The Miami CTSI Pilot Program awards innovative, interdisciplinary, clinical translational science proposals that clearly align with the CTSI goals of improving the health of our community, addressing health disparities, and promoting health equity. These projects are expected to generate publications and data for external funding.

As many as four meritorious projects of up to $40,000 each (for direct costs only), will be funded for fiscal year 2024. Funding is prioritized for projects that directly relate to health disparities, or address challenges in health areas that disproportionately affect minority health and/or underserved populations.

The award period is 12 months, with an estimated project period of January 2024 – December 2024 (start date subject to NIH/NCATS prior approval).

Please refer to the Funding Opportunity Announcement for complete details and requirements.

• Pilot projects must be focused on clinical translational science (CTS) – understanding a scientific or operational principle underlying a step of the translational process with the goal of developing generalizable principles to accelerate translational research. Translational research projects, i.e., projects focused on crossing a particular step of the translational process for a particular target or disease, are not allowed.
• Projects are intended to: (1) explore innovative new leads or new directions in an area of CTS; (2) stimulate investigators from other areas to lend their expertise in research in CTS; and (3) provide initial support to establish proof of concept. For detailed information, visit NCATS Translational Spectrum.
• Research projects conducted outside of the U.S. to any extent will not be considered.
• Only new applications and first resubmissions to any UM internal award mechanism are allowed.

All criteria must be met as of application due date on July 24, 2023.

• Only full-time faculty at the ranks of Assistant or Associate Professors are eligible to apply as Principal Investigators (PI). Full Professors may serve only as co-investigators or mentors.
• Jackson Health System and Miami VA full-time faculty may apply as PI, with at least one full-time UM faculty co-investigator.
• Residents, instructors, staff, post-doctoral and clinical fellows are not eligible to apply as Principal Investigator.
• Proposals submitted by women, individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, and/or individuals from racial/ethnic groups underrepresented in sciences and medicine are encouraged. For more information, please visit NIH guidance on underrepresented groups in the extramural scientific workforce.

Please review to the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for complete details and requirements.

Proposal submission is a two-step process that requires both a Letter of Intent (LOI) and a Full Application. The LOI is a structured electronic questionnaire.

Complete the online LOI here.
Submissions that are incomplete or otherwise do not follow instructions will not be considered for review.

Applicants will be invited to submit their full application based on eligibility criteria and the potential scientific merit of the project described in the LOI. We strongly encourage attending the information session to gain a clear understanding of this call for applications focused on clinical and translational science.

Have questions after reviewing the RFA and the recording of our informational session? You may email the program contacts below.

The Miami CTSI is funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health. Awarded pilot projects involving human subjects and/or live vertebrate animals must receive approval from NCATS prior to starting project (drawing down funds) and can only be obtained with valid IRB/IACUC/IBC required regulatory approval documentation and numerous other documents. The preparation for prior approval typically takes 15 to 30 days to submit to NCATS. NCATS approval typically takes a minimum of 30 days. The CTSI Team will work with awardees to ensure prior approval requirements are met and documentation is submitted. Failure to obtain NCATS Prior Approval could result in revocation of award.

Who to Contact

If you have questions about the pilot awards program, please contact:

• Dalton Dietrich, Ph.D., Director, Miami CTSI Pilot Translational and Clinical Studies Program [email protected]
• Melanie Couch, MHA, Director, Research Operations, Miami CTSI [email protected]