(CTER) Pilot Studies
Request for Applications: Deadline February 29, 2012
The Center for Therapeutic Effectiveness Research (CTER) will fund several one-year pilot projects beginning in June, 2012 to support research aligned with its mission. Newly established with funding from the Perelman School of Medicine's Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Department of Medicine, CTER aims to improve public health through enhancement of the effectiveness of currently available therapies (including medications, devices, and vaccines). CTER engages in multidisciplinary efforts to address the challenges of developing and testing interventions to improve effectiveness and determining strategies to implement these methods in practice. Stephen Kimmel, MD, MSCE, Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division and Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, is the founding director of CTER.CTER Pilot Study Requirements
Pilot studies should consist of either the design of an intervention that would subsequently lead to a clinical trial or a pilot clinical trial that would lead to a larger scale intervention. Research questions must focus on therapeutics (including medications, devices, or vaccines) and must be in one of four areas:
- methods for performing clinical effectiveness trials
- adherence
- personalized medicine (e.g., pharmacogenetics)
- implementation strategies
Within these four areas, the following are particular topics of interest: patient adherence; choice, dosing, or monitoring of medications; prescriber behavior; pharmacogenetics; transition of care interventions; and clinical trial methods development.
Specific examples include (but are not limited to):
- Developing, assessing, and/or applying novel study designs for adapting therapeutic approaches based on patient response
- Testing new methods to improve patient adherence to therapy
- Examining how the communication of genetic risk information affects health behavior
- Testing the utility of genetic-based drug dosing
- Comparing organizational vs. individual interventions to change prescriber behavior
- Quantifying the effectiveness of individual components of a hospital-based initiative to improve transitions of care
- Evaluating the use of electronic health records as a tool for increasing clinical trial efficiency or for the delivery of interventions within trials
It is expected that pilot study data will serve as the basis for future extramural funding and continued involvement with CTER.
Award: Each pilot study will be funded up to $25,000, for personnel and/or other study costs. Awardees are required to provide a report at the end of the funding period.
Eligibility: Principal Investigators must be Penn faculty members or predoctoral/postdoctoral fellows with a primary faculty mentor.
Review Process: Applications will be evaluated by a scientific review group for their relevance to CTER objectives, scientific merit, innovation, and potential for future extramural funding.
Application Instructions
Use the following format:
- Completed cover page (MS DOC)
- Abstract, 250 words maximum
- Budget and brief budget justification
- Investigator(s) biosketch(s) (NIH format)
- Research proposal including: Specific aims, Significance, Innovation, and Approach
(not to exceed a total of 5 pages combined, single space, 11 inch font, 1/2 inch
margins.)
- Human Subjects (NIH format)
- References
Deadline for applications is February 29, 2012 and selected applicants will be notified in April, 2012.
Send Cover Page and a PDF application by February 29, 2012 to sabarile@mail.med.upenn.edu
Please direct any questions to sabarile@mail.med.upenn.edu