# Pilot Projects

> **NIH NIH P30** · VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $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:** 9944642
- **Project number:** 5P30DA033934-07
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** SANDRA P. WELCH
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $102,990
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9944642

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9944642, Pilot Projects (5P30DA033934-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9944642. Licensed CC0.

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