# C7-Pilot Project core

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH SCIS CTR · 2024 · $99,143

## Abstract

The overall goal of the Pilot Project Core of the New Mexico Alcohol Research Center (NMARC) is to foster
cross-disciplinary FASD research across campus and promote growth of the Center. The Core will provide a
critical opportunity to develop new basic, translational and clinical fetal alcohol research projects that
complement and broaden the NMARC's research program portfolio. Selected projects must fit within the
context of the Center’s three strategic objectives as well as build on the overall integration and sustainability of
the Center’s research activities. Pilot projects will be funded for up to 2 years. The goal of each pilot project is
to obtain sufficient preliminary data to develop competitive research grant applications and cultivate new
investigators that will form part of the center. Support from the NMARC Pilot Project Core has played a crucial
role in the success of R21 and/or R01 applications submitted by center investigators. Importantly, our Pilot
Project Core has opened new and important research areas in the FASD field (e.g., impact of prenatal alcohol
exposure (PAE) on place cell, grid cell, and head direction cell function; effect of PAE on pain processing;
interaction between placental dysfunction and PAE) and has brought novel approaches into the field (e.g.,
applied behavioral analysis in FASD management; circular RNA studies). The Core will primarily support new
investigators that have yet to obtain substantial independent research support. A year prior to the end of the
Pilot Projects that are initially funded, a call for additional Pilot Project proposals will be widely advertised within
the scientific community at UNM, the Mind Research Network, and neighboring institutions. Each project will
have an Advisory Team composed of senior alcohol researchers with complementary scientific expertise to
that of the pilot project PI. The Center Director and NMARC Steering Committee will monitor progress of all
pilot projects. Pilot project progress will be reviewed bi-annually by the NMARC Steering Committee and
annually by the Program Advisory Committee. The Pilot Project Core goals have been successfully
accomplished during the first 3½ years of Phase II of the NMARC P50 award. We recruited several new
investigators from diverse fields into the FASD research field. Two R21 and one R01 grants were obtained
using preliminary data collected under the support of the Pilot Project Core. Support was preferentially
provided to junior faculty members. The Pilot Project Core will support two projects during the first two years.
Project 7A will investigate the effects of PAE on intracranial self-stimulation in adolescent mice. (P.I. Amanda
Barkley-Levenson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Dept of Pharmaceutical Sciences). Project 7B will investigate
the effects of PAE on pathology and cerebral vasculature following repeated mild traumatic brain injuries (P.I.
Russell Morton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Dept of Neurosciences).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10741693
- **Project number:** 2P50AA022534-11
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH SCIS CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Carlos Fernando Valenzuela
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $99,143
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2014-08-05 → 2029-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10741693

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10741693, C7-Pilot Project core (2P50AA022534-11). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10741693. Licensed CC0.

---

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