Funding Opportunities
Visionary Grants
The APF Visionary Grants seek to seed innovation through supporting research, education and intervention projects and programs that use psychology to solve social problems in a number of priority areas.
The APF Visionary Grants seek to seed innovation through supporting research, education and intervention projects and programs that use psychology to solve social problems in the following priority areas:
- applying psychology to at-risk, vulnerable populations (e.g., serious mental illness, returning military, those who are incarcerated or economically disadvantaged);
- preventing violence;
- understanding the connection between behavior and health (e.g. wellness, diabetes, obesity);
- understanding and eliminating stigma and prejudice (e.g., race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, and socioeconomic status);
- furthering racial equity: APA has requested funds from their fund at the Tides Foundation to fund a 2024 Visionary Grant that is focused on furthering racial equity.
Preference will be given to pilot projects that, if successful, would be strong candidates for support from major federal and foundation funding agencies, and “demonstration projects” that promise to generalize broadly to similar settings in other geographical areas and/or to other settings.
Eligibility
APF encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds with respect to age, race, color, religion, creed, nationality, ability, sexual orientation, gender, and geography.
Applicants must:
- be a graduate student or early career researcher (no more than 10 years postdoctoral)
- be affiliated with an educational or scientific institution, a nonprofit charitable, organization, or a governmental entity operating exclusively for charitable and educational purposes
- have demonstrated competence and capacity to execute the proposed work
Application Instructions
Application Materials:
- project proposal
- project timeline
- detailed budget and justification
- CV
- organization IRS determination letter (if affiliated with a nonprofit)
Evaluation Criteria
Applications will be evaluated on:
- innovative and potential impact qualities (introduction of proven interventions in a similar setting, minor extensions of established theory or work that has little chance of replication or use beyond the proposed setting do not qualify as innovative or impactful)
- quality, viability, and promise of proposed work
- criticality of proposed funding for proposed work (mere contributions to larger funded efforts, or “add-ons” that could/should be carried out under that funding are discouraged)
- clear and comprehensive methodology
Please be advised that APF does not provide feedback to applicants on their proposals.
Please review our Program FAQs for important details on the application process.
Recent Recipient
Seanna Leath
Washington University in St. Louis
“Black Children’s Joy and Educational Justice: A Portraiture Study on Classroom Implementation and Effectiveness of a School District’s Strategic Plan around Anti-Racism and Wellbeing”
Past Recipients
2023
Erica Szkody, PhD, Stony Brook University
“Promoting Healthy Relationships in Rural Adolescents Experiencing Depression: Co-Designing and Evaluating an Online Single-Session Intervention”
Maegan Paxton Willing, PhD, The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc.
“Feasibility and acceptability of ecological momentary assessments to understand sleep effects in veterans with suicide ideation: A pilot study”
Thania Galvan, PhD, University of Georgia
“Examining a Biopsychosocial Model of Suicidality in Latina Adolescents”
Mark Wade, PhD, University of Toronto
“The Long and Wide Shadow of COVID-19: Testing Mechanisms of Stress Exposure on Preschool Children’s Emotional and Cognitive Development”
Rosanna Breaux, PhD, Virginia Tech University
“Piloting a Parenting Mobile App to Reduce Treatment Time for Families in Virginia”
Seanna Leath, Washington University in St. Louis
“Black Children’s Joy and Educational Justice: A Portraiture Study on Classroom Implementation and Effectiveness of a School District’s Strategic Plan around Anti-Racism and Wellbeing”
Selime Salim, Medical University of South Carolina
“Web-based Screening and Brief Intervention Tool (SBIT) for Alcohol Use following Sexual Assault: Adaptation for Sexual Minority Women and Gender Diverse Adults”
Miriam Isserow Memorial Visionary Grant for Violence Prevention:
Meredith Blackwell, University of New Mexico
“A Novel Measurement of Sexual Violence among Refugee and Forcibly Displaced Women Resettled in the United States”
2022
Mariann Howland, Regents of the University of Minnesota
“A Dimensional Approach to Perinatal Mania and Psychosis”
Desiree Jones, The University of Texas at Dallas
“Examining the Relationship between Stigma, Victimization, Exclusionary Attitudes, and Poor Mental Health Experiences in Black and White Autistic Adults”
Amy C. Moors, PhD, Chapman University
“Fostering Ally Development to Reduce Microaggressions among College Students”
Eleanor Battison, Oregon Health & Science University
“Post-Surgical Pain-Related Outcomes Among Ethnically Diverse Emerging Adults”
Amie Zarling, PhD, Iowa State University Foundation
“Feasibility and Initial Effectiveness of a Novel Community-Based Relationship Violence Intervention Program for Men of Color—A Culturally-Responsive Approach”
