Pilot Projects
The pilot projects are a major mechanism to stimulate new interdisciplinary collaborations and to attract new and established investigators from relevant disciplines to the study of health disparities.
The Pilot Research process is guided by the following principles:
- To be proactive in stimulating and generating ideas for proposals.
- To partner with other funding sources at UTMB to increase the pool of funds available for pilot research in health disparities.
- Priority is given to interdisciplinary projects.
- Not all pilot projects sponsored by the CPHHD will require pilot funds.
- To actively encourage and recruit participation of faculty from underrepresented minority groups.
Pilot project applications must be directly responsive to the research objectives described in the RFA for the CPHHD, but they do not have to be directly related to the theme of the UTMB CPHHD (Hispanic Health).
The UTMB CPHHD has funded several pilot studies to young investigators. These pilots have brought new basic and clinical scientists into the field of health disparities research.
2005-06 Pilot Studies:
- Immunologic Determinants in HCV Infection among African-Americans – PI, Jiaren Sun, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology;
- A pilot project to establish a CPHHD Sample Reference Center – PI, Raymond Stowe, PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology
- Estimating the prevalence of monoclonal gammopathy among Hispanics in Galveston County – PI, Amin A. Mohammad, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology.
2006-07 Pilot Studies:
- Development of Biomarkers to Assess Community Level Exposure to Toxicants – PI, Jonathan B. Ward, PhD, Professor and Director of Environmental Toxicology, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health
- Ethnicity and Socio-economic Factors – Their Effects on Uterine Activity and Birth Outcomes – PIs, William Maner and Robert E. Garfield, PhD, Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- The Impact of Regional Perinatal Care at UTMB : A Comparative Analysis – PI, Michael Malloy, MD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics
