Pilot and Feasibility Program

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PROJECT SUMMARY – PILOT & FEASIBILITY PROGRAM The Pilot & Feasibility Program (P&F) of the DRTC has funded 150 grants since its inception in 1977. This past cycle the P&F program funded 23 applications, including 13 applications from investigators located outside the University of Chicago. Thus, the P&F Program both assists investigators in diabetes-related studies but perhaps as importantly acts as a catalyst to bring together researchers from throughout the Chicago area. The overall goal of the P&F Program is to provide initial support to newly established investigators and also to bring the expertise of more established investigators from other fields into diabetes research. Proposals are sought each year from within the University of Chicago as well as other Chicago based institutions with diabetes research programs. All proposals are evaluated by an internal and external reviewer as well as by a member of the P&F Steering Committee. Priority scores and written reviews are then presented to the entire Steering Committee and funding decisions are made. A second year funding is possible for those investigators who have made significant documented progress on their proposed research. All P&F grant recipients are required to attend and strongly encouraged to present their findings at the Annual Chicago Diabetes Day held at the University of Chicago or Diabetes & Obesity Research Day at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The vast majority of P&F grants recipients have remained in diabetes research, and many have received subsequent external funding from the NIH (Table E). The P&F program is an integral part of promoting diabetes research throughout the greater Chicago area and has also greatly enhanced the visibility of the DRTC program at participating institutions.