Overview

The Pilot and Feasibility (P&F) Program is a major pillar on which the success of the DRC is built. This program awards grants of $50,000 to projects that are meant to be exploratory in nature, allowing applicants to collect preliminary data needed for subsequent larger grant applications. An average of three awards of $50,000 are funded per year.

The intentions of this program relate directly to the major goal of strengthening a growing interactive community of Type 1 Diabetes researchers by:

• Enabling new investigators and junior faculty to establish Diabetes relevant research programs.
• Fostering highly innovative directions in basic and clinical research, including clinical studies in minority and other underserved patient groups.
• Encouraging and promoting the effective and consistent use of the core resources.

Eligibility

Preference will be given to junior faculty engaged in research broadly relevant Type 1 Diabetes, who do not yet have NIH R01 funding (K awardees are eligible to apply). Investigators at any of the following are invited to apply: UCSF, UC Berkeley, UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz Collaborative projects (including across UC campuses) are encouraged. For collaborative applications all PIs need to meet the eligibility criteria listed for this grant mechanism.

Review Criteria

The reviewers will examine proposals for eligibility of the investigator, innovation of the research and its potential to generate data sufficient for future extramural funding opportunities broadly related to Type 1 Diabetes. NIH review criteria (Significance, Investigators, Innovation, Approach, Environment) will be used.

Review Process

At each review cycle following the receipt of DRC P&F Program applications, P&F Director appoints an internal P&F Committee, taking into account conflict of interest. The application is then sent to external reviewers for review and provide scores based on the DRC criteria. 

See the instructions to apply for future application RFAs