FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

The Lillie and Donnelly
Seed Grant Program

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The Stanford Medicine Center for Improvement (SMCI) aims to cultivate a culture of continuous improvement across Stanford Medicine, with the goal of coming the best at getting better. SMCI seeks to improve the Value (safety, quality, patient experience, equity, efficiency, and cost) of health and health care, and we serve as the home for learning and knowledge generation for improvement science.

Through the Lillie and Donnelly Seed Grant Program, we aim to harness the expertise of faculty, trainees, and staff at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford (LPCHS) and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health (SMCH) to develop and implement innovative projects designed to improve our performance and the quality of health care we deliver to our patients and families.

Funding support will be focused specifically on projects designed to advance patient care through improvements in patient flow and access across the SMCH care continuum. This focus has been chosen by Program leadership to align improvement work with a larger improvement effort based within LPCHS named The Bridge. Launched in 2024, The Bridge was created using philanthropic funding to significantly improve patient flow through the health system and increase patient access across multiple patient care streams.

You can find important application information for the 2027 cycle in the dropdown list to the right. The First Round application deadline is November 2, 2026 at 11:59 PM.

  • The First Round deadline is November 2, 2026 at 11:59 PM

    Submit your brief Summary of Interest to smci_qi_grants@stanford.edu with the subject “FY27_Spring Cycle_LIllie and Donnelly Seed Grants” by the deadline to be considered.

    If you are invited submit a full application for the Second Round, you will receive notification in mid-December 2026.

    The Second Round deadline is February 16, 2027 at 11:59 PM

    Those invited to participate in the Second Round will receive updated application instructions upon invitation.

    Awardees will be notified in early-April 2027.

    Applications must be submitted by the deadline to be considered. Late submissions will not be accepted, so please plan accordingly.

  • Email a PDF copy of your Statement of Interest to smci_qi_grants@stanford.edu with “FY27_Spring Cycle_Lillie and Donnelly Seed Grants” in the subject line.

    Those invited to submit a full application in the Second Round will receive updated application instructions upon invitation.

  • Find the details on the FY2027 Request for Proposals by clicking here.

  • Find the criteria used to review your application here.

  • First Round

    Statement of Interest Template: click here to download

    Second Round

    Full Grant Application Cover Page: click here to download

    Full Grant Application Requirements and Policy: click here to download

    Full Grant Application Checklist: click here to download

    Budget Worksheet Templates:

For questions, please use the form here to reach out to our team. You can also reach out to Kim Stern directly.

Questions? Contact us.

RECIPIENTS

FY25 Awardees

Clinical Professor, Pediatrics (Pulmonary Medicine)

Sumit Bhargava, MD

PROJECT TITLE

Fast-Tracking Pediatric Sleep Care: Streamlining Access and Enhancing Treatment through Innovative Analytics

Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics (Hospital Medicine)

Kim Hoang, MD

PROJECT TITLE

Maximizing Packard at El Camino to Minimize Diverts and Redirects at LPCH

Meghna Patel, MD

Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics (Cardiology)

PROJECT TITLE

Enhancing Access to Pediatric Cardiac Surgery through Optimizing Flow and Reducing Length of Stay at the Betty Irene Moore Heart Center

Rebecca Kameny, MD

Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics (Cardiology)

FY24 Awardees

Clinical Fellow, Pediatrics (Gastroenterology)

Katie Czepiel, MD

PROJECT TITLE

Improving Access to Pediatric Living Donor Liver Transplantation

Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics (Cardiology)

Alice Ramirez, MD

PROJECT TITLE

Presence 5 for Racial Justice-Pediatrics: Educating a novel curriculum to disseminate anti-racism practices for improvement in pediatric care

Karthik Balakrishnan, MD, MPH, FAAP, FACS

Associate Professor, Otolaryngology (Head & Neck Surgery and, by courtesy, of Pediatrics

PROJECT TITLE

EMBRACES (Empowering Bidirectional Regional Academic-Community Engagement in Surgery) Pilot Program

Daniel Tawfik, MD, MS

Clinical Professor, Pediatrics (Neonatal and Developmental Medicine)

PROJECT TITLE

Implementing an Algorithmic Approach to Reduce Prescribing Errors

Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

Matthew Muffly, MS, MD

PROJECT TITLE

Reducing the Burden of Wheel Obstructions in the OR

FY23 Awardees

Professor Emerita, Pediatrics (Rheumatology)

Christy Sandborg, MD

PROJECT TITLE

Advanced Inclusive Communication Training

Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics (General Pediatrics)

Baraka Floyd, MD

PROJECT TITLE

Presence 5 for Racial Justice-Pediatrics: Educating a novel curriculum to disseminate anti-racism practices for improvement in pediatric care

Jonathan Shaw, MD, MS

Clinical Associate Professor, Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health) & Clinical Associate Professor, by courtesy Obstetrics & Gynecology

PROJECT TITLE

Partnered Needs Assessment to understand current patterns of perinatal LPCH to San Mateo County WIC referrals to inform future improvement

Lisa Bain, MD

Clinical Professor, Pediatrics (Neonatal and Developmental Medicine)

PROJECT TITLE

Implementation of the POKE Score Tool to reduce unnecessary painful procedures in the NICU

Clinical Assistant Professor, Urology

Kathleen Kan, MD

PROJECT TITLE

Increasing Access to Bladder Bootcamp health education for Spanish-speaking families