Clinical & Translational Pilot Grants Program
This program provides a mechanism for soliciting and awarding clinical, translational, and community engagement projects, from concept to competitiveness for external funding. The primary goal of the pilot funding mechanism in to increase the number of clinical and translational investigators who are positioned to secure extramurally funded investigations. The program encompasses peer review; the mentoring of junior investigators; IRB/ACUC compliance; the development of novel concepts, approaches, and development of innovative methodologies; disclosures of intellectual property; new technology transfers; and access to resources and scientific expertise. Through support of preliminary clinical and translational projects, the program enhances our nationally competitive clinical and translational investigator base and establishes wider breadth of clinical and translational research. To accomplish this goal, the program will promote the establishment of patient- and population-oriented research programs and clinical and translational research from bench to bedside involving WVU and its regional campuses, and our partnering institutions.
The program plans to provide RFAs to support clinical and translational pilot investigations to enhance research relevant to targeted health disparities. Beyond scientific merit, the major component on which pilot funding projects are evaluated is that they support the development of applications that will contribute to our enhanced capacity to do clinical and translational research by providing the foundation for extramurally competitive grants. Thematically, pilot projects must align with issues relevant to health and health care disparities in West Virginia and Appalachia in support of the broader clinical and translational research themes.
We also support preliminary investigations to nurture collaborative research partnerships and outreach programs. Completion of this will result in the development of intra- and (by collaborating with CTSI partners) interstate research partnerships to develop projects with the long-term potential of raising the health status of West Virginians/Appalachians.
Finally, incentivize mentoring of clinical and translational investigators to promote development of competitive extramural applications is critical. The pilot program will provide support for mentoring by established scientists by pairing established basic scientists with young clinicians as well as established clinicians who desire to engage in clinical research. Such mentorship is a key aspect of the early-stage investigators including K12 scholar training in clinical and translational research to meet our goal of growing a robust group of nationally competitive investigators poised to have long-term and sustainable impact on relevant health disparities in our state and region. Mentors will be incentivized through financial support and recognition during the promotion and tenure process to support this critical activity.