Pilot Feasibility Program

PILOT FEASIBILITY PROGRAM PROJECT SUMMARY One of the most important programs of our Texas Medical Center Digestive Diseases Center (DDC) is the Pilot and Feasibility (P/F) Program. The goals of the P/F Program are to provide pilot funds to (1) support young investigators starting a career in digestive disease (DD) research and (2) foster the development of DD-related research by both junior and established investigators in non-DD related fields in the Texas Medical Center. These goals are accomplished by supporting investigator-initiated scientific studies to generate preliminary data for new research projects. Novel approaches for studying DD-related topics that complement the DDC’s goals are encouraged. Awards are granted following a rigorous peer-review process that involves an evaluation for scientific merit by a Scientific Review Committee, which includes DDC Internal Advisory Committee members, ad hoc scientists from the Texas Medical Center, and DDC External Advisory Committee members. We are requesting $100,000/year to continue the P/F Program. This funding is significantly enhanced by additional annual commitments from our three partner institutions, including $25,000 from The University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC), $25,000 from The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) and $115,000 from Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). All P/F awardees have priority access to our Cores for 1 year or for the duration of their award. The P/F Program has a strong record of accomplishments. In the past 10 years, we have supported 71 P/F recipients, 36 of whom have collectively been awarded $49,313,693 in extramural direct cost funding, representing a 51% success rate and a 24-fold return on investment of DDC funds. From 2018 to 2022, we received between 11 and 27 applications per year (average 19). For 2022 funding, we received 20 letters of intent, and 11 applications were completed for review. The top four proposals are described in this application to illustrate the breadth and quality of the new research stimulated and facilitated by the DDC. The P/F program has a Director and two Assistant Directors, representing the three partner institutions (BCM, UTHSC, MDACC), and a Scientific Review Committee. We have several formal processes for soliciting and reviewing P/F proposals. Review considerations include project novelty, feasibility, qualifications, applicant productivity, and alignment to our DDC theme, the likelihood the project will lead to new knowledge and extramural funding, and use of our DDC Cores. Our P/F Program coupled with our pediatric and adult-DD training programs with career-development initiatives open to all DDC members help recruit new faculty and foster collaborative, multidisciplinary interactions among all DDC members.