The Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM) has selected three winners for its latest round of Pilot Awards that provide $60,000 in funding and ITM resources valued at thousands of dollars to kick-start innovative research projects.
The awardees come from RUSH, Endeavor Health, and the University of Chicago. Their projects will focus on training artificial intelligence to help Intensive Care Unit doctors better treat patients, understanding how environmental factors impact patients with an uncurable lung disease, and studying the relationship between the microbiome and antibiotic-resistant infections.
Since 2017, the ITM has supported more than 48 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.
Each round, applicants submit a one-page letter of intent, and up to 10 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.
