# Pilot Project Core

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2024 · $457,995

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 PILOT PROJECT CORE
In the past decade, nearly 90% of states in the U.S. have passed legislation legalizing the use of cannabis for
medical and/or recreational use. This has dramatically increased the access to CBD and high THC potency
cannabis products, readily available in an expanding commercial market. This rapid expansion underscores
the critical and urgent need for rigorous research to address many gaps in our scientific understanding of the
impact and health effects of cannabis use across the lifespan. Many of the research gaps and unanswered
questions about cannabis are early-stage scientific questions requiring preliminary pilot studies to inform the
directions for future research and where larger studies are warranted. The Pilot Project Core (PPC) of the RM-
CRC will function as an incubator of research innovation for the RM-CRC and the University of Colorado
Anschutz Medical Campus (UC-AMC) by establishing a rigorous and efficient process for competitive review,
selection, and funding of innovative pilot cannabis research projects that are foundational to informing
directions for future research in the form of new R01 grant submissions (Aims 1 & 3). The PPC will also
prioritize support for junior faculty who are embarking on cannabis-related research careers, but who have not
yet attained substantial funding. The PPC will place special emphasis on outreach and recruitment pipeline of
early-career investigators from groups that are underrepresented in medicine with substantial institutional
support from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The RM-CRC and PPC will host an annual
institution-wide Cannabis Research Day at AMC. This and other PPC dissemination and outreach efforts will
encourage and attract both junior investigators and established investigators from a broad multiple
subspecialties, who may not have previously engaged in cannabis research, to apply for RM-CRC pilot grant
awards. The PPC will establish an environment that promotes the career development of new investigators
and fosters innovation and interdisciplinary cannabis research to expand the diversity of the UC-AMC research
portfolio and cannabis research community (Aim 2).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10912675
- **Project number:** 5P50DA056408-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Paula DeGraffenreid Riggs
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $457,995
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10912675

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10912675, Pilot Project Core (5P50DA056408-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10912675. Licensed CC0.

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