Aiming for Excellence at the Wallace Foundation

Describes Wallace's efforts to improve its communication and interactions with grantees in response to a Grantee Perception Report, the resulting progress in subsequent reports, and the challenges of interpreting and applying comparative assessment data

Lessons from the Field: Striving for Transformative Change at the Stuart Foundation

The Stuart Foundation's Child Welfare Program provides a compelling example of what can be accomplished by a foundation that has clear goals, coherent, well-implemented strategies, and relevant performance indicators. This case study describes how Stuart implements its strategy to achieve its goal to improve life outcomes for foster youth

Lessons From the Field: Becoming Strategic: The Evolution of the Flinn Foundation

Describes the foundation's process of becoming strategically focused -- setting goals, defining metrics, implementing and communicating changes, partnering for greater impact, and measuring progress -- and the challenges and criticisms it faced

Lessons From the Field: Aiming for Excellence At the Wallace Foundation

Discusses the Wallace Foundation's efforts to improve its communications and interactions with grantees in response to results from its Grantee Perception Reports

Aligning for Impact: A Report on a Gathering of Foundation CEOs, Trustees, and Senior Executives

Summarizes discussions from a March 2009 conference on foundation performance assessments, elements of effectiveness, accountability and transparency, the impact of social media, aligning for impact at a time of reduced resources, and other issues

More Than Money: Making a Difference With Assistance Beyond the Grant

Examines foundation efforts beyond grantmaking such as training, advocacy, and new investment strategies to increase grantee effectiveness and impact. Assesses the benefits of such help, grantees' views, and implications. Includes case studies

Lessons from the Field: From Understanding to Impact

Three foundations -- the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, the Energy Foundation, and the Wilburforce Foundation -- seek to make an impact on some of the most complicated challenges we face: civil rights, renewable energy sources, and wildlife protection. This case study provides an in-depth look at how these foundations cultivate an understanding of their fields and then turn that understanding into more effective grantmaking

Effect of 4 years of growth hormone therapy in children with Noonan syndrome in the American Norditropin Studies: Web-Enabled Research (ANSWER) Program® registry.

BACKGROUND: Noonan syndrome (NS) is a genetic disorder characterized by phenotypic features, including facial dysmorphology, cardiovascular anomalies, and short stature. Growth hormone (GH) has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for short stature in children with NS. The objective of this analysis was to assess the height standard deviation score (HSDS) and change in HSDS (ΔHSDS) for up to 4 years (Y4) of GH therapy in children with NS. METHODS: The American Norditropin Studies: Web-Enabled Research (ANSWER) Program®, a US-based registry, collects long-term efficacy and safety information on patients treated with Norditropin® (somatropin rDNA origin, Novo Nordisk A/S) at the discretion of participating physicians. A total of 120 children (90 boys, 30 girls) with NS, naïve to previous GH treatment, were included in this analysis. RESULTS: The mean (SD) baseline age of subjects (n = 120) was 9.2 (3.8) years. Mean (SD) HSDS increased from -2.65 (0.73) at baseline to -1.32 (1.11) at Y4 (n = 17). Subjects showed continued increase in HSDS from baseline to Y4 without significant differences between genders at Y1 or Y2. The mean (SD) GH dose was 47 (11) mcg/kg/day at baseline and 59 (16) mcg/kg/day at Y4. There was a negative correlation between baseline age and ΔHSDS at Y1 (R = -0.3156; P = 0.0055) and Y2 (R = -0.3394; P = 0.017). ΔHSDS at Y1 was significantly correlated with ΔHSDS at Y2 (n = 37; R = 0.8527, P \u3c 0.0001) and Y3 (n = 20; R = 0.5145; P = 0.0203), but not Y4 (n = 12; R = 0.4066, P = 0.1896). CONCLUSIONS: GH treatment-naïve patients with NS showed continued increases in HSDS during 4 years of treatment with GH with no significant differences between genders up to 2 years. Baseline age was negatively correlated with ΔHSDS at Y1 and Y2. Whether long-term therapy in NS results in continued increase in HSDS to adult height remains to be investigated. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01009905

International marine science research projects : second inventory of international projects at Sea Grant institutions, 1990

This inventory of marine science projects at Sea Grant institutions was completed in order to gauge the level and enhance a database of U.S./foreign collaboration in international marine research initiated at U.S. Sea Grant institutions. The inventory was done by the International Marine Science Cooperation Program at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Sea Grant Office. The first inventory of projects with international components at Sea Grant institutions was done in 1984-85 by the International Program. This second inventory continues in the tradition of the first to "take the pulse" of international interest at Sea Grant institutions. The pulse is very active despite the lack of direct funding accorded the formal Sea Grant International Program at the national level. Of the 122 projects at Sea Grant institutions, however, only 29 were directly funded in part or entirely by Sea Grant. The inventory analyzes data from 122 interntional projects initiated at 20 Sea Grant institutions by profiling and explicating the extent of project foreign locations, sources of funding, areas of expertise for principal investigators, and contacts at foreign and U.S. agencies and institutions. It presents one-page summaries of the 122 projects along with indexes by geographic location, funding source, PI discipline, PI name, and keywords. In addition, this report compares the data from the 1989-90 inventory with that of the 1985 inventory.This work is the result of research sponsored by NOAA, National Sea Grant College Program Offce, Departent of Commerce, under Grant No. NA90-AA-D-SG480, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant Project Number E/L-1