Pilot & Feasibility Program

Pilot Project Summary/Abstract The mission of the Pilot and Feasibility (P&F) Program is to foster the development of new investigators and to provide seed support for innovative diabetes-related research. Over the past 10 years, we have funded 64 outstanding projects. Over 90% of these were from young investigators looking to establish new independent research programs. More than 95% of our P&F recipients are still active in research, providing clear evidence that we are selecting meritorious recipients. Moreover, our funded investigators have an impressive record of obtaining post-P&F NIH grant support and of publications in high-impact journals. Most importantly, many awardees are now productive R01-funded faculty members at UCSD/UCLA or at other institutions. Going forward we propose to fund 5-6 grants each year to facilitate the generation of preliminary data sufficient to support R01 grant applications. We strive to identify proposals with translational impact when possible. The P&F Program will promote innovative diabetes projects, catalyze the development of future scientific leaders, mentor recipients to facilitate their transition to external funding, leverage institutional matching support, synergize with institutional training h programs, promote inclusion of young investigators from diverse backgrounds, foster collaborations, and implement oversight and programmatic review of the program and its awardees.