Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2003. That Christmas, we took Mattie to California to spend it with my parents. As you can see, Mattie and my dad were clapping along to music. It is hard to believe this photo was taken 17 years ago. So much has changed obviously with Mattie and now with my dad. Of course no picture is ever complete without pointing out the milk sippy cup! Linus (from Peanuts) had his blanket, Mattie had his sippy cup. It went every where with us, regardless of the time of day or weather.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- number of people diagnosed with the virus: 14,909,148
- number of people who died from the virus: 283,503
Mattie Miracle started its psychosocial research grant programs in 2018. To date, we have funded over $60,000 in research grants that support the implementation of the Psychosocial Standards of Care. I am happy to report that we will be awarding more grants in 2021.
During non-COVID times, we typically receive 20-30 research grant requests per year. This year, we received only 9 requests for funding. That is a big difference. We have discussed this significant decrease in applications with our research team. The overall consensus is it's not our grant program, but the nature of the climate right now. Professionals are working from home, trying to balance work, child, and family obligations. One researcher told me that the stay at home orders have enabled her to finish research projects, write them up, and publish results. In fact, several of our researchers, who are editors of research journals, have told me that the submission for publications to journals during COVID-19 is through the roof. However, the key factor that the team is telling me is that researchers can finish up projects that they started prior to lock downs, but that it is very hard to start new research projects right now. I feel very lucky to have this incredibly talented team of researchers to turn to, who not only review all research proposals that we receive, but who advise us on the state of the profession.
Within the last week, I have reviewed all the letters of intent (LOI is an opportunity to introduce your proposed project to a funder and to elicit feedback that hopefully leads to an invitation to submit a full proposal) that have come into us. I feel it is vital that I read these proposed studies for myself and then compare my thinking with the research team evaluating the LOIs. We don't always agree, but this year, we were spot on, as we are in agreement about which researchers should be contacted and invited to submit a full proposal based on their 400-word LOI. The LOIs are only 400 words and from my perspective it is hard to explain a study with such a limited word count. But overall, it does give us a snapshot and conveys whether we want to seek more information through a full blown proposal or not.
At times when I wonder was it worth it to get a PhD or not, I pause and think about my evaluation of research proposals. Would I be able to do this without my educational background? Maybe! Would I be taken seriously by our researchers, maybe not. I may be a parent advocate, but that wouldn't describe my entire skill set. I always felt that there are many ways to use a higher degree. Academia pigeon holes us and in a way limits our ability to think outside the box. I may not work at an institution of higher education, I may not be conducting research at a think tank, but I do use the skills and knowledge I learned to guide the mission and goals of Mattie's Foundation.
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