Pilot & Feasibility Program

NORTH CAROLINA DIABETES RESEARCH CENTER (NCDRC): PILOT AND FEASIBILITY CORE SUMMARY To provide research support to explore feasibility of concepts related to the NCDRC’s goals and provide a mechanism to generate sufficient preliminary data to pursue competitive funding mechanisms, we support Pilot and Feasibility (P&F) studies that are aligned with the Center’s mission of connecting promising investigators with novel resources not widely available and connect individuals new to diabetes research with the expertise and resources needed to bring their novel ideas and approaches to fruition. We give the highest priority to new and early-career investigators, although we entertain support of established investigators with highly innovative directions or partnerships. We fund 6 pilot projects per year among our four partnering institutions, i.e. Duke University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Wake Forest, and our three collaborating institutions, i.e. North Carolina Central University, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and North Carolina State University. Maximum funding is $50,000 per year per project with the possibility of a second year of funding via a competitive renewal. Further support may be leveraged for projects responsive to the goals not only of the NCDRC but also other Centers, e.g. our three Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs), and our associated Nutrition Obesity Research, Alzheimer’s Disease Research, Cystic Fibrosis, and Cancer Centers. Applications are scored based on their novelty, impact, potential for translation, use of NCDRC Cores, status of the PI as a new investigator, and potential for future external funding. Distribution of pilots across our sites, projects that include collaborators at more than one NCDRC site and those that utilize NCDRC cores are favorably considered. Only the best applications, i.e. high impact proposals ranked “excellent” to “exceptional”, are funded. To accomplish these goals, we: • Provide infrastructure to support NCDRC P&F study application and review processes, including an established, secure electronic process for soliciting applications from partnering institutions, which will be expanded to our collaborative institutions to encompass a regional NCDRC. • Track spending, core use, and outcomes of NCDRC P&F grant awardees. With the assistance of the Administrative Core, pilot grants will be tracked to ensure that the goals of the NCDRC are being met with strict adherence to NCDRC and NIH policies regarding research safety, integrity, and reproducibility. • Support NCDRC Associate Members (students, trainees, and post-docs) through mentorship in pilot grant preparation and review. • Support NCDRC P&F awardees in the next stages of their projects, including assistance with applying for longer-term support, forming effective research teams, working toward translation of pilot results to change how we prevent and treat diabetes, and providing education to allow investigators to achieve their goals.