Developmental Pilot Grants
The Johns Hopkins NIMH Center offers Developmental Core Pilot Awards for innovative neuroHIV projects. The center, which opened in 2006, is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), aims to fund new investigators (including cross-disciplinary faculty) interested in collaborating with the center faculty to generate preliminary data that will lead to future NIH funding. The pilot awards are particularly designed to stimulate new projects and encourage new investigators to generate data that would be used for future grant applications to the NIMH. Postdoctoral fellows and faculty members of any rank are encouraged to apply - collaborations with other academic institutions are allowed.
Four (4) pilot grants of $25,000 in direct costs for a one-year period will be awarded.
How to Apply
Grant Application
Individuals selected by the review committee to move to the 2nd stage will be notified and invited to submit a 6-page grant application. The application should be in the NIH R21 format, detailing:
- specific aims
- significance
- innovation
- approach (including preliminary data, if any).
Also required in the submission are:
- The investigator’s NIH biosketch
- Project budget ($25,000 max) – not included in the 6-page max
- Rigor and Reproducibility, as required by the NIH
Postdoctoral fellows who are seeking funds for a project indirectly related to their mentor's research—i.e. trying to start an independent line of investigation, are encouraged to apply. If the senior investigator already has funding for the proposed project, then it would not be a responsive application. Applicants are encouraged to contact the JHU NIMH Center with any questions and/or to discuss their projects.
Application due date: February 2, 2024
Internal funding decision will be made by March 1, 2024
Scoring Criteria
Routine studies that follow long-established lines of investigation in a given discipline are not automatically excluded from consideration, but will be scored in accordance with the accompanying criteria. Note that to get the maximum score, a proposal of high novelty must still conform to the requirements of excellent and feasible experimental design. If you still have questions after reviewing the guidelines below, please feel free to contact Dr. Ahmet Hoke or Dr. Amanda Brown.
Detailed scoring criteria:
- Scientific merit, including feasibility and experimental design (10 points). Well controlled experiments with convincing or proven methodologies; clearly and appropriately related to the Specific Aims and individual hypotheses; useful information likely to be generated whether the hypothesis is supported or rejected by experimental results. Adequate discussion of statistical issues. Potential problems identified and suitable alternative approaches outlined in convincing detail.
- Scientific impact and novelty (8 points). To receive full score, the proposal should have: major new implications for therapeutics or direct patient care, AND/OR represent a major departure from the established paradigms in the literature, AND/OR potentially answer a major unsolved problem or question in the indicated field(s) involved. Novelty and impact can derive from the first application of new techniques or disciplines to preexisting problems (an example from the past would be the first MRI brain studies of HIV-associated dementia or a new animal model of HIV CNS disease).
Bonus points:
- PI new to NeuroHIV research (4 points)
- New collaboration between investigators (1 point)
- New area of research for PI (1 point)
- Proposal is utilizing P30 resources (1 point)
Contact us if you have questions
- Co-Director: Dr. Ahmet Hoke ([email protected], 410-955-2227)
- Co-Director: Dr. Amanda Brown ([email protected]; 410-614-2429)
For more information, please see the full call for pilot grants.
Developmental Micro Grants
Grant Application
We are pleased to announce the availability of funds for single-purpose projects such as to test new hypotheses, research tools, datasets, experimental models or toward the purchase of specialized small equipment. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis (no due date) until all funds have been disbursed. An expedited review process and funding decision can be expected within 4 weeks of submission.
The application should be 3 pages maximum detailing:
- Specific aims
- Significance
- Innovation
- Approach
Please include an NIH biosketch, which is not included in the application page limits.
Postdoctoral fellows who are seeking funds for a project indirectly related to their mentor's research—i.e. trying to start an independent line of investigation, are encouraged to apