Grants Program

Money OUT. Disbursements from MISHA Foundation to external researchers. Distinct from Fundraising (which covers money IN).

Mandate

• Disburse seed grants to research labs working on rare sensorineural hearing genetics
• Default scope: STRC / DFNB16, with discretion to fund adjacent loci (OTOF, MYO15A, USH-class genes) when strategically aligned
• Per 7-foundation playbook: small seed grants ($25k-250k) that unlock larger NIH/CZI/HMRF funding for the partner lab
• Open call AND directed grants — both modes, but Year 1-2 mostly directed (Holt + Shu pipeline)

First grant target

• Holt Lab (Boston Children’s / Harvard) — STRC mouse model + AAV vector optimization
• Amount: TBD ($50k-150k expected range, Year 1)
• Trigger: incorporation complete + first $250k+ patron gift secured

Grant lifecycle

1. Concept conversation with PI
2. 3-5 page proposal from PI
3. SAB review (Holt + others)
4. Board approval recorded as FDR (every grant ≥$25k)
5. Grant agreement signed (documents/templates/grant-agreement.md)
6. Disbursement logged (finance/{YYYY}-Q{N}-disbursements.md, _private: true)
7. Quarterly progress reports from PI
8. Public summary on wiki (with PI consent)

Key documents

• documents/templates/grant-application-master.md
• documents/templates/grant-agreement.md
• documents/templates/grant-progress-report.md

Year 1 KRs

• KR1: First grant disbursed (Day 180)
• KR2: Grants pipeline populated with 3-5 candidates (Month 9)

Connections

• [part-of] Programs
• [applies] index
• [contrast] Fundraising (income side, not outflow)
• [see-also] Jeffrey Holt