# Pilot Projects Program

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER · 2022 · $598,278

## Abstract

Pilot Projects Program Project Summary
The Pilot Projects Program (PPP) administers funding mechanisms to develop and support the most promising
and novel investigator-initiated clinical and translational research (CTR) projects. Our overarching goal is to
provide the financial support, mentoring, and other resources that investigators need to generate preliminary
data and successfully compete for extramural grant funding. The program is designed to further 4 key
objectives: 1) to foster the development of successful CTR investigators, 2) to support and develop
interdisciplinary CTR teams, 3) to develop innovative tools and technologies that will support remote conduct of
CTR or improve health outcomes, and 4) support CTR that evaluates the diverse causes of health-related
disparities in the region. The PPP supports these overall objectives through two specific aims: Specific Aim 1)
administer a CTR Pilot Projects Program that facilitates innovative and collaborative CTR programs and
Specific Aim 2) collaborate with the Cores and partner institutions to provide developmental CTR resources to
expand the pool of CTR investigators and teams. To successfully meet these specific aims, the PPP supports
interdisciplinary, team-based research that spans all GP IDeA- CTR partner institutions across the CTR
spectrum. Building on lessons learned and successes over the past four years, the portfolio of offered PPP
funding opportunities will be strategically expanded to include: 1) Team Development Pilots to provide initial
funding to foster new team formation, 2) Team Research Pilots to provide funding to existing CTR teams, and
3) Tech Transfer Pilots to support translation of intellectual property into clinical and community applications.
Resources from partner institutions will be leveraged to increase the number of available awards as well as
fund specialty awards focused on specific diseases (e.g., cancer or cardiovascular disease). The Pilot Projects
Program will collaborate with all Cores to advance CTR, including the Biostatistics, Epidemiology and
Research Design (BERD) Core and Community Engagement and Outreach (CEO) Core on their pilot grant
opportunities to strengthen the capacity for data science and trial design research as well as community-based
CTR projects, and with the Professional Development (PDC) Core to expand training and mentoring for pilot
grant recipients. In combination, these interdisciplinary, silo-spanning efforts will further strengthen the capacity
for and success of CTR across all our partner institutions, reinforce local support for CTR-focused faculty, and
encourage sustainable intramural and interinstitutional collaboration on CTR for improved health outcomes for
Nebraska and across the Great Plains.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10478961
- **Project number:** 5U54GM115458-07
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Sarah A Holstein
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $598,278
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10478961

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10478961, Pilot Projects Program (5U54GM115458-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10478961. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*