Accelerating clinical trial implementation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: challenges, lessons learned and recommendations from DisCoVeRy and the EU-SolidAct EU response group

Summary: Seed grant programs are efficient mechanisms for universities to invest in high-risk ideas, encourage collaborative research, and support early-career faculty. When deployed effectively, they can lead to a strong return on investment for institutions and grantees, including scientific achievements, extramural grants, in-kind support, publications, presentations, and intellectual property. John Hopkins University's Catalyst Awards and Discovery Awards have provided valuable experience in managing centralized and internally funded seed grants, with significant progress seen in research response programs such as the JHU COVID-19 Research Response Program.