Pilot and Feasibility Program

PROJECT SUMMARY The overall goal of the Pilot and Feasibility Program of the Digestive Health Center (DHC) is to promote digestive disease research by supporting innovative pilot projects that will lead to extramurally funded research and expansion of digestive disease research. The Program pursues this goal with three complementary aims: 1) To foster the career development of junior digestive disease investigators, 2) To encourage established investigators in other areas of biomedical research to extend their expertise to digestive disease research, and 3) To support highly focused new projects from established investigators exploring innovative new ideas that represent a significant departure from their funded research. The organization of the P/F Program aligns types of investigators with these aims (“N=New,” “EN=Established New,” and ”E=Established”, respectively) according to well-established eligibility criteria. The DHC holds one P/F application process yearly, which undergoes scientific review by a panel of experts using the same merit criteria as NIH study sections, followed by a final review by the DHC External Advisory Board, who makes recommendation for funding of most meritorious research projects. With strong institutional support that supplements the DHC resources, the Program typically funds three awards of $50,000. The Program Director and Center Leadership provide awardees with mentorship opportunities. This program has been very successful, and Type N awardees transitioned to independent investigator status with R01-level of funding. For the past 10 years, the Program invested approximately $1.58 million, which resulted >$35.17 million dollars in new grants, or a >22-fold return on the investment. Notably, P/F awardees have published 228 original papers and >90% remain engaged in digestive disease research.