Welcome to our IME Platform

Funding Priorities

Grant requests must identify unmet educational needs of a target audience and demonstrate how the program will address the unmet educational needs, and encourage the improvement of medicine and healthcare. The selection of medium and format should be commensurate with the educational needs, the audience, learning preferences, geography, content, and other factors that contribute to educational effectiveness.

Responsibility and control over the selection, content, faculty, educational methods, materials, and venue for an independent medical education event belongs solely to the organizers of the event. Spark will not provide any advice or guidance to the independent medical education provider (even if asked) regarding the content or faculty for any program that has received funding.

All educational grants funded by Spark Therapeutics must meet the following criteria:

  • Bona Fide Purpose: All grants must have a clearly defined, legitimate educational, scientific or health-related purpose.

  • Non-Promotional and Non-Product Specific: Grant funding must be used solely to support a bona-fide, independent medical education program or activity that fosters medical and scientific education to the healthcare community to improve patient care.

  • Independent / Controlled by the Grant Recipient: Grant funding may be provided only to support medical education programs that are controlled by the grant recipient (organizer) as to the content, faculty, speakers, moderators, audience, attendee identification, invitations and all other aspects of the medical education program, independent of any Spark influence.

  • Financially Sound: Grant funds provided must be limited to a reasonable estimate of the cost of the grant-funded activities and outlined in a budget document at time of request.

  • Acceptable Grant Recipients: In general, educational Grants will be provided to accredited continuing medical education/continuing education (CME/CE) providers (national- or state-level accreditation), whose mission includes professional and public health education. Grants may not be awarded to individuals, including a physician, researcher or private physician practice.

  • Non-Accredited Independent Educational Activities: Educational activities without CME or other continuing education credits (e.g., grand rounds programs) will be considered for grant funding if they are independent and not brand specific. However, Spark will apply the same standards of independence and scientific rigor articulated in all related CME/CE standards and guidelines.

  • Therapeutic Alignment: Requests may be received for accredited or non-accredited IME. Proposal requests must be aligned with a Spark therapeutic area of interest.

  • Independence from Commercial Influence: Educational activities defined as “independent”, or the term “independence” as it relates to CME/CE activities, refers to all Educational Grants for which a Grant Recipient has full control of the content, faculty, venue, and logistics for the activities regardless of availability of CE/CME credit.

  • Grant Submission: Only grant requests submitted through the Spark IME Grant Portal will be considered for funding. We will no longer be accepting grant proposals via email.

Spark Therapeutics may provide grants for financial assistance for scholarships or other educational funds to permit medical students, residents, fellows and other healthcare professionals in training to attend major educational, scientific or policy-making conferences or meetings. The selection of individuals who will receive the funds must be made by the academic or training institution and not by Spark Therapeutics.


How to Apply

Grant requests must be submitted at least 60 days prior to the project/program start date. The following documents are required to submit your application:

  • W-9 Form / W-8BEN Form

  • Brochure (if applicable)

  • IRS Letter of Determination/501c3 (if applicable)

  • Complete Budget

  • Grant Proposal

  • Preliminary Marketing Materials (if available)

  • Supporting Document(s)

 

Funding Availability

Spark will consider funding requests in the following disease states:
 

  • Hemophilia A - For 2024, Spark has no further funding for Hemophilia A educational grant proposals at his time. Please check back for funding availability changes.

  • Ophthalmology (Inherited Retinal Diseases) - Spark has limited funding for educational grants in Ophthalmology. Currently, only grant submissions associated with an RFP are being considered.

  • Pompe Disease - For 2024, Spark has no further funding for Pompe educational grant proposals at this time. Please check back for funding availability changes.


 

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