ScanGrants.com nominated for Willamette Innovative Business/Organization of the Year

I’m nominating ScanGrants for the Willamette Innovative Business/Organization of the Year. ScanGrants is a free online grants and scholarship database, run by Samaritan Health Services’ Center for Health Research & Quality.

Launched in 2008, ScanGrants is a public service listing of grants and other funding types to support health research, programs and scholarship. Designed to facilitate funding searches to enhance individual and community health, opportunities listed on ScanGrants may be of interest to virtually anyone associated with the health field – medical researchers, social workers, nurses, students, community-based health educators, academics and others.

Originally developed as a tool for Samaritan staff, it was quickly realized ScanGrants would be of great value to the wider biomedical community and general public, as very few free health care and clinical research focused grant and scholarship listing services exist. As of Oct.12, 2009, ScanGrants lists more than 930 current grants and scholarships opportunities in more than 400 health categories, covering topics such as molecular genetics, leukemia, heart disease and critical care nursing.

ScanGrants is innovative thinking and public service in the health sector at its best

Levels the playing field for organizations with limited resources
ScanGrants enables researchers in resource poor settings, such as small organizations and nonprofits, to find grants as easily as their counterparts at Ivy League schools.

Breaks down cost barriers for health science students
ScanGrants is committed to listing health sciences scholarships to aid students in funding searches, helping to break down the cost barrier preventing students from entering an industry that is critically low on labor.

Serves diverse audiences
ScanGrants serves diverse audiences ranging from high school students looking for nursing school scholarships to neurobiologists looking for millions of dollars in funding for cutting-edge neurological research.

Establishes our region as a significant player in the Medicine 2.0 and Health 2.0 movements
ScanGrants has put Samaritan Health Services in the forefront of the Medicine 2.0 and Health 2.0 movements, both of which aim to employ Web technologies to advance frontline patient care and advance scientific research. Established in just 2008, ScanGrants now sits side-by-side on library and research institution e-resource pages with powerhouse databases run by the federal government and scientific/technical elite such as Elsevier.

Leverages social networking tools
ScanGrants continues to leverage the latest Web 2.0 and social media tools enabling users to subscribe to ScanGrants via RSS or e-mail, share individual listings via e-mail, follow ScanGrants on Twitter, use various social bookmarking services to follow updated lists and more. Very few free funding listing services offer this range of connectivity through social media.

Brings health promotion and disease prevention program to our community
Numerous new research projects and grant-funded opportunities have been provided for patients in our community as a direct result of ScanGrants.

Provides disease advocacy groups opportunities to reach the masses
Grant and scholarship funders in such fields as kidney disease, cancer biology, multiple sclerosis and neuroscience are realizing they are able to reach a far greater pool of potential applicants for their programs via free listing on ScanGrants.

Spurs innovation through increased funding visibility
ScanGrants search engine results continue to spur innovation by raising awareness of clinical research opportunities available to scientists. Without funding, science cannot advance. ScanGrants connects scientists and health science technologists to funders, fostering cutting-edge research in our community and beyond.

Recognized both nationally and internationally as a premier funding tool

High traffic rate
ScanGrants is seeing a steady rate of adoption as an online resource worldwide. Google Analytics shows ScanGrants averages more than 12,000 hits per month originating from virtually every country in the world.

Adopted as an electronic resource by leading universities, libraries and medical centers
A growing number of medical centers and hospitals, universities, libraries and other entities have adopted ScanGrants as an electronic resource:

• Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Medical College of Georgia, Robert B. Greenblatt, M.D. Library
• Medical College of Wisconsin Libraries
• Michigan State University Libraries
• Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, Washington University in St. Louis
• Pratt Library, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
• Research Medical Library, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
• Stewart Library, Weber State University
• Tucker Medical Library, National Jewish Health
• Tufts University, Neuroscience Department
• University of Massachusetts Worcester Campus, Department of Psychiatry
• University of Missouri Libraries, J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library
• University of Southern California
• University of Washington, Office of Research Information Services
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries
• Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics

Reviews rave about ScanGrants and its services
In the Journal of the Medical Library Association Martha E. Hardy wrote, “ScanGrants stands up well to both paid and free online sites that list funding sources for the health sciences…relative to similar products, ScanGrants is an attractive site with good search functionality, excellent alerts functionality, and no associated subscription or licensing fees (a feature particularly attractive to smaller institutions that lack funding for subscription resources). ScanGrants is a welcome addition to the set of available online directories of funding opportunities for clinicians and researchers in the health sciences.”

Medical librarian blogger David Rothman wrote,“This is a great idea and a terrific, useful (and really good-looking) service for Samaritan Health Services to share with the world.”

KillerStartups.com said,“Scangrants is a public service listing of grants and other funding types that support health research, programs and scholarship. The site has a wide selection of currently available opportunities which are listed in chronological order. Sign up to receive email alerts or to their RSS feed to receive the latest health grants without having to visit the page. ”

Dr. James Phelps said, “Until the ScanGrants system was available, I would not have had the slightest idea how to begin a search for a grant. I could have burned up a lot of time trying to learn. Instead, I can make a preliminary inquiry simply by entering my field, Psychiatry, in the ScanGrants search engine. It gives a novice like me an entry point - a way to think about what is possible and where to look. Indeed, just seeing what is out there for the asking strengthens my inclination to pursue this kind of project.”

One of the attendees at Medicine 2.0 2009 blogged, “ScanGrants levels the playing field for marginalized users (smaller institutions, less well funded organizations, hospitals without limited library services) who may not have access to expensive grant search tools, to help them sort through relevant research funding opportunities.”

Showcased at national conferences and in professional publications

Publications
Leman, H. (2008). ScanGrants: A Case Study of the Creation of a Free Online Database of Current Grants, Scholarships, and Other Sources of Funding in the Health Sciences. Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries, 5(4), 313-324.

Leman, H. (2008). ScanGrants: A New Service for Libraries, A New Role for Librarians. Computers in Libraries, 28(8), 20-24.

Conference Presentations/Posters:
Leman, H. (2009). ScanGrants: Reaching out to researchers in the health sciences. Medicine 2.0: World Congress on Social Networking and Web 2.0 Applications in Medicine, Health, Health Care, and Biomedical Research, Toronto, Canada, September 17 – 18, 2009.

“ScanGrants: Reaching Out With RSS to Researchers in Rural Areas” Midcontinental Chapter of the Medical Library Association Annual Meeting Cody, WY October 3-7, 2008

“Web-Based Services to Support Health Research and Promotion” Oregon Public Health Association Annual Meeting Corvallis OR, October 7, 2008.

Vote for ScanGrants as Willamette Innovative Business/Organization of the Year
ScanGrants is rapidly becoming the go-to, trusted brand name in funding research searching in the health sciences on the Web. ScanGrants utilization, both nationwide and globally, should be a source of pride for area residents, as it continues to bolster the Willamette Valley’s image as a hub of pioneering activity in the area of Medicine 2.0.