Pilot and Feasibility Program

PROJECT SUMMARY
The overall goal of the Pilot and Feasibility Program of the Digestive Health Center (DHC) is to promote
digestive disease research by supporting innovative pilot projects that will lead to extramurally funded research
and expansion of digestive disease research. The Program pursues this goal with three complementary aims:
1) To foster the career development of junior digestive disease investigators, 2) To encourage established
investigators in other areas of biomedical research to extend their expertise to digestive disease research, and
3) To support highly focused new projects from established investigators exploring innovative new ideas that
represent a significant departure from their funded research. The organization of the P/F Program aligns types
of investigators with these aims (“N=New,” “EN=Established New,” and ”E=Established”, respectively)
according to well-established eligibility criteria. The DHC holds one P/F application process yearly, which
undergoes scientific review by a panel of experts using the same merit criteria as NIH study sections, followed
by a final review by the DHC External Advisory Board, who makes recommendation for funding of most
meritorious research projects. With strong institutional support that supplements the DHC resources, the
Program typically funds three awards of $50,000. The Program Director and Center Leadership provide
awardees with mentorship opportunities. This program has been very successful, and Type N awardees
transitioned to independent investigator status with R01-level of funding. For the past 10 years, the Program
invested approximately $1.58 million, which resulted >$35.17 million dollars in new grants, or a >22-fold return
on the investment. Notably, P/F awardees have published 228 original papers and >90% remain engaged in
digestive disease research.

Grant Number: 5P30DK078392-19
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Theresa Alenghat