The primary goal of the Center for Biomedical and Minority Health Research (CBMHR) Investigator Development Core (IDC) is to implement a pilot grant program to support preliminary studies of Early Stage Investigators (ESIs) in conducting basic biomedical, behavioral, and/or clinical science research. Eligible ESIs are TSU biomedical Assistant Professors, postdocs, and research scientists. Pilot project applicants are strategically recruited from an existing ESI pool with a high percentage of under-represented minority scientists, engaged by the CBMHR Administrative Core (ADC) and through multi-college advertisement. Interested applicants will receive support in proposal development through mentorship, application webinars and individual help in proposals. Each pilot project recipient is required to have mentors who have had previous NIH/NSF funding and completed mentoring training conducted by the Gulf Coast Consortia for Quantitative Biomedical Research (GCC). The IDC will support three pilot projects each year for five years. Each pilot project award will be up to $50,000 to support awardee?s time and effort in the project, purchase supplies, and travel to professional meetings. Each pilot project recipient must complete a variety of professional and individual development activities including Individual Development Plan (IDP), attend seminars, grant writing workshop, professional presentations, and provide evidence of progress in project and professionally. We envision that all pilot project recipients will be well-trained and mentored to increase the competitiveness of their research proposals. The IDC will be directed by the IDC Program Director, who will report to Execute Leadership Team and Advisory Committee for continuous evaluation and improvement of the core.
The specific aims of IDC are to 1) solicit novel hypothesis-driven pilot project proposals, 2) select novel hypothesis-driven pilot projects with high potential for development into future proposals for extramural funding, 3) implement a mentoring program to train ESIs in core competencies required for successful biomedical research professions, and 4) establish mechanisms for ESI, project, and IDC program evaluation and continuous improvement. The long-term goal of the IDC program is to increase TSU ESIs? overall research competitiveness in biomedical, behavioral, and/or clinical sciences in disease states that are disproportionately affecting the minority population to become successful in obtaining extramural funding from the government (e.g., the K- or R-series awards from NIH). The IDC?s approach is designed to collaborate with the other cores in the CBMHR to provide seed funds and mentoring support for ESIs to generate preliminary data to apply for extramural grants. Pilot project recipients will participate in career development activities at the ADC and have access to all equipment at the Research Infrastructure Core to conduct their pilot projects. Pilot project applicants will have the community network established by the Community Engagement Core for dissemination of their biomedical, behavioral/ clinical pilot projects findings.
