THE CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES THE VIRGINIA KAUFMAN PILOT PROJECT PROGRAM IN PAIN RESEARCH (revised, February 2013)

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1 THE CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES THE VIRGINIA KAUFMAN PILOT PROJECT PROGRAM IN PAIN RESEARCH (revised, February 2013) The Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at the University of Pittsburgh is soliciting applications to the Virginia Kaufman Pilot Project Program in Pain Research (P4R), funded by the Virginia Kaufman Endowment Fund No. 1 (Endowment Fund) and the CTSI. As described below, the P4R supports new research activities that address the dynamics of pain, causes and alleviation of pain, treatment to prevent and/or mitigate pain (including, but not limited to, pain associated with post-herpetic neuralgia, cancer, or arthritis). Research conducted under a P4R award is intended to develop the hypotheses, preliminary data, and methods that will enable submission of highly competitive applications to extramural funding sources. On an annual basis, the P4R will make $25,000 awards, subject to available income from the Endowment Fund and funds available from the CTSI. It is anticipated that up to four awards will be made for the each round of funding, with a start date of the July 1 immediately following the application receipt date (see below). Requests for competitive renewals of a previously awarded P4R grant will be considered, also at a funding level of $25,000. No project may receive funding for a total of more than two years. Application Deadline and Submission Process The deadline for receipt of applications is midnight, March 6. If this date falls on a weekend, the deadline is noon on the Monday immediately following that weekend. Applications are to be submitted electronically, as a single pdf file, to Ms. Linda Dorsey, lld34@pitt.edu. Within one week of the receipt date, each applicant should receive an message notifying him or her that his or her application has been received. If an applicant does not receive such notification, he or she should contact Ms. Dorsey. Eligibility University of Pittsburgh faculty members at the levels of assistant/research assistant professor, associate/research associate professor, and professor/research professor are eligible to apply as principal investigators to the Pilot Project Program in Pain Research. In general, instructors and staff research scientists are not eligible to serve as principal investigators; an exception to this may be given if the instructor s or research scientist s department chair will certify in writing that the project for which pilot program support is requested is an independent research direction, co-directed by the instructor or the research scientist and his or her collaborator. On any given application, if there is more than one named investigator, only one may be of a rank lower than assistant professor. Research associates, fellows, and postdoctoral researchers are not eligible to serve as principal investigators, nor are investigators from other institutions. Budget information Monies awarded will support direct costs only; no indirect support will be provided. Further, monies awarded may not be used for salary support for the investigators or for any collaborating investigator at a professorial rank. Note, however, that effort is required of the principal investigator, must be reflected on the budget page, and must be cost shared by the department or

2 other entity that will support such effort. Funding may not be used for travel or basic computer equipment. Applicants are encouraged to include graduate students and professional degree students (e.g., medical students, as part of the required scholarly projects) in the research, when appropriate. Award Period Applications will be reviewed within six weeks of receipt, and award notification will be made rapidly thereafter. The formal award period will begin on July 1 of the year of application. Please note, however, that if a funded project requires IACUC, IRB, IBC, CORID, or hscro approval, no funds can be expended until such approval is documented. Investigators should note that the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Regulatory Core is available to provide assistance with the regulatory process. The CTSI Regulatory Core can be contacted through the CTSI Service Request System ( or by contacting the CTSI Regulatory Compliance Facilitator, Susan Sandusky (sls127@pitt.edu). The initial award will be for a one year period. Requests for no-cost extensions will be considered on a case by case basis. APPLICATION COMPONENTS The application must include the following items: I. Cover sheet The first page of the application must be a cover sheet that gives the name, degree, academic title, primary departmental affiliation, and contact information (telephone number, fax number, and address) of the principal investigator. Please see the Appendix for an example of an appropriate cover sheet. Both the principal investigator and his or her department chair or appropriate responsibility center director (e.g., division chief or institute director) who can authorize cost sharing against an Entity-02 or -04 institutional account must sign the cover sheet. These signatures certify acceptance of the principal investigator s cost shared effort and no indirect cost. The appropriate institutional account number against which the effort will be charged must also be provided. If the project is funded, cost shared effort must be reflected on the individual s SPAR document. If a collaborator at a professorial rank will be serving at an effort greater than that of a consultant (i.e., will be actively involved in the research), effort will be required for that individual. For each such collaborator, documentation/signatures, as described immediately above, will also be required. If any part of the proposed research was prompted by information learned while attending a workshop about CTSI core facility capabilities, this should be indicated on the cover sheet. II. Research Plan The research plan may not exceed five single-sided pages; please note general instructions, below. It should include:

