DRTC announces Pilot & Feasibility Program funding opportunity for UAB faculty

Research Focus:  The pilot and feasibility program is intended to provide seed support for new and innovative research projects directed at basic, biochemical, translational, clinical, and community-based research questions that broadly pertain to diabetes, diabetes complications, and cardiometabolic disease. Pilot projects should be designed to generate sufficient data as the basis for further extramural funding (e.g., RO1 applications) in order to substantially pursue and expand the line of investigation.

Eligibility:  Funding will be available to full time UAB faculty members who must meet one of the criteria listed below.  Please note that applications from post-doctoral fellows will be considered if there is a clear plan and written documentation for transition to a faculty position at UAB before the initiation date of the pilot grant award.  Post-doctoral applicants will be asked to identify a faculty member who will provide research advice, but the work should support independent research and career development for the fellow/junior faculty member.

1. Junior investigators (e.g., Associate Professors or below who have not been PI on a previous NIH RO1 grant).

2. Established investigators with no previous work in diabetes who wish to apply their expertise to a problem in this area.

3. Established investigators in diabetes who want to pursue high impact/high risk projects to test truly innovative ideas that represent a clear departure from ongoing research interests.

4. Note: We will consider multidisciplinary projects that involve both basic and clinical scientists who combine efforts in 'translational' research protocols, which could not be conducted by basic or clinical scientist(s) alone.

FUNDING and REVIEW PROCESS

The P/F program will fund up to ten studies at $20,000 - $50,000/year. (This year’s program will benefit from ARRA funding to the DRTC for four pilot grants, making this a particularly opportune funding year.) A second year of funding may be possible through a competitive renewal process, and this applies to current P/F awardees. In addition, the CDC will partner with the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) to co-fund a pilot project in clinical and translational research pertaining to diabetes. In this case, funding is anticipated to total $60,000.  For this funding, the applicant should respond to the RFA for Translational Research Intramural Grant Program that was issued in September, 2009 (http://www.ccts.uab.edu/pages/uploadfiles/2010_CCTS_Pilot_PreProposal_RFP.pdf).  It will be possible to simultaneously seek funding for a diabetes project through both the CCTS/UWIRC mechanism (max budget $60K) and the DRTC pilot program (max budget $50K), although only one will be awarded.

Criteria:  Applications will be selected for funding based on merit using NIH study section criteria.  Projects will be favored if consistent with the mission of the DRTC (www.uab.edu/drtc) and likely to lead to future NIH RO1 funding. DRTC core facilities will be available to assist P/F investigators. Applications will be evaluated by the Pilot & Feasibility Grant Review Committee. Applications successfully passing the first level (see below) will be reviewed by at least one extramural investigator, and applicants are asked to supply names of 3 non-UAB reviewers at the time of submitting second level application.

Application Procedure for Pilot Grant:  The competitive process for these research proposals is two-tiered and is as follows:

     FIRST LEVEL REVIEW -- All basic and clinical investigators interested in pilot project funding are asked to submit a one page description of the project that includes hypotheses, specific aims, and a research design and methods summary including models systems that will be employed.  The project description should not exceed one page.  Approximately 12-15 investigators will be asked to complete the second level review process.  The applications for first level review will be due November 9, 2009  Please send these applications electronically to Ms. Sabrina Carpenter (sncarpenter@uab.edu). (Those who choose to respond to the CCTS/UWIRC Pilot Program should follow CCTS guidelines for submission, as found at the above-mentioned website. Please note that the pre-proposal deadline for the CCTS is October 27, 2009.)

     SECOND LEVEL REVIEW -- Investigators with the highest rated applications in the first level review will be asked to submit full pilot project applications for review by the committee.  This application will use PHS398 form http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html except that the project description is restricted to 5 pages.  The applications will include:

(i) PHS 398 Face Page

(ii) PHS 398 Abstract Page

(iii) Full budget (not modular) using PHS 398 budget pages (first year OR first and second year, as appropriate).  The PI can budget up to 10% salary.  If the budget allocations do not match the scope of the work, this will be considered as unfavorable in the review process.

(iv) Sections A through I of PHS 398 instructions; however, the description of the research, sections A-D, is limited to 5 pages

Applications for second level review will be due January 4, 2010. Funding for those selected is anticipated to begin February 22, 2010. Please send these applications electronically to Ms. Sabrina Carpenter (sncarpenter@uab.edu).

Acceptance:  Acceptance of the pilot award will require the PI adhere to a plan for submitting grants to extramural funding agencies, to present a research seminar at or near the time of study completion, and to report research progress to Dr. Frank.