# Program Development and Pilot Core

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · 2020 · $416,035

## Abstract

Program Development and Pilot Core (PD): Abstract
The overall goal of the Program Development and Pilot Core (PD) is to promote innovative research to offer
new insights critical to furthering the health and well-being of an aging and diverse US population. The
Program Development and Pilot Core (PD) will be charged with guiding and nurturing the development of the
Center’s research program and pilot project portfolio relevant to the Center’s three thematic research areas: 1)
Life-course precursors of advantage and disadvantage at older ages, 2) Family demography, social
engagement, and social isolation, and 3) Place, aging, and health. The PD Core has 3 Specific Aims: 1) Foster
the development of innovative pilot project ideas and proposals, 2) Provide programs and activities to ensure
pilot project productivity and success, and 3) Ramp up inventive pilot project results to develop larger projects
that advance the field.
Activities to foster innovative pilot ideas and high caliber pilot proposals include large conferences focused on
issues at the forefront of NIA research priorities; focused workshops concentrating on conceptual innovations,
state-of-the-art methods, and novel and rich data sources; and pilot proposal development sessions. Pilot
projects will focus on research questions central to NIA strategic priorities and CAPS research themes to
illuminate how exposures and experiences throughout life influence diversity in aging and health. Activities to
ensure pilot success include benchmark monitoring and response plans, administrative and research services
to support pilot research, and assignment of a faculty mentor to early-career investigators. Pilot projects will be
selected based on their potential to advance scholarship on aging and lead to a larger project and NIA grant
submissions. The transition from pilot to larger research projects and the preparation of grant submissions
based on pilot results will be supported by a Grant Writing Bootcamp to train new investigators in
grantsmanship and by mock NIA-review sessions via the Workshop that Grant program for both established
and new investigators. The PD Core will work closely with the AR Core to develop and deliver programs and
activities to ensure pilot project development and success, including high-impact publications and NIA grant
submissions for larger studies based on pilot projects. The ability to achieve these goals is greatly enhanced by
the shared resources and vibrant community of population scientists associated with UT Austin’s nationally-
recognized Population Research Center (PRC); the PRC has extensive experience in managing pilot programs
and activities, as well as in the preparation and submission of large research project proposals.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9941540
- **Project number:** 1P30AG066614-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
- **Principal Investigator:** KAREN L FINGERMAN
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $416,035
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9941540

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9941540, Program Development and Pilot Core (1P30AG066614-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9941540. Licensed CC0.

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