Grant-o-thon: A Designathon-Informed Grant Writing Program to Enhance Research Grant Writing Skills in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Authors

• Yusha Tao, The University of North Carolina Project-China
• Gifty Marley, The University of North Carolina Project-China
• Lauren Fidelak, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Bin Yu, University of Chicago
• Yusuf Babatunde, The University of North Carolina Project-China
• Anita N. Walker, Nanjing Medical University
• Anthony A. Attama, University of Nigeria
• Andrea L. Conroy, Indiana University School of Medicine
• Esther K. Afolabi, Calvin University
• Dimitrios N. Vatakis, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
• Iheanyi Omezuruike Okonko, University of Port Harcourt
• Shyngle K. Balogun, University of Ibadan
• Hongyun Fu, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
• Xin Peng, Sun Yat-sen University
• Ijeoma M. Ifeorah, University of Nigeria
• Patience Kukundakwe, Saint Louis University
• Alexandra Cossio, Universidad Icesi
• Ifeoma M. Obionu, St. Louis University
• Ángela Patricia Beltrán López, Universidad El Bosque
• Matthew Idowu Olatubi, Bowen University, Iwo, Ogun State
• Ucheoma C. Nwaozuru, Wake Forest School of Medicine
• Yuanyi Chen, Sun Yat-sen University
• Huachun Zou, Fudan University
• Eneyi E. Kpokiri, London School of Hygiene and Topical Medicine
• Daniil Wu, Nanjing Medical University
• Oliver Ezechi, The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research
• Juliet Iwelunmor, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
• Meredith Labarda, Monash University, Australia
• Jason J. Ong, Monash University, Australia
• Weiming Tang, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Joseph D. Tucker, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

DOI

10.1093/acamed/wvag151

Publication Title

Academic Medicine

Volume

Advance online publication

Pages

23 pp.

Abstract

Problem

Early career researchers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face substantial barriers when writing research grants and have limited writing support. A designathon approach was applied to organize a grant writing workshop (grant-o-thon) tailored for early-career LMIC researchers. This study describes the planning, implementation, and participant-reported outcomes of the grant-o-thon as a participatory training approach.

Approach

Grant-o-thons were organized in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Consistent with the designathon model, the grant-o-thon was structured in three stages: preparation using co-creation with end-users, intensive collaborative teamwork supported by mentor feedback and weekly writing deliverables, and structured follow-up. Each grant-o-thon consisted of six weekly 90-minute online sessions focused on US NIH grant writing. Each session included a 30-minute didactic lecture open to all and a 60-minute small-group activity for participants who submitted specific aims. Small group participants were matched with coaches and assigned to groups based on research interests. Follow-up surveys assessed self-reported skills, mentorship experiences, and later grant-related activities. Survey data were analyzed descriptively, and open-ended responses were analyzed thematically.

Outcomes

A total of 221 participants attended the didactic lectures, and 32 joined the small group activities. Among 60 survey respondents, 51 (85%) were from LMICs. Participants in both formats reported higher self-assessed grant-writing competencies after the program. Many described peer mentorship as a valuable component of the experience. In 2025 follow-up data, small-group participants reported higher NIH grant submission rates than lecture-only participants (P = .0097).

Next steps

These findings suggest that this designathon-informed grant-writing program was feasible and acceptable for early-career LMIC researchers. Future iterations will focus on strengthening post-grant-o-thon mentorship and deepening partnerships with existing global health training programs. In light of limited grant-writing support, adaptation of this participatory model may be warranted.

Rights

© The Authors 2026.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License, which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints.

Data Availability

Article states: "Additional data can be accessed via the corresponding author upon reasonable request."

Original Publication Citation

Tao, Y., Marley, G., Fidelak, L., Yu, B., Babatunde, Y., Walker, A. N., Attama, A. A., Conroy, A. L., Afolabi, E. K., Vatakis, D. N., Okonko, I. O., Balogun, S. K., Fu, H., Peng, X., Ifeorah, I. M., Kukundakwe, P., Cossio, A., Obionu, I. M., Beltrán López Á, P.,…Tucker, J. D. (2026). Grant-o-thon: A designathon-informed grant writing program to enhance research grant writing skills in low- and middle-income countries. Academic Medicine. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/acamed/wvag151

Repository Citation

Tao, Y., Marley, G., Fidelak, L., Yu, B., Babatunde, Y., Walker, A. N., Attama, A. A., Conroy, A. L., Afolabi, E. K., Vatakis, D. N., Okonko, I. O., Balogun, S. K., Fu, H., Peng, X., Ifeorah, I. M., Kukundakwe, P., Cossio, A., Obionu, I. M., Beltrán López Á, P.,…Tucker, J. D. (2026). Grant-o-thon: A designathon-informed grant writing program to enhance research grant writing skills in low- and middle-income countries. Academic Medicine. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/acamed/wvag151