Pilot Grants

The goal of the pilot grant program is to provide a mechanism to test the most promising and novel clinical and translational projects, and help investigators obtain preliminary data necessary for successful investigator-initiated extramural grants.

Meet Our Awardees

Successful applicants will receive up to $50,000 for one year, as well as access to resources of the Great Plains IDeA-CTR to support these research efforts. The priorities for pilot grant projects are a combination of scientific and regional needs developed by the network's community advisory board.

Our intention is to support work that moves science forward and can be applied to address regional health issues.

Priority Areas

• Behavioral health, including mental health, substance abuse, and violence as a public health issue.
• Obesity treatment and prevention.
• Aging and age-related cognitive impairment.
• Injury prevention.
• Technologies and models to improve health access, including the evaluation of new or existing tools, such as  telehealth, with a focus on rural populations.
• Connecting clinical care and community services, such as schools, food banks, YMCAs and more.
• Addressing health disparities based on social determinants, race, ethnicity and geography.

Across these areas, highest priority will be given to the strongest science and those projects most likely to lead to successful extramural funding. In addition, projects that make an impact on medically disadvantaged, underrepresented minority, and/or geographically or clinically isolated populations and can introduce or evaluate new tools or technologies useful in these populations are of high interest.

To increase the likelihood of a strong scientific proposal, applicants are encouraged to engage in new or existing interdisciplinary collaborations, inter-institution proposals, and to develop links to other existing IDeA programs (INBRE and COBRE) in the participating Great Plains region.