Public Health Law Research: Making the Case for Laws That Improve Health, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, seeks to build the evidence for and strengthen the use of regulatory, legal, and policy solutions to improve public health. To help achieve this goal, PHLR is inviting applications from nonprofit research institutions for qualitative or quantitative research studies related to the development, implementation, mechanisms of action, or health effects of specific laws or regulations.

Studies should focus on the intersection of law and public health but may draw on a range of other disciplines, including medicine, economics, engineering, sociology, psychology, and public policy and administration. However, the primary focus of the study should be a law or policy and its influence on public health. Special consideration will be given to projects that incorporate innovative approaches such as experimental designs and simulations, the use of biological measures as outcome variables, mixed qualitative-quantitative studies, and/or the application of cutting-edge econometric and time-series models. Economic analysis as an evaluation component or as the main study design is also encouraged to demonstrate the fiscal case and demonstrate value for public health law.

Research teams that combine legal expertise with strong research design and statistical competence are particularly encouraged.

Grants will range up to $150,000 each for a period of up to eighteen months. Mapping studies  ̶  legal research that creates a multijurisdictional dataset of laws suitable for quantitative research  ̶  will also be considered, but budgets for these mapping projects should not exceed $50,000 or twelve months duration.

DEADLINE: APRIL 15, 2014

For more information please refer to the RFP: http://www.rwjf.org/en/grants/calls-for-proposals/2014/public-health-law-research–making-the-case-for-laws-that-improv.html?cid=XEM_A7899