The Pilot and Feasibility (P/F) Project Program of the Center has been its most successful undertaking. From the beginning, the primary focus of our P/F Project Award Program has been the young investigator seeking to establish independent status as a scientist. A secondary focus was the established investigator seeking new directions in their research. The final eligibility category included scientists with established reputations in other scientific areas who were considering initiatives in gastrointestinal research. The majority of the P/F Awards during the current funding period were granted to investigators in the first category. Many of these awards resulted in new career development awards or independent research grant funding. Thus the P/F grant program has helped to launch numerous young investigators at University of Michigan into research careers that will have impact on digestive health and diseases. To continue this program, we are requesting $80,000 per year to support the P/F program. The money will be used to fund 4 awards at $20,000 each for one year. The GI Division will provide an additional $10,000 per project to bring the total to $30,000 per project. To maximize the number of P/F awards funded per year and to enhance collaboration between Centers so to encourage interdisciplinary projects, we have joined with the UM Cancer Center to co-fund a pilot feasibility study that involves cancer biology. The annual cost of this particular P/F study is $40,000, of which the UMCGR funds $20,000 and the remaining $20,000 is supported from the UM Cancer Center (UMCCC P30 CA046592). We have made a similar arrangement with the Michigan Nutrition Obesity Research Center (MNORC P30 DK089503) to co-fund another P/F study focused on metabolomics and capped at $50,000, of which the UMCGR funds up to $25,000 and the MNORC to fund up to $25,000. The total of up to $45,000 to co-fund these two additional P/F projects is provided by funds committed by the Department of Medicine (see attached letter). This demonstrates the institution's commitment to our Center and to career development of junior faculty. Leveraging institutional support and collaboration with other UM Centers of Excellence, the UMCGR will be able to fund 6 P/F awards annually. Over the past ten years, pilot projects representing a total investment of $1,050,000 direct costs, ($1,577,500 total costs) have generated 20 NIH awards (2 K08, 2 R21, R03, R00, 2 U01, U19 and 11 R01s) totaling $18,132,140 direct costs ($27,142,287 total costs); a 17 fold return on investment.
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