# Pilot Studies Component

> **NIH NIH P2C** · REHABILITATION INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO D/B/A SHIRLEY RYAN ABILITYLAB · 2020 · $271,828

## Abstract

Project Summary—Administrative Oversight 
The mission of the Center for Smart Use of Technologies to Assess Real-World Outcomes (C-STAR) is to 
serve as a unique resource to the national rehabilitation research community. In order to maximize our ability 
to advance rehabilitation research and improve outcomes for persons with disability, we will create an agile, 
responsive, and efficient administrative structure that optimizes our ability to provide valuable expertise and 
resources to researchers and clinicians, including efficient collaboration with other Centers. Our overall goal is 
to create an organizational structure that allows efficient managerial oversight, clearly defines the 
responsibilities of key personnel, and provides easy access to C-STAR resources and expertise. Specifically, 
we will create a pilot program project that solicits applications from a diverse population of researchers, provide 
collaborative learning opportunities to the research community, develop technologies to advance the ability to 
measure real-world outcomes, market C-STAR nationally through social media and other unique resources, 
and solicit biennial input from an independent advisory board of stakeholders. 
We have assigned experienced leadership to manage each of the Center components: cores, didactic 
interactions, and hands on interactions. An Executive Committee, comprising Core directors, the principal 
investigators, and the pilot project committee chair, will meet monthly to evaluate progress, address problems, 
and document activities and outputs. The Executive Committee will also monitor Center budgets and key 
personnel effort to ensure that Center resources are used efficiently and distributed effectively among various 
Center activities. On an ad hoc basis, C-STAR personnel will also participate in (1) didactic efforts, (2) 
programs such as IdeaLabs in which clinicians and researchers explore new ideas in structured “white board” 
sessions, and pilot project reviews, and (3) evaluation and mentoring of pilot studies. The guiding strategy 
used to create our core leadership was to choose co-directors who are accomplished professionals, 
representing both Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (SRAlab) and Northwestern University (NU), and encompass a 
diversity of research experience and gender. Our core directors will serve as a point-of-contact for C-STAR 
inquiries, assist in the reviewing of pilot projects, participate in IdeaLabs and draw appropriate colleagues into 
these reviews, and feed new technology development ideas into the technology core. All core directors have 
leadership experience; some are very senior researchers with extensive experience. 
We are also proposing a novel budgeting model, based on our previous experience with infrastructure grants, 
in which cores are often either under- or over-utilized. We propose use of the “value based” accounting (VBA) 
method in which funds are shifted, as needed, to the appropriate core. Finally,...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9967460
- **Project number:** 1P2CHD101899-01
- **Recipient organization:** REHABILITATION INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO D/B/A SHIRLEY RYAN ABILITYLAB
- **Principal Investigator:** Richard L. Lieber
- **Activity code:** P2C (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $271,828
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-05-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9967460

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9967460, Pilot Studies Component (1P2CHD101899-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9967460. Licensed CC0.

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