# Coordination Center Component

> **NIH NIH P2C** · REHABILITATION INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO D/B/A SHIRLEY RYAN ABILITYLAB · 2020 · $221,500

## Abstract

Project Summary—Pilot Studies 
Providing critical pilot funding to support state-of-the-art, clinically relevant studies by junior researchers across 
the country is an essential service of our “Center for use of Smart Technologies to Assess Real-world 
Performance (C-STAR) Medical Rehabilitation Resource program. We will use several methods to reach 
members of our target populations (primarily junior rehabilitation researchers and clinicians) across the country: 
(i) our C-STAR website, (ii) our Rehabilitation Measures Database—which attracts an average of about 11,000 
daily hits from precisely the individuals who may be candidates for pilot funding, and (iii) through professional 
interactions—our PIs, Core Directors and key personnel will reach out to potential applicants during the many 
relevant meetings they attend nationwide. We will take steps to ensure that our outreach targets individuals from 
underrepresented populations in rehabilitation research through targeted outreach to historically black colleges 
and universities and to offices of minority affairs at other universities. Application for C-STAR pilot funding will 
be a two-stage process. First, we will require a simple Letter of Intent (LOI) that includes the project title, a half- 
page description of the specific aims, an NIH-style biosketch for the investigator and key personnel, and a cover 
page that asks for information that will allow us to select a review panel with appropriate expertise (i.e., 
engineering, outcomes, clinical, implementation and community engagement), based on the goals of the project, 
subject population, and domain of the research (in-lab, in-clinic, or real-world assessments, or two or more 
intersecting domains). If the LOI is selected, we will require a full application, one month later, that will consist 
of an additional 3-page summary of the approach, a budget, and a letter of support from the home institution. 
The LOI and full application will be submitted through our C-STAR portal and managed through NITRO- 
competitions software, developed by Northwestern University Clinical and Translation Sciences Institute. 
Applications will be objectively evaluated by Center Core Directors and relevant key personnel; Leora Cherney, 
PhD, Pilot Studies Director, will convene the review panel and oversee the review process. We anticipate a wide 
variety of funded studies, in terms of the study type, patient population under study, and the technologies 
employed. We will solicit applications twice a year and award 6 pilot projects per year, each with a total direct 
cost of up to $25,000. In addition, full institutional indirect costs will be provided to ensure pilot funding is used 
for research. All applicants will receive extensive feedback on their projects and mentorship from C-STAR faculty 
as desired or needed. Applicants who are funded may choose whether to conduct their research at their home 
institution or at SRAlab. Applicants will have acces...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9967458
- **Project number:** 1P2CHD101899-01
- **Recipient organization:** REHABILITATION INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO D/B/A SHIRLEY RYAN ABILITYLAB
- **Principal Investigator:** Leora R Cherney
- **Activity code:** P2C (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $221,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-05-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9967458

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9967458, Coordination Center Component (1P2CHD101899-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9967458. Licensed CC0.

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