Since 2017, the ITM has supported more than 50 creative research projects and provided more than $2 million to research teams through its Pilot Awards program. Previous pilot award winners and finalists have gone on to launch companies, secure millions of dollars in federal funding, build national programs, and more.
The latest round of awardees come from RUSH, Endeavor Health, and the University of Chicago. Their projects focus on training artificial intelligence to help Intensive Care Unit doctors better treat patients, understanding how environmental factors impact patients with an incurable lung disease, and studying the relationship between the microbiome and antibiotic-resistant infections.
“Fueling creative explorations like these makes the ITM a home for researchers with big ideas at the edge of scientific discovery,” said David Meltzer, MD, PhD, Director of the ITM and Associate Dean for Clinical Science Research, Translational at the University of Chicago. “We’re excited to see the impacts these teams make.”
Each round, applicants submit a one-page letter of intent, and finalists are selected to move forward through a range of ITM resources – including one-on-one science communications coaching, a professional video of the project, study design, biostatistics, community feedback forums, and more – to create their proposals. All finalists leave with thousands of dollars in science communications training and content to advance their work and opportunities to connect with communities even if they are not selected in the top three for funding.
Boards of patients, community members, industry experts, and scientists review the proposals and watch the public-friendly pitch videos as part of the funding selection process.
“This program gives researchers access to a variety of people and resources at no cost to them or their teams,” said Joshua Jacobs, MD, Director of the ITM and the Grainger Director of the RUSH Arthritis and Orthopaedics Institute.
Learn more here about the ITM Pilot Awards here and sign up for the ITM newsletter to stay up to date on more unique ITM resources and to meet the next round of awardees and finalists.
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ITM Contact: Sara Serritella, Director of ITM Communications, serritella@uchicago.edu
This project is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that supports the Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM) through Grant Number UL1TR002389.
