SCTR Pilot Awards Lead to High -Impact Research

The South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research (SCTR) Institute’s Pilot Grants program supports innovative research spanning the translational spectrum – from basic science to population health. Each year, the Pilots Program awards a variety of grants including Translational Science Challenge awards, High Innovation – High Reward grants, and the biannual Discovery Pilot Award.

With these grants, SCTR aims to support translational science and provide study teams the opportunity to collect critical preliminary data that they can use for submission of extramural grant applications and to publish, disseminate, or implement research findings.

Celebrating Unexpected Outcomes

Rachel Tomko, Ph.D., an Associate Professor at MUSC, was awarded a SCTR Special Commission Project Award in 2019. For the project, her team partnered with MUSC’s Biomedical Informatics Center (BMIC) to create an electronic participant database that integrates with REDCap.

“The intention of the database was to facilitate a centralized screening and recruitment process, Entryway, across studies recruiting a similar patient population,” she said.

“We formally launched Entryway in 2021 to recruit and screen potential participations for select studies focused on substance use disorders.”

Since the launch, almost 600 individuals have completed the screening assessment in Entryway. Many of these individuals have gone on to enroll in one of the group’s participating studies, including 3 R01s, 1 R21, 1 program project, 2 K12 projects, and one pilot project.

“An unexpected outcome of Entryway that we’ve also observed is a streamlined startup process for participating studies.”

The success of the Entryway model has led to an accepted peer-reviewed journal article as well as two upcoming symposia presentations at national conferences.

Pilot Grants Open Doors to Further Opportunities

One of the missions of SCTR’s Pilot Grants program is to provide researchers funding to collect preliminary data that will lead to further opportunities for extramural funding, publications, and intellectual property.

“These grants enable us to pursue follow-up projects building upon the groundwork laid in the published research.” -- Dr. Jezabel Rodriguez Blanco 

In 2021, Jezabel Rodriguez Blanco, Ph.D., was awarded a Discovery Pilot award. Because of this grant, her lab had access to essential resources that supported the collection of final pieces of data. The collection of this data led to publication in Science Advances.

“The acceptance of this publication subsequently opened doors to further opportunities, leading to the acquisition of three grants: the V Foundation Scholar Award, Vince Lombardi Research Grant, and Alex’s Lemonade Stand “A” Award,” she said.

“These grants enable us to pursue follow-up projects building upon the groundwork laid in the published research.”

Now, the team is delving deeper into their work on understanding mechanisms underlying treatment resistance and medulloblastoma relapse.

“[We are] enhancing our understanding of critical areas in the field of pediatric oncology.”

Exploring New Areas of Research

Past Discovery Pilot awardees have gone on to receive extramural funding, publish their work, and obtain patents and other intellectual property.

In 2018, SCTR awarded Hongkuan Fan, Ph.D., a Discovery award for his project on gut microbiome.

The Pilot Project Program allowed Dr. Fan to explore new areas of research beyond the gut microbiome, which has proven to be incredibly valuable for his professional growth.

“Given the continuous evolution of science, novel research subjects and areas emerge frequently. It’s important that we remain adaptable in embracing fresh concepts, cutting-edge technologies, and unexplored research areas. Engaging with a new field offers us a comprehensive understanding of its alignment with our research interests.”

Since the completion of his Pilot Project in 2019, Fan and his team have gone on to identify a biomarker that could make treatment for sepsis more effective.

SCTR’s Scientific Retreats: Building Collaborations and Generating Ideas

SCTR holds annual Scientific Retreats to facilitate collaboration across disciplinary and institutional lines. These thematic-based retreats offer opportunities for researchers and scientists to learn, network, and share ideas.

In February 2024, the Pilots Program hosted a retreat focused on Inflammation & Fibrosis. Through the retreat, researchers met new collaborators from multiple statewide institutions and had the opportunity to discuss their research.

The opportunity led to interest in the Pilot Grants, including the Discovery Pilot.

The program encourages applications emanating from retreat themes and with new collaborators from the retreats.

Read more about the annual scientific retreats.

Applying for the Discovery Award

SCTR’s Discovery Award is released two times per year, once in the fall and once in the spring.

All applicants should apply via InfoReady. For more information, visit the Discovery Pilot webpage or read the RFA.

Award Eligibility

Discovery Grants are available to clinical researchers, as well as basic scientists. As of July 23, K scholars and predoctoral trainees can apply for the K-awardee/predoctoral trainee special mechanism for the Discovery Grant.

SCTR encourages early-stage investigators (ESIs) to apply.

For detailed information on eligibility, visit the Discovery Pilot Grant webpage.

2024 Funding Cycles