3 Discussion of the scientific basis for the proposed study. Description of the research to be performed in the first year, including how the research and the data to be gathered will connect to the question being posed. It is understood that the monies provided by this program will only be sufficient for generating the preliminary data and/or refinement of procedures that will be necessary before submission of larger, nationally competitive grant applications. If the application is a request for a competitive continuation of a project previously funded through the P4R, up to one additional single-sided page may be used to summarize the research conducted in the first year, including the results, and to provide a clear statement as to why additional research is needed before preliminary results will be adequate for supporting a highly competitive application for external funds. This page should precede the five-page research plan. The Bibliography must not exceed one single-sided page; this is not included in the five-page limit to the research plan. If the applicant is an instructor or research scientist, the letter from the relevant department chair should be included immediately after the research plan. This letter will be evaluated during the review process. Please note that if any one of these page limits is exceeded in a given application, that application will be administratively withdrawn from consideration, without review. III. Biographical Sketches and Support Pages The NIH-format biographical sketch (see page I-71 of the SF424 Application Guide, updated July 25, 2011, and the NIH-format Other Support document (see page III-8 of the SF424 Application Guide) must be included for the principal investigator and any professorial rank collaborator who will be an active participant in the research. The personal statement in each biographical sketch should be appropriate for the research proposed in the P4R application. If a further update to the SF 424 Application Guide is extant at the time of application submission, the biographical sketch and other support information should conform to the Instructions for a Biographical Sketch and the section on Other Support Information in the updated Guide. IV. Budget and Budget Justification The NIH-format budget page (PHS 398 Form 4; revised June 2009, later revisions are also acceptable) must be used. An additional page should be included for the budget justification; all pieces of equipment must be explicitly justified as critical to the performance of the proposed research. Even though no P4R funds may be used for salary for professorial rank investigators, effort (but not salary) on the proposed study must be reflected on the budget page. Non-federal fringe rates should be used for any staff members for whom salary support is requested; this may be adjusted following an award.

4 If a P4R award is made to support a given application, a budget meeting will be held with participation from the principal investigator, his or her research administrator, and financial administrators from the CTSI. If necessary, minor adjustments to the requested budget will be made at that meeting. General Instructions, Format, and Guidelines The application must be clear, readily legible, and conform to the following three requirements: 1) The font must be Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype, or Georgia 11-point; 2) Margins, in all directions, must be at least ½ inch; and 3) Text in figures, charts, tables, figure legends, and footnotes may be smaller in size but must be in black ink and readily legible. If these are not legible, there may be a negative impact on the evaluation of the application. Any application that fails to conform with font size requirements may be administratively withdrawn from consideration without review. IACUC, IRB, IBC, hscro, and CORID If IACUC, IRB, IBC, hscro, or CORID protocol approvals are required in order to conduct the research, the relevant approvals must be obtained before money will be released to support the project. Approved protocols need not be submitted as part of the application. Review Criteria The primary review criteria are: The scientific feasibility and scientific merit of the project; The relationship to pain; The potential to lead to more comprehensive studies; For new projects, that the project is novel and is not simply a next logical step in ongoing studies; and For competitive renewal requests, that additional results are necessary to support future applications for external funding. Questions about the program should be directed to Dr. Michelle S. Broido, Associate Vice Chancellor for Biomedical Research, broidoms@pitt.edu.

5 APPENDIX: P4R Application Cover Sheet Please note that all information requested below is required. Project Title Principal investigator (This information should be provided for each named investigator) Name and Degree Academic Title Primary Departmental Affiliation Address Telephone Number Fax Number address PI Signature Part of the proposed research was prompted by information learned while attending a workshop about CTSI core facility capabilities: please indicate yes or no Department Chair s Signature* Institutional Account Number *This signature certifies acceptance of primary investigator cost shared effort and no indirect cost.

THE CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES THE VIRGINIA KAUFMAN PILOT PROJECT PROGRAM IN PAIN RESEARCH (revised, September 2010)

THE CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES THE VIRGINIA KAUFMAN PILOT PROJECT PROGRAM IN PAIN RESEARCH (revised, September 2010) The Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI)