# Pilot Projects

> **NIH NIH P30** · VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $102,990

## Abstract

Project Summary – Pilot Projects Core 
The objectives of the pilot project core are to provide the funding for projects that will test new, significant, 
innovative and provocative hypotheses. These projects will provide the opportunity for scholars to use these 
preliminary data in an expanded investigation funded by external grant submissions. In addition, the pilot 
program allows for the upward career trajectory for new young scientists with cutting edge ideas to move forward 
within the academic research community supporting drug abuse research. Funding will be provided to several 
categories of investigators: young investigators, investigators who have been funded by external sources for 
their work in the drug abuse field but have new collaborations and hypotheses that require preliminary testing 
before seeking external funding, or investigators who have been successfully working in another area of 
biomedical research and have a novel project that requires preliminary data to transition to the area of drug 
abuse research. Collaborative projects among scholars from more than one of these groups will be given priority 
for funding. Scholars from throughout the university will be encouraged to participate in this program and the 
Dean of the School of Medicine, the Dean of the School of Pharmacy, and the Vice President for Research and 
Innovation have committed to provide matching funds for all pilot projects funded. The scholars funded by this 
mechanism will have an advantage in seeking support from the VCU School of Medicine Research Funding 
Program, the campus-wide A.D. Williams Research Program and the VCU President's Research Initiative 
Program. All levels of the university administration will continue to be committed to support drug abuse 
researchers through this Center of Excellence. Historically, it is impressive that scholars supported by the pilot 
project programs in the past have had at least a three-fold higher success rate for funding their external (NIH, 
etc.) applications than the national average. Thus, the pilot programs not only lead to increased prevalence of 
funding for such novel projects, but significantly more collaborative scientific projects.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10374827
- **Project number:** 5P30DA033934-09
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** SANDRA P. WELCH
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $102,990
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2013-12-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10374827

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10374827, Pilot Projects (5P30DA033934-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10374827. Licensed CC0.

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