Pilot and Feasibility Program

Please watch this space for announcements about P&F program application deadlines:

Pilot and Feasibility Grants

Clinical Nutrition Research Unit of Maryland

Letter of Intent due by Noon on Monday, July 9, 2007

Letters of intent should be received by 12:00 noon on July 9, 2007 via email or post to:

 Susan K. Fried, Ph.D., Director

Clinical Nutrition Research Unit of Maryland

Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine

660 West Redwood Street HH 445A

Baltimore, MD 21201

 sfried@medicine.umaryland.edu

You can direct inquiries to: Susan K. Fried, Ph.D. , Director, CNRU of Maryland or to our administrator, Sara Shaughnessy:  sshaughn@medicine.umaryland.edu.

The P&F program will take place in three phases

1) Letters of Intent that includes information on eligibility, current and pending funding, and a brief synopsis of the research plan (due by noon on July 9, 2007);

2) Submission of a 5-page proposal in modified NIH format (Specific Aims, Background and Significance, Preliminary Results, Experimental Approach, Potential Pitfalls, Alternative Approaches and Future Plans; Budget that addresses potential overlap) - (due August 15, 2007);

3) Review by the Executive Committee with the assistance and final approval of the External Advisory Committee.

Grants of up to $25,000 for 1 year will be awarded.  Eligibility for a second year of funding will be considered after submission of a progress report and plans for the second year.  The letter of intent will be used to establish the eligibility of the investigator for P&F funding.  P&F projects are strongly encouraged to take advantage of our proposed Core laboratories. 

Priority for funding will go to 1) new investigators collecting preliminary data for a NIH submission; 2) established investigators seeking to apply their expertise to the obesity or related nutrition field, 3) established investigators in the obesity field seeking funding for a new avenue of research (including high risk/high gain category).  

Eligibility for P&F Funding:  New investigator applicants must have a doctoral degree and at least two and preferably three or more years of post-doctoral experience.  New investigators should be planning to embark on independent research career.  The aim of P&F project is to provide convincing data for future NIH K or R proposals to the NIH or other national agencies.  Investigators are encouraged to undertake high risk/ high gain projects that have potential to develop but for which no preliminary data of feasibility are currently available.  Nevertheless, the capability of the PI (and his or her collaborators) to undertake such a project should be clearly outlined.  It is acceptable to submit a project that is currently under review elsewhere; however, future funding by another agency for the same project will preclude CNRU funding.  Possible overlap should be addressed in the other support section of the application.  All applicants must be willing to actively participate in CNRU Center activities, including seminars, workshops, and symposia, and present a seminar describing their work. 

2007 P&F Awardees:

Mao Fu, Ph.D., M.D.; Research Associate, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB. "Positional cloning of obesity candidate genes in the Old Order Amish"

Gloria Hoffman, Ph.D.; Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, UMB.  "Development of a New Model of Morbidity induced by Intermittent Sleep Deprivation or Sleep Deprivation and Stress"

Richard Horenstein, M.D.; Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB.   "The effect of common variants in the transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) gene on GLP-1 levels in response to a glucose and fat challenge"

Vladimir Savransky, M.D., Ph.D.; Research Associate, Division of  Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, JHU School of Medicine.  " Sleep Apnea and Lipid Metabolism in Obesity" (2nd Year Renewal)

Michael Shapiro, Ph.D.; Associate Professor, UMB School of Pharmacy.  "NMR Metabolomics on PKCI Knockout Mice"

Elizabeth Streeten, M.D.; Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB.  "Clinical and molecular characterization of suspected partial 25-hydroxyvitamin D-1-alpha hydroxylase deficiency"

Rongze Yang, M.D., Ph.D.; Research Associate, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB.  "The Role of TORC2 in Hepatic Gluconeogenesis, Energy Homeostasis and Diabetes"