Research

TMC Digestive Disease Center Funding

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Texas Medical Center Digestive Diseases Center Pilot/Feasibility Awards

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The Texas Medical Center Digestive Diseases Center provides support to pilot/feasibility (P/F) projects in the area of GI-related research each year. These funds specifically support projects related to the theme for the DDC. The overall theme of the DDC is “Molecular mechanisms and outcomes of injury, infection, or metabolic dysfunction of the digestive system” with digestive-disease-related subthemes centering on:

  • Infection (including host-microbe interactions and microbiome)
  • Injury (including tumorigenesis and stem cell response)
  • Metabolism (including diseases associated with obesity and the gut-brain axis).

GI is defined as the gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas. Injury is defined as drug, genetic, ischemic, inflammatory, surgical, nutritional, or stress-induced injury to the gastrointestinal tract. Injury also includes gastrointestinal adaptation and stem cells. Proposed projects must fall within one of the above mentioned subthemes.  Awards range between $35,000 to $50,000 for a period of one year. A committee composed of the DDC Internal Advisory Board, plus ad hoc members, evaluates proposals.

Anyone interested in applying for a DDC Pilot Feasibility Award is welcome to participate in a hybridd Q&A Session on Thursday, August 17, 2023 at 2:00 pm in 187A at Baylor College of Medicine. Zoom access is also available. For more information about this online session, please contact the DDC administrator, Sara Tristan or the DDC coordinator, Dionysia Briscoe.  

Eligibility

Trainees who are recipients of an NRSA individual award (F32) or are supported by an training grant (K08, K22, T32) are eligible for P/F funds, IF they are in their last year of training, have at least one year of research experience, and have suitable expertise and independence to design and carry out the planned experiments. Trainees also should have a commitment from a senior scientist to sponsor their projects and assurance of future faculty appointment from Section/Dept Head. U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status is not required.

Application Guidelines

All persons interested in submitting an application should initially submit a Notice of Intent with a tentative application title, and the name of the PI, any co-PIs, and their affiliations via the online system. Questions can be directed to DDC administrator, Sara Tristan or the DDC coordinator, Dionysia Briscoe. The online system will be made available Aug. 18, 2023 and Notice of Intent must be received by Sept. 8, 2023. This should include PI information, tentative project title, and a brief description of the study. A notice of intent is required for any interested applicant.

Applicant must adhere to the application instructions and include the required cover sheet when submitting their application. The completed application (including the Summary Sheet) should be submitted as one PDF file via our online system by  5 p.m. CST on Friday, October 13, 2023. You will receive a confirmation email once you have submitted your application. If you do not receive a notification, email DDC administrator, Sara Tristan or the DDC coordinator, Dionysia Briscoe prior to the 5 p.m. CST deadline.

View the online application
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This Program Supports

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New investigators without current or past NIH research support who are seeking to obtain preliminary data to establish a research program in GI-research. Established, funded investigators with no previous work in digestive-disease related areas but who wish to test the applicability of their expertise to a digestive disease-related problem.

Established investigators in digestive disease-related areas who wish to test the feasibility of a new or innovative idea, which constitutes a significant departure from their funded research and initiates a new collaboration with another researcher.

 

Click to view 2023/2024 program announcement