Maternal Smoking Cessation Initiative

Purpose: Supports research dedicated to developing, implementing, and evaluating culturally-tailored commercial tobacco cessation interventions specifically designed to improve health outcomes for pregnant individuals residing in communities disproportionately impacted by tobacco-related illness and adverse maternal outcomes, particularly those characterized by high rates of poverty, limited healthcare access, and persistent exposure to structural determinants of health inequity.

**The MSCI Award mechanisms have a separate Call for Applications, which must be read and adhered to by applicants.**

Partnered Maternal Cessation Award (Partnered-MSCI) Overview:  

• Maximum award amount per year: $500,000 per year (Direct Costs)  
  • Community Co-PI budget max: $250,000 per year 
  • Academic Co-PI budget max: $250,000 per year 
• Maximum Award Duration: 2 years 
• Allowable direct costs: Salaries, trainee/internship costs, fringe benefits, supplies, participant incentives, subcontracts*, equipment (costing more than $5,000), travel, publishing costs and other dissemination activities. 
• Travel:  
  • Project-related travel: As needed in each Co-PI budget (must be fully justified) 
  • Travel to TRDRP conference (Mandatory): $750 for the Community Co-PI; $750 for the Academic Co-PI 
  • Scientific conference travel: maximum of $2,000 per year for the Community Co-PI; maximum of $2,000 per year for the Academic Co-PI 
• Indirect costs: Full indirect costs are allowed to non-UC institutions. Indirect costs to UC campuses are capped at 35 percent, or 25 percent for projects conducted off-campus.  

Partnered MSCI award requirements: The nuanced requirements for the Partnered MSCI Award mechanism and expectations for Community and Academic Co-PIs are described in detail in the standalone MSCI RFA.

Single Investigator Maternal Cessation Award (Single Investigator-MSCI) Overview:   

• Maximum award amount per year: $250,000 (direct costs) 
• Maximum duration: 2 years  
• Allowable direct costs: Salaries, fringe benefits, supplies, publishing, sub-contracts*, equipment (costing more than $5,000), and travel. 
• Travel:   
  • Project-related travel: As needed (must be fully justified)  
  • Travel to TRDRP conference: $750 (mandatory)  
  • Scientific conference travel: Up to $2,000 per year (excluding a mandatory allocation of $750 in one year of the project for travel to the TRDRP conference)  
• Indirect costs: Full indirect costs are allowed to non-UC institutions. Indirect costs to UC campuses are capped at 35 percent, or 25 percent for projects conducted off-campus.

Single Investigator MSCI award requirements:

• Applicants must have a PI-status at the sponsoring institution
• Awardees are required to commit at least 10 percent of their effort each year to activities supported by this award
• U.S. citizenship is not a requirement

Rreview criteria: Detailed review criteria are described in the MSCI Call for Applications.

For more details, please read the Maternal Smoking Cessation Initiative Call for Applications. It will be posted on Thursday, July 3, 2025.