Pilot Grants Program
Augusto Ochoa, MD
Program Director
LSUH New Orleans
M. "Tonette" Krousel-Wood, MD, MSPH
Program Co-Director
Tulane University
Peter Katzmarzyk, PhD
Program Co-Director
Pennington Biomedical
Contact this core
About This Core
To promote clinical and translational research among faculty in the State, it is imperative
to have adequate financial, administrative and regulatory support across and within
the collaborating institutions to facilitate project initiation, conduct and completion.
The Pilot Grants Program will provide financial support for these pilot projects,
facilitate support-in-kind such as access to cores, statistical and regulatory support,
and help awardees obtain any education and training needed to enhance the long-term
success of these projects. The Pilot Grants Program will ensure the support and identification
of promising research projects at all member institutions, and the rational allocation
of core resources.
Specifically, this program will support pilot, feasibility and collaborative research
studies of significance and impact that would then allow the investigator to be competitive
for extramural NIH R01 funding. The long-term goal of this program is to develop a
critical mass of senior scientists and promising young investigators trained in translational
research. The pilot program will provide significant funding to support early stage
research efforts of junior faculty, while at the same time, encouraging collaboration
among the institutions in support of these projects. The Pilot Grants Program will
specifically encourage and support those proposing novel research methodologies.
The vision for the Pilot Grants Program consists of the following key components:
- To provide support for promising clinical research in the form of translational research awards especially for those that demonstrate collaboration among the various institutions and among scientific disciplines.
- To increase the critical mass of scientists in clinical and translational research by providing support and resources for junior faculty interested in clinical research and senior faculty interested in moving their research toward a clinical focus.
- To identify, solicit and support projects involving novel technologies and hypotheses at both the basic and clinical level that have potential to enhance translational research and commercialization of inventions and discoveries.
The Pilot Grants Program also oversees two additional funding and training opportunity programs investigators from LA CaTS Center member institutions can apply for:
- Grant Development Award Program - provides support so that junior and/or senior faculty can collaborate on planning and preparation for submission of interdisciplinary and innovative grant applications
- Visiting Scholars Program - intended for investigators to learn new techniques and to acquire different skills and expertise by interacting with experts in the field outside of the LA CaTS Center institutions.