Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology: Pilot Project Funding
September 18, 2007, Volume 54, No. 4	Print Issue

The Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET) announces the availability of pilot project grants for partial support for unfunded research in environmental health or toxicology.  Awards of up to $25,000 will be made. Any member of the standing faculty or research track faculty in the 12 professional schools at the University of Pennsylvania, or our affiliates (CHOP and Monell) will be eligible to apply for Pilot Project Grant support provided that the project is related to either environmental health or toxicology research or the community outreach and education mission of the Center. The research being proposed cannot be funded by an external funding agency. Projects that focus on environmental triggers of adverse endocrine or reproductive disorders and the identification of biomarkers of these disorders are particularly encouraged. In addition projects focused on environmental agents that may affect genetic imprinting will also be reviewed favorably.

Preference will be given to first-time applicants that are junior faculty. Senior or established faculty will also be eligible to apply provided that the research they propose is unfunded and fits into the mission of the Center. Preference will also be given to senior faculty who wish to embrace environmental health or toxicology research as a new direction. Applications that support collaborative research that may be used to gather pilot data for a multi-investigator award will also be considered. If funded, a progress report is required at the end of the funding period and awardees must present their findings at a CEET Chalk Talk. The Center grant must be acknowledged on all publications resulting from the supported research.

The following should be submitted for the internal review by November 1:

•  Title of application;
•  Personnel information, name, position, title, and contact information; 
•  2-page NIH Biosketch;
•  List of Current and Pending grant support;
•  An abstract;
•  A statement to indicate how this project would lead to extramural funding;
•  Specific aims;
•  Significance which must state relevance to environmental health or toxicological research;
•  Preliminary studies;
•  Methods;
•  References; and,
•  Budget–Can range from $8-$25K. Items that can be requested include salary of support personnel, supplies and minor equipment. Investigators cannot claim salary support for themselves.

The entire application should not exceed 10-pages. Mail completed applications to: Mary Webster, Department of Pharmacology/CEET, 130D John Morgan/6084, webster@mail.med.upenn.edu.

All applications will be reviewed by a committee of senior faculty and external experts and recipients will be notified by December 14.