Developmental Pilot Awards

Please see the current Program Guidelines for complete eligibility information. If you have any questions about eligibility, please contact the Developmental Core Director (Liz Lowenthal, MD MSCE; lowenthale@chop.edu)

General Pilot Awards: Faculty members

Mentored Research Scholar Awards: Young Investigators (Pre-Faculty)

Young investigators at the Instructor, Research Associate, Wistar Staff Scientist, or Wistar Research Assistant Professor level are eligible for mentored awards. Senior fellows will also be considered if they have institutional commitment for a pre-faculty position at the time the award will start. Applicants should be poised to begin an independent research program. If you have any questions about eligibility, please contact the Developmental Core Director (Liz Lowenthal, MD MSCE).

Mentored Research Scholar Award applications must include a letter of support from their scientific mentor. For fellows, an institutional letter of support is also required. In addition to these letters, a one-page mentorship plan is required. Guidelines for the Mentorship Plan are available through the CFAR website.

If you have any questions about eligibility, please contact Developmental Core Director (Liz Lowenthal, MD MSCE).)

The Penn Center for AIDS Research (Penn CFAR) is not currently accepting Pilot Grant applications. However, our Microgrant Program accepts applications on a rolling basis throughout the year. For more details, please visit the Microgrant Program here.

The Developmental Core is intended to help pilot grant applicants achieve the following goals:

• Translate the pilot grant application into a subsequent competitive external funding application (i.e., NIH or other agency)
• Gain familiarity with the Penn CFAR and CFAR Cores and services.
• Network with local like-minded professionals. The Core provides opportunities to interact with colleagues in the Penn CFAR and can provide introductions to colleagues working throughout the University of Pennsylvania, The Wistar Institute, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
• Identify potential opportunities for extramural collaboration.
• Develop awareness of policies and procedures relevant to the awardee’s work (e.g., clear understanding of human subjects and/or animal research requirements, international research guidelines, good clinical practice).
• Achieve career advancement and work towards independence as HIV-focused researchers.
• Establish an ethically sound research environment.
• Assist applicants whose pilot submissions were not funded to address reviewers’ concerns to achieve success in the following application cycle.

In accepting the Pilot Grant, awardees agree to:

1. Obtain all necessary ethical approvals and undergo successful NIH scientific review prior to release of funding. Awardees will complete the NIH Human Subjects Study Record required for all projects with a human subjects component. To determine if your project has a human subjects component, please see the NIH Questionnaire.
2. In presentations, abstracts, and publications, acknowledge CFAR funding with either of the following, as appropriate:
   • Direct CFAR Funding Support: This research was supported by a grant from the Penn Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH-funded program (P30 AI 045008).
   • Indirect/Partial Funding Support: This publication/presentation/grant proposal was made possible through core services and support from the Penn Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH-funded program (P30 AI 045008).
3. Participate in general professional development activities and research-in-progress sessions, such as Pilot Feedback Talks coordinated by the CFAR Developmental Core, both for added feedback on active awards and to learn more about what others are doing in the CFAR community and opportunities for collaboration.
4. Utilize the resources of the CFAR to maximize their research success by participating actively in the program relationship and engaging both chosen and assigned CFAR faculty in the process of transforming the pilot award grant into a subsequent grant submission. Mentored awardees should engage the mentor(s) at all stages of grant preparation, from the initial conception of an idea to the final grant submission.
   • The CFAR faculty’s time and the CFAR Developmental Core are valuable resources. The awardee/applicant is responsible for asking for assistance when needed and being fully prepared for mentoring meetings. Preparatory materials such as an agenda, pending papers, drafts of future grant-specific aims, or other information should be provided at least 2 weeks in advance of meetings.
   • Mentored pilot awardees must provide the CFAR mentor(s) with a copy of any grant application in a reasonable time (i.e., at least 4 weeks for NIH K- and R-series awards) for feedback. This timeline requires that mentorship starts well before submission (i.e., at least 3 months prior to the due date) to allow for revision and final critical review.
   • To monitor the progress of the Pilot project and submission of a subsequent grant application, the awardee must meet at least twice a year, more if indicated in the mentoring plan or as requested by his/her CFAR faculty mentor. Awardees/applicants agree to send a preparatory e-mail to the mentor outlining the topics to be covered and their goals for each mentoring meeting.
5. Take advantage of opportunities for collaborative research within the Penn CFAR and other CFARs nationwide.
6. Complete brief quarterly progress reports that review progress, spending, highlights, and next steps, and track abstracts/presentations/publications during the period of the award.
7. Complete annual surveys for at least 5 years after completion of the award.

Click here to see a list of all previous recipients of CFAR Developmental Pilot Awards  (PennKey required).