Puerto Rico Hurricane Damage

The U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are subject to multiple natural hazards. These events result in disastrous impacts for island communities and new approaches to disaster science—such as applied and translation research—are urgently needed. Strengthening community resilience is particularly important to enhance the health and well-being of diverse communities and reduce the negative impacts of disaster.

With this in mind, the Natural Hazards Center—with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Science Foundation—is issuing a special call for proposals focused on conducting interdisciplinary studies designed to strengthen individual and community resilience in U.S. territories.

Proposals can focus on one specific territory or offer comparisons across territories and other regions. Between 10 to 15 awards in the amount of $25,000 to $50,000 each will be funded. Successful applicants will clearly define implications for public health practice and policy in the context of community resilience.

We invite proposals that focus on developing evidence-based practices to support one or more of the following focus areas:

1. Public Health Workforce Management

  • Workforce Resilience
  • Staffing and Expertise

2. Multi-Sector Preparedness Partnerships and Coalitions

  • Cross-Sector Engagement and Collaboration
  • Network Structures/Partnership Models
  • Public Health Trust
  • Roles and Responsibilities

3. Engaging Community-Based Partners to Improve Outcomes for At-Risk Populations

  • Community Preparedness
  • Community Recovery
  • Information Sharing

Proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. MDT on September 30, 2021. All proposals will be evaluated after the submission deadline. Award announcements will be made no later than October 27, 2021. Final reports are due April 1, 2022, and all other research activities and project deliverables, such as dissemination activities, should be completed no later than August 5, 2022.

Before submitting a proposal, please read the special call in its entirety. It includes additional information about pre-award requirements, how to submit a proposal, post-award deadlines and deliverables, and how the funding will be issued.

Questions can be directed to haz.research.awards@colorado.edu.


The Public Health Disaster Research Award Program is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Award #1635593), through supplemental funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF, CDC, or the Natural Hazards Center.