clinical activities.
In an effort to help ensure that our research grantees have the capacity to complete the projects the Foundation has already invested in, our Board of Directors generously approved that supplemental funding will be made available. In late June, current research grantees will be notified how they can request additional support. Each request will be reviewed by the Foundation and, if a researcher is approved for the additional financial support, an additional year will also be granted to complete the project.
Re-opening will not be easy. Establishing a new normal may take more time than we’d hoped for. The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation is doing its best to understand the concerns of everyone in the SCI community and recognizes it is important that you remain focused on the critical work you were doing to help people living with SCI before the pandemic.
Please, be safe.
Kym Eisner
Executive Director