The Pilot Project Core will provide critical support for new initiatives and feasibility studies to test new hypotheses and generate novel data in the field of substance abuse, pain and addiction research, and the intersection of drugs of abuse with HIV. Research that is supported ranges over a variety of disciplines and techniques including molecular, pharmacological, physiological, immunological, and behavioral. Projects involve a variety of drug classes including opioids, cannabinoids, psychostimulants, alcohol and nicotine. The amount of support is sufficient to allow the testing of new ideas and accumulating data that can be used to form the basis for an application for external funding. In addition to the actual dollars supporting the project, the investigators are encouraged to make use of the expertise and the facilities of the Research Support Cores of the NIDA P30 Center. Use of the Research Support Cores allows those carrying out a Pilot Project to expand their areas of expertise by receiving assistance with new techniques and approaches with which they may be unfamiliar, and to receive mentoring from the Core faculty. In the previous funding period, three projects/year were supported by the Pilot Projects Core, resulting in a recently awarded NIDA R01 as well as other submitted grant applications, several publications, and presentations at national and regional meetings. Potential applicants are solicited by general and targeted announcements to faculty at Temple University and to faculty of other institutions through professional list-serves. Applications for pilot project support are evaluated by a sub-committee of P30 Center faculty and are judged on their innovation and significance of the research question and approach, the probability that sufficient outcomes will be obtained to serve as preliminary data for an independent grant application, and the strength of the integration with the aims of the NIDA P30 Center. Special consideration is given to early career investigators and to investigators new to the field of substance abuse research. Progress is evaluated via informal and frequent discussions of progress and formal reports from awardees. It is anticipated that three pilot projects will be supported directly by the Pilot Project Core each year, including at least two new projects per year.
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