Pilot and Feasibility Grants
Funding opportunities for IBD and digestive disease research.
Pilot/Feasibility Study Funding Opportunities
Now in its 33rd year, the CSIBD promotes the research of both basic and clinical scientists in a wide range of areas relevant to gastrointestinal and liver diseases. These include, but are not limited to:
- Signaling Pathways in Gut-Brain Communication
- Exploratory Studies for Delineating the Microbiome in Human Health
- Epithelial Cell Biology (including regulation of stem cells and membrane biology)
- Tissue Immunity (including mucosal immunology, innate immune recognition, antigen presentation and adaptive immunity, fibrosis, and spatial transcriptomics)
- Machine Learning and AI Applications in Gastrointestinal Disease
- Translational Human Immunology (including autoimmune diseases, GI cancers, and COVID-19)
Goals
Funds have been made available to support Pilot/Feasibility Study grants consistent with the overall goals of the Center. The goals of the CSIBD's Pilot/Feasibility Study Program are to support:
- Young investigators (senior fellows* or junior faculty) working in areas that will improve our understanding of basic processes relevant to inflammatory bowel disease.
- Established investigators initiating a new area of research in their laboratories relevant to mechanisms underlying inflammatory bowel disease.
The objective of a Pilot/Feasibility Study grant is to enable an investigator to complete sufficient preliminary studies to enable successful application for more substantial funding from other sources. Pilot/Feasibility Study grants are not intended to supplement ongoing or currently funded projects. Participation in another digestive disease center precludes eligibility for these grants.
* Fellow must be in the final year of training and must have a documented commitment to a faculty appointment by the sponsoring unit or department.
Funding
The CSIBD will fund three grants of up to $35,000 each (direct costs) through this program. Pilot/Feasibility Study awards are made for a one-year period; a second year will be considered on a competing basis. Awards made to institutions other than MGH will not receive indirect costs.
Applications
Submit an abstract to Lindsay Ware (lware@mgh.harvard.edu) to request an application.
Other Funding Sources
Follow the links below to find information about other funding opportunities.
Recipients of Previous Pilot and Feasibility Program Awards
| 2024 |
Jonathan Strecker, PhD Assistant Professor, Genetics Erica Warner, MPH Assistant Professor, Medicine |
| 2023 |
Francesca Gazzaniga, PhD Assistant Professor, Medicine Benjamin Kleinstiver, PhD Associate Professor, Pathology Lauren Orefice, PhD Assistant Professor, Genetics Rachel Wolfson, MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Cell Biology |
| 2022 |
Ruth Franklin, PhD Assistant Professor, Immunology Norbert Perrimon, PhD Professor, Genetics Rod Rahimi, MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Medicine Christopher Smillie, PhD Assistant Professor, Medicine |
| 2021 |
Bharati Kochar, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine Tracey Simon, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine |
| 2020 |
Hilary Finucane, PhD Schmidt Fellow Hailiang Huang, PhD Instructor of Medicine Matthew Henke, PhD Instructor, Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology |
| 2019 |
Tami Lieberman, PhD Assistant Professor, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science Caroline Sokol, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine Alexandra-Chloe Villani, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine |
| 2018 |
Sabina Islam, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine James Moon, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine David Drew, PhD Instructor in Medicine Gaurav Gaiha, MD, PhD Instructor in Medicine |
| 2017 |
Michael Dougan, MD, PhD Instructor in Medicine Russell Goodman, MD, PhD Instructor in Medicine Aylwin Ng, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine |
| 2016 |
Kate Jeffrey, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine Hamed Khalili, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine Alan Mullen, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine |
| 2015 |
Robert Anthony, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine Timothy Lu, MD, PhD Associate Professor of Biological Engineering and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Deanna Nguyen, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine Jolan Walter, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Omer Yilmaz, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Biology |
| 2014 |
John Garber, MD Instructor in Medicine Kate Jeffrey, PhD Instructor in Medicine Stanley Shaw, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine Omer Yilmaz, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Biology |