C. Aubrey Rhodes, Arizona State University
“The New Beginnings Podcast: A Small-scale Randomized Controlled Trial of a Parenting Podcast to Improve Outcomes for Children from Divorced Families”
Kajung Hong, SDSU/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology
“Examining Associations Among Child Maltreatment Histories, Physiology Patterns to Parental Stress, and Parenting Behaviors”
Hannah L. Schacter, PhD, Wayne State University
“Improving Health Outcomes among Adolescents with Asthma: Examining the Real-Time Effects of Peer Support”
Jarrett T. Lewis, PhD, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
“Utilizing a Trauma Lens to Reconceptualize Violence Perpetuation & Exposure Among Black Male High School Students: A Needs Assessment & Pilot Intervention”
Jeremy Stewart, PhD, Queen’s University
“Unpacking the Prospective Relation between Self-injury and Suicide Capability in Adolescents”
Prachi Bhuptani, PhD, Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University
“Understanding the Context of Shame in Opioid Use Disorder and Sexual Violence”
2021
Abigail Folberg, PhD, University of Kentucky
“Examining How Prejudice Confrontation Diffuses Through Social Networks”
Irene Tung, PhD, University of Pittsburgh
“Levering Mobile Health Technology to Monitor Daily Emotional Health and Stress Physiology During Pregnancy”
Robert Vargas, Carnegie Mellon University
“Using fMRI-measured Attitudes and Actions to Predict Biased Decisions to Punish among White and Chinese Americans”
Teresa Nguyen, PhD, Sonoma State University
“Socioeconomic Status, Racial Discrimination, and the Well-being of Low-Income, Latinx Families”
Yan Yuan, PhD, University of Pittsburgh
“Intimate Partner Violence Amongst Asian Immigrant Women: Feasibility and Efficacy of an Integrative Psychosocial Program (IPP)—A Transdiagnostic and Culturally-competent Approach”
Kate Turetsky, PhD, Barnard College, Columbia University
“Understanding and Ending Racial Bias in Early Education Assessment”
Amanda McCleery, PhD, Kyle Minor, PhD, Katy Thakkar, PhD
“Promoting Resilience and Well-Being in a Psychosis-Prone Population: Identifying Protective Factors in Daily Life”
Sarah Gillespie, University of Minnesota
“Ending Racism and Promoting Student Thriving in Diverse Schools: Exploring the Causal Effect of Ethnic Studies Education through a Natural Experiment”
Megan Miller, PhD, Indiana University
“Investigating how institutional and provider racism contribute to pain treatment disparities in adults with sickle cell disease”
Shelby Scott, PhD, University of Texas at San Antonio
“Intimate Partner Violence in Transgender Romantic Relationships: A Dyadic, Longitudinal Investigation of Actor-Partner Associated Risk Factors”
Alexander Burgoyne, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology
“Reducing Adverse Impact and Improving Personnel Selection Using Tests of Attention Control”
Brenden Tervo-Clemmens, Massachusetts General Hospital
“Real-Time Assessment of Substance Use Risk: Identifying how Daily Fluctuations in Impulsivity Predict Same Day Cannabis Use in Adolescents”
Arianna Gard, PhD, Collin Mueller, PhD, Fanita Tyrell, PhD
“Ethical Representation in Biosocial Research: Laying the Groundwork for the Representation And Research Ethics (RARE) Registry at UMD”
Sarah Hope Lincoln, PhD, Case Western Reserve University
“Social Isolation and Suicide Behavior in First Episode Psychosis”
2020
Erika Fountain, PhD, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
“Mapping Juvenile Justice: Examining How Structural Barriers Impact Youth Engagement with Juvenile Probation Services”
Maurin Kautz and Daniel Moriarity, Temple University
“Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in late Adolescents Following Childhood Maltreatment are Mediated by Enhanced Acute Stress-Responsivity”
Lauren Luther, PhD, University of Georgia
“Neural predictors and changes related to an mHealth intervention in psychosis”
Jasmine Mote, PhD, Tufts University and Daniel Fulford, PhD, Boston University
“Cardiovascular regulation through social contact: Examining the impact of loneliness on heart rate variability in schizophrenia”
Cixin Wang, PhD, University of Maryland, College Park
“Examining the Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Novel Psychosocial Intervention for Asian American Parents and Youth”
2019
Ashley Batastini, PhD, University of Southern Mississippi
“Reaching the Restricted: Examining the Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Novel Psychosocial Intervention for Female Inmates in Administrative Segregation”
Erika Esposito, University of Rochester
“Suicide Risk Among Transgender Youth: A Multimethod, Multi-informant Examination of Gender Identity”
Luz Garcini, PhD, Rice University
“How Does Contextual Stress Get Under the Skin of Young Undocumented Immigrants?: Identifying Mechanisms of Risk and Resilience”
Susan Murray and Naoise Mac Giollabhui, Temple University
“Examining the Roles of Socioeconomic Status and Relevant Health Correlates (Body Mass Index, Diet Quality, and Inflammation) for Neuropsychological Function in Young Adults”
Melek Yildiz Spinel, University of South Carolina
“Gender Role Discrepancy, Relationship Satisfaction, and Intimate Partner Violence Risk for Latina Women”
Jonathan Stange, University of Illinois at Chicago
“Regulation in the Real World: Real-Time Assessment of Suicide Risk in Context”
Alejandro Vazquez, Utah State University
“Mental health service preferences among Latinx caregivers: A step towards culturally congruent intervention formats for children and adolescents”
Ha (Milkie) Vu, Emory University
“An Examination Of Multilevel Factors Influencing Vietnamese-American Parents’ HPV Vaccine Uptake For Their Adolescent Children”
Kerrie Wilkins-Yel, PhD, Indiana University
“Centering Those at The Margins: Understanding Counterspaces as an Avenue to Advance STEM Persistence Among Women of Color”
2018
Heather Derry, PhD, Weill Medical College of Cornell University
“Biopsychosocial pathways in aging with HIV: Investigating links between depression, stigma, inflammation, and health risks”
Anjali Dutt, PhD, University of Cincinnati
“Beyond refuge: Promoting psychological well-being and community support among refugees”
Brian Feinstein, PhD, Northwestern University
“Combating the invisibility of bisexuality: Attempts to gain visibility and their influences on bisexual individuals’ mental health”
Ashley Howell, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina
“Fear regulation, executive functioning, and child trauma exposure: A prospective study on psychological risk and resilience in youth”
Joshua Jackson, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis
“Personalized interventions: Using idiographic personality networks to change health behavior”
Emily Kan, University of California, Irvine
“How does avoiding justice system involvement relate to developmental outcomes in young adulthood?”
Jennifer Saddler, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
“Understanding obesity through brain responses to positive and negative food reinforcement”
April Thomas, PhD, University of Texas at El Paso
“Does incarceration hinder adolescents’ development of social competence?”
2017
Blake Allan, PhD, Purdue University
“Underemployment and Mental Health: A Longitudinal Study”
Meagan Brem, University of Tennessee
“Extending a Conceptual Model of Alcohol-Related Violence to Cyber Dating Violence using a Daily Diary Design with College Students”
Casey Gardiner, University of Colorado Boulder
“Optimizing Incentive Interventions for Diet and Physical Activity: Roles of Cognition, Motivation and Weight Status.”
A. Zarina Kraal, University of Michigan
“Psychosocial and physiological mechanisms of cognitive pefromance in Type 2 diabetes mellitus.”
Jennifer Silvers, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
“Neuroinflammatory markers of early stress during adolescence”
Amanda Sisselman-Borgia, PhD and Mia Budescu, PhD, CUNY Lehman College; Gina Torina, PhD, SUNY Empire State College
“Understanding Microaggressions in Homeless Youth Through the Experiences of Youth and Service Providers”
Amanda Van Scoyoc, PhD and Amanda Lowell, PhD, Yale University
“Understanding Stigma Surrounding Pregnant Women with Substance Use Disorders”
Rachel Wu, PhD, University of California, Riverside
“Inducing Cognitive Development in Aging Adults”
2016
Ana Julia Bridges, PhD, University of Arkansas
“Group Treatment with Incarcerated Female Sexual Assault Victims: Is Exposure Critical to Successful Outcomes?”
Frances Chen, PhD, University of British Columbia
“The Scent of a Good Night’s Sleep”
Stephen Chen, PhD, Wellesley College
“Grandparent Caregiving Practices and Obesity in Chinese Immigrant Children”
Andrea Glenn, PhD, University of Alabama
“Effects of a Positive Psychology Based Intervention on Brain Functioning in Adolescents at Risk for Violence”
Evan Kleiman, PhD, Harvard University
“A pilot study of a smartphone-based intervention for suicidal inpatients”
Natasha Schvey, PhD, Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
“Stigma, Health, and Psychosocial Functioning among Transgender Actice Duty Service Members”
Lindsay Sheehan, PhD, Illiniois Institute of Technology
“Developing a Strategic Disclosure Program for Suicide Attempt Survivors”
Anna Van Meter, PhD, Yeshiva University
“Harnessing the Circadian Rhythm: Identification and Intervention Prior to the Onset of Mood Disorder”
Joel Wong, PhD, Indiana University
“A Sexual Assault Preventative Intervention for Male College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial Based on the Self-Persuasion Paradigm”
2015
Sachiko Donley, University of California, Irvine
“You’re Stressing Me Out: Adolescent Stress Response to Evaluation from Same-Aged Peers and its Effect of Risky Decision-Making”
Jessica Lambert, PhD, California State University, Stanislaus, and Alyssa Banford, Alliant International University
“Toward understanding the needs of widowed women after mass trauma: War and disaster in Sri Lanka”
Rebecca Mohr, Columbia University
“An Exploration of the Behavioral and Physiological Consequences of Intersectional Invisibility Discrimination”
Lindsay Nagamatsu, PhD, University of Western Ontario
“Uncovering Neural Signatures of Fall Risk in Older Adults”
Cynthia Najdowski, PhD, University of Albany
“Effects of Race and Socioeconomics Status on Medical Misdiagnosis of Child Abuse”
Ryan Shorey, PhD, Ohio University
“Examining the Efficacy of Three Interventions for Sexual Assault: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial”
Erin Tully, PhD, Georgia State University
“The Neurobiology of Sharing Others’ Happiness: A Clue to Understanding Children’s Aggression?”
Jay Van Bavel, PhD, New York University
“The Role of Distance and Speed Perception in Police Shooting Decisions: From Exploration to Intervention”
Monnica Williams, PhD, University of Louisville
“Reducing Microaggressions and Promoting Racial Harmony”
2014
Dara Babinski, PhD, Penn State
“A novel social skills intervention for adolescent girls with ADHD”
Naama de la Fontaine, PhD, Yale
“Police Response to Children Expose to Violence: The Impact of Specialized Training on The Current State of Practice”
Arpana Gupta, PhD, UCLA
“Mind Altering Microorganisms: Sex and Race Difference in the Influence of Gut Microbiota on Brain Structures in Obese Healthy Control Subjects”
Ryan Hill, Florida International University
“Pilot Trial of a Web-Based Program to Reduce Perceived Burdensomeness in Adolescents
Anne Krendl, PhD, Indiana University
“The current proposal uses a neuroscience approach to identify how stigmas about mental illness affect attitudes towards mental health treatment, and how they can be reduced.”
Casey LaDuke, Drexel
“A prospective incremental validity study in an incarcerated sample”
Scott Ross, PhD, Utah State University
“Stand for Courage: Preventing bullying and suicide in high schools using positive recognition of stand-up behavior”
Laura Taylor, PhD, UNC Greensboro
“Daily Stressors and Positive Development among Immigrant and Refugee Youth”
2013
Nadav Antebi, Columbia University
“From Minority Stress to Minority Growth: Stigmatized Identity and the Development of Positive Attributes and Growth in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Populations”
Laura Kati Corlew, PhD, East-West Center
“Relating the Psychological Recovery from Recent Disasters to Climate Change Risk Perception and Preparedness in Hawai’i and American Samoa”
Farrah Jacquez, PhD, University of Cincinnati
“Physical and Mental Aspects of Stress and Resilience in Vulnerable Youth”
Bernhard Leidner, PhD, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
“From the Laboratory to Field-Experimental Interventions: Understanding and Improving the Justice Discourse in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Resolution”
Timothy Nelson, PhD, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
To understand the relationship between sleep and psychopathology in youth with significant mental health problems
Kymberlee O’Brien, PhD, University of Massachusetts, Boston
“Transmission of Discrimination-Related Stress Reactivity and Reduction from Mother to Infant”
Jodi Quas, PhD, University of California, Irvine
“Empathy and Altruism: Missing Pieces in the Peace Building Process”
2012
E. Scott Geller, PhD, Virginia Tech University
Tamara L. Newton, PhD, University of Louisville
David Vogel, PhD, Iowa State University
Rezarta Bilali, PhD, University of Massachusetts-Boston
2011
Thao N. Le, PhD, Colorado State University
Johanna Ray Vollhardt, PhD, Clark University
Lisa Kiang, PhD, Wake Forest University
E. Mark Cummings, PhD, University of Notre Dame
Rachel Barr, PhD, Georgetown University
2010
Sarah Enos Watamura, PhD, University of Denver
2009
Alisha Ali, PhD, New York University
2008
Judith E. Carroll, University of Pittsburgh
Lenny R. Vartanian, PhD, Syracuse University
Shari Elizabeth Miles-Cohen, PhD, Women’s Programs Office, American Psychological Association
Michelle Billies, Graduate Center of the City University of New York
Joni T. Howard, Washington State University
2007
Population Media Center
S. D. Shantinath, PhD, Woman to Woman International
Melissa I. Gebbia, PhD, Molloy College
2006
Beatrice Beebe, PhD, New York State Psychiatric Institute
BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, PhD, LP, National Multicultural Conference and Summit
Douglas C. Kimmel, PhD, AIZHIXING Institute of Health Education
2005
Laurie Young, PhD, Older Women’s League
2004
Population and Development International
Advanced Research and Training Seminars (ARTS)
2003
Middle East and North Africa Regional Conference of Psychology, Science Directorate, American Psychological Association
Sam Walton, We Care Media Arts, Inc.