The overall goal of the Pilot & Feasibility (P&F) Program is to facilitate new research development, and the career development of scientists, through pilot projects that synergize with the overall objectives of the DRC. Since our DRTC/DRC?s inception in 2008, the P&F program has been critical for growth in Center membership and extramural funding. Our P&F Program was instituted to tap growing interest in diabetes-related research at UAB and to foster development of junior faculty members, create partnerships, and take advantage of core resources. Our RFAs have attracted applications across the spectrum of translational research, yielding a diverse group of funded proposals ? including both clinical and basic research from both junior and senior investigators. To date, we have funded 55 diabetes-related pilot awards (out of 305 proposals submitted), 44% of which were clinical research projects and 65% of which were to junior investigators. Despite a reduced overall P&F Program budget awarded for the current cycle (2012-present), our program has remained vibrant, albeit with a 26% reduced number of awards funded per year and a 15% reduced average award size over this period. For the upcoming period, our specific aims are: 1) To identify and support new research projects of outstanding quality and innovation for pilot funding, ultimately resulting in substantial extramural support for developing these new lines of investigation; 2) To support promising junior faculty in career development through funding of outstanding pilots; 3) To augment the breadth and quality of DRC research by funding innovative projects of established researchers with valuable expertise who are new to diabetes, or of established diabetes investigators who want to test new high-impact hypotheses; and 4) To increase the number of independent investigators in the DRC funded by NIH for diabetes research. Our success is evidenced by the fact that nearly 70% of P&F awardees over the period of our DRTC/DRC program (2008 to present) has achieved substantial external funding for this research; this fraction is even greater (~83%) when we consider only the initial six years of the program. Greater than 90% of P&F awardees, including some not originally engaged in diabetes-related research, remain involved in diabetes investigation. This speaks to a growing intellectual climate and emphasis on diabetes at UAB and recognition that diabetes disproportionately affects the population served by our medical center. We will continue to capitalize on the strength of the UAB Interdisciplinary Research Centers (UWIRC) program, including the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center, and the supportive resources offered by the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Research, our institutional CTSA. These connections, as well as vibrant clinical and basic science departments across the campus, will continue to propel our DRC P&F Program to greater success over the next cycle.
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