The Pilot Project Core of the New Mexico Alcohol Research Center (NMARC) will provide a critical opportunityto develop new basic, clinical and translational fetal alcohol research projects that complement and extend theNMARC's research program portfolio. Selected projects must fit within the context of the Center's threestrategic objectives as well as build on the overall integration, synergies, and sustainability of the Center'sresearch activities. Indeed, these elements are essential if NMARC is to achieve its five-year goal of becomingan important national research center worthy of P50-level support. As with the Developmental Projects(NMARC Components 2-6), the goal of each pilot project is to obtain sufficient preliminary data to developcompetitive RO1 or R21 grant applications for submission to the NIAAA.The Pilot Project Core will support two relatively small pilot projects during the first year. Pilot Project 7A,directed by Dr. Kevin Caldwell (Neurosciences), will initiate an examination the interaction between geneticvariation and prenatal ethanol exposure on the predisposition for developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorderlikesymptoms. Pilot Project 7B, directed by Dr. Julia Stephen (Radiology), will examine sensory integrationresponses in 6 to 22 month-old normal and FASD children using a unique 'babySQUID' MEG system housedat the MIND Institute.The Center Director and NMARC Executive Committee will monitor progress of all pilot projects supported bythe core. Pilot project progress will be reviewed tri-annually by the Internal Advisory Group and annually by theExternal Advisory Committee. The Administrative Core and NMARC Executive Committee will assist pilotproject Principle Investigators in the preparation and submission of NIAAA grants to extend support for theirresearch beyond the pilot project funding.During the mid-summer of the first year of the NMARC project period, a call for additional DevelopmentalProject and Pilot Project proposals will be advertised within the scientific community at UNM. In September,these proposals will be evaluated by the NMARC Executive Committee for scientific merit and relevance to thestrategic objectives of the Center. One or two pilot projects recommended for funding by the ExecutiveCommittee will be reviewed for approval at the Annual Meeting with the External Advisory Committee inOctober. Funding for newly approved projects would begin at the start of the second project year. In Years 02through 04, a similar process will be followed to select multiple new Developmental Projects and Pilot Projects.An essential element in the long-term success of the Pilot Project Core is the assurance that there are othermeritorious projects worthy of NMARC support in the 'pipeline'. A 'Future Pilot Projects' section is presentedto provide evidence that there are already a large number of other potential projects, some of which involveother faculty (designated at 'Other Significant Contributors' in the NMARC), that would be considered forNMARC support as pilot project funds become available.
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