Obesity Research Center at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center

Pilot and Feasibility Program

sponsored by the

New York Obesity Research Center

The Pilot and Feasibility (P & F) Program provides start-up money to new investigators in the field of obesity and, occasionally, established investigators seeking new directions within the field of obesity. This program seeks to offer investigators a "springboard" to more substantial funding for obesity research from the National Institutes of Health and other funding bodies. Each P&F proposal is reviewed by at least two reviewers and selection for final funding is made by the Executive Committee of the New York Obesity Research Center.

Interested investigators are asked to submit a 1 or 2-page "letter of intent" along with a NIH bio-sketch. From these letters, a smaller group of investigators are asked to submit a more extensive application. The number of funded applications depends on the amount of funding available but averages 4 grants per cycle. Applications will be funded for 1 year with the possibility of a second year renewal. In the past, funding has typically been approved at $15,000 and is not to exceed $20,000 per grant year.

Purpose: The goal of the Pilot and Feasibility Studies Program is to provide seed money to attract new investigators, both junior or established, into the study of obesity in association with the New York Obesity Research Center.

Grant Money Available: Applications will be funded at a maximum of $20,000 per year for 2 years. Funding is generally approved for 1 year with the possibility of a second year renewal. No indirect costs are paid.

Core Laboratory Support: Recipients may obtain additional technical support through the Core Laboratories of the New York Obesity Research Center. Arrangements should be discussed with the Core Lab director before submission of a P&F application. Cores laboratories are funded by the Center to provide services to ORC investigators and include: 1) Adipose Tissue & Molecular Biology, 2) Human Body Composition & Energy Expenditure, 3) Hormone & Metabolite, 4) Animal Body Composition & Energy Metabolism, 5) Human Ingestive Behavior, 6) Biostatistics, 7) Animal Ingestive Behavior, and 8) Outpatient. These laboratories may assist investigators in designing studies, collecting certain data, performing certain measurements, and conducting analyses. Use of core laboratories is encouraged and looked upon favorably in the review process.

Who is Eligible: Junior Investigators beginning their research career focusing on Obesity, or Senior Investigators for whom Obesity research is a change of direction. Interested investigators must have completed their doctoral level degree at least 2 years prior to receiving a Pilot & Feasibility Grant.

Letter of Intent: Interested investigators are asked to submit a 1 or 2-page letter of intent. This letter should include a statement of the hypothesis, a paragraph of background information, a description of the experimental design and a summary of the proposed methods. From these letters of intent, applicants will be selected to submit a 5 to 7-page grant proposal. The deadline for letters of intent is the fourth Wednesday ofÝMay.

Proposal: The NIH format to follow includes the following: (bio-sketch, other support page, budget)