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San Diego Digestive Diseases Research Center SDDRC
  1. San Diego Digestive Diseases Research Center (SDDRC)
  2. Pilot Projects
  3. 2024–2025 Pilot/Feasibility Grants

SDDRC 2024–2025 Pilot/Feasibility Grants

The SDDRC is pleased to announce a new round of pilot/feasibility grants for the 2024–25 academic year. We anticipate making three to four awards of $40,000 each in digestive diseases research.

Digestive Diseases Research Awards

The awards focus on innovative research in digestive diseases that addresses an important challenge in the field and has a high chance of generating novel hypotheses and feasibility data in support of new external funding.

Particular emphasis is placed on promising projects from early-career investigators, generally at the assistant professor or equivalent level, but applications from senior post-doctoral fellows will also be considered if they are candidates for a faculty appointment during the award period.

In addition, proposals by established investigators that tackle new topics and directions will be entertained. However, applicants are expected to make a strong case for the novelty of the proposed work relative to past studies. Furthermore, investigators at risk of losing funding in the near future are encouraged to apply for the research awards to increase their chances of continued future funding.

Projects can be in basic science, translational research, or clinical studies. Projects must be within the mission of the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition (DDN) of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), which supports research related to digestive diseases, including the alimentary tract, liver and pancreas, nutrition and obesity.

Studies focused on established cancer (e.g. metastases or treatment regimens) are not eligible for support (though studies on precancerous conditions are acceptable).

In all cases, the applications need to justify how the available funds and time frames are generally adequate to achieve the project goals.

Eligibility

Investigators must have a faculty position (including adjunct, project, and research scientist positions) during the award period at one of the academic institutions that participate in the SDDRC: UC San Diego, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

The application can be submitted before a faculty appointment, but the award will only be made if an appointment is actively proceeding.

Current membership in the SDDRC is not a requirement. Investigators not affiliated with SDDRC will be named associate members upon receipt of an award.

Proposal Guidelines

Applicants are encouraged to submit a letter of intent (LOI) with a brief summary (250 words) of the project at any time before submission of a full application. This will be an opportunity to provide early feedback to applicants to ensure eligibility and proper scientific focus for improving their chances of success. An LOI is not required before submission of a full application.

The following information must be submitted in the full application (formatting of the application materials should follow standard National Institutes of Health (NIH) requirements, i.e., Arial, 11 pt minimum, single-spaced, 0.5-inch page margins):

  1. Completed application form.
  2. Abstract (maximum 250 words) with a brief description of the project, including hypothesis, description of the aims, conceptual and/or technical innovation, and relationship to the overall SDDRC theme of inflammation in the digestive tract.
  3. Lay language summary (100 words): The applications will be reviewed and evaluated by members of the SDDRC Community Advisory Board (CAB), so a layperson should be able to understand the overall purpose of the proposed studies.
  4. Research Plan: NIH format following the current NIH instructions with sections on significance, innovation, and research strategy; 4 pages maximum, including any preliminary studies but excluding references.
  5. References (no page limit).
  6. Plan for future funding (1-page maximum): Explain plans for future extramural funding, including agencies and mechanisms, and discuss why and how the studies supported by the current award will be critical for facilitating such funding (e.g. critical preliminary data to address novel hypotheses or other bottlenecks to overcome).
  7. Biographical sketch(es) of key personnel (NIH format; 5 pages maximum) with information on current funding support (project titles and periods, approximate annual direct costs).
  8. Simplified budget (1/2 page maximum) to allow assessment of how funds will be used for advancing the proposed research.

Before final selection, the top-scoring applicants will be asked to present a brief oral summary of their project and address questions of the selection committee at the next SDDRC Symposium on
Friday, February 21 2025.

Post-Award Selection Requirements

Upon selection of a project, additional requirements must be met before final awards can be made:

  • Budget and budget justification (NIH format, 1 page). Funds up to $40,000 can be requested for any legitimate expense of the project proposed, including salary support for the principal investigator (PI) and/or laboratory personnel, supplies, equipment, and travel to professional meetings relevant to the proposal. Indirect costs are not payable on the awards.
  • Evidence of institutional approval for any animal and/or human studies, if proposed.
  • Commitment to sharing and preserving the data generated before acceptance of the grant and the commencing of experiments.
  • After the 1-year award period, awardees are required to orally present their project and progress during the annual SDDRC symposium (which will be in February 2026 for the awards in the current 2024/25 cycle).
  • Self-reported demographic data.

Application & Relevant Dates

  • Submission deadline: Sunday, December 01, 2024, at 11:59 p.m.
  • Application process:
  • Anticipated start date for awards: March 2025