People Behind the Science: How Grants Administration Helps Fund Wistar Science

Jess Blodgett, vice president of Research & Administrative Services, discusses the role that her team plays in helping to fund Wistar Science.

What is the origin of Wistar’s Grants Administration Department?

The department was created in 2013. At the time, the goal was to build a more robust administrative support structure for faculty, with a focus on pre-award grants administration.

Over time, that role evolved. Pre-award work—everything that happens before a grant is issued—naturally expanded into full grants administration, both pre- and post-award. That was 13 years ago, which is hard to believe.

Talk about the support you offer.

I’ll walk you through the life cycle of a grant—from application to closeout—and explain what we do at each stage. First, a bit about the team structure.

My department includes me and four grant specialists: Lourdes, Sylvie, William, and Kit. Each supports a portfolio of principal investigators (PIs). These assignments don’t often change, because faculty build strong working relationships with their assigned specialists. We also have an administrative coordinator, Jonathan, who supports faculty with non-grant related administrative needs, namely the scientific seminar series and other program-specific meetings that bring the scientists together to share their ongoing projects and progress in the field.

We work very closely with the Finance department. Our department handles the non-financial aspects of grants administration, while Finance manages budgeting and grant accounting. Unlike many institutions that split work strictly into pre- and post-award offices, my team and Finance work together from the start to finish of the award life cycle. That continuity is a real strength. We operate very much as a single unit with the goal of providing the best support possible to the PIs and ensuring successful management of the funding coming into the Institute.

How do you find and match grant opportunities?

For federal funding, many opportunities come through parent announcements—which are standard funding opportunities that are posted by the NIH and other federal sponsors on a regular basis and typically don’t change very much. More unique opportunities are distributed through listservs that I monitor. I filter and share what’s relevant with faculty.

Regarding foundation grants, we work closely with the Development office and convene a nominations committee for limited submissions. The committee reviews eligibility, career stage, funding needs, scientific fit, and past success with each funder. Sometimes we run internal competitions to identify nominees. The goal is always to position both the PI and Wistar for success.

How does your department support grant applications?

Once a PI decides to apply, they notify my team and Finance. Each PI has two main contacts—one in my group and one in Finance—who support them throughout the entire grant lifecycle. The Development department is also closely involved with foundation applications.

We’re very hands-on in helping build strong applications. That includes providing templates, checklists, and walking faculty through sponsor requirements, which vary widely. We also proofread applications—something not all institutions provide. We even work with a scientific editor who helps PIs strengthen the scientific narrative. Every grant we submit represents not just the PI, but Wistar as an institution, so we are committed to putting out the best possible product with every application going out the door.

What type of grants volume are you dealing with and what is the post-award work that you do?

We submit hundreds of proposals each year. Once a grant is submitted, we wait—sometimes a long time-for the outcome. Federal awards are generally a one-year period from application submission to receipt of score and ultimately, and hopefully, receipt of an award. Other sponsors vary.

Once funded, we move into post-award work, which mainly consists of submitting post-award reports and maintaining compliance with other sponsor requirements. Wistar implemented a grants management application, Info Ed, in 2018 which is instrumental in assisting us with tracking all of this. It is also the system we use for pre-award grants management —it’s our operational backbon

What is the funding strategy for Wistar PIs?

Faculty are constantly writing grants to maintain funding. Even well-funded investigators must plan for new grants and renewals years in advance to ensure continuity. It’s a continuous cycle.

What is the value of administrative support?

The idea that administrative support diverts money from science is a misconception. Scientists cannot operate productive labs without this infrastructure. Research isn’t just a person in a lab—it’s compliance, finance, grants administration, communications, operations, HR, IT – without these support systems, science simply doesn’t function.At Wistar, we benefit from being small enough that we’re not siloed. All these administrative teams collaborate very closely with each other and with the PIs. It’s a cross-functional model that I think that has contributed greatly to the success of Wistar.

Right now, we’re in a growth period – from about 30 labs a few years ago to 43 now, so very exciting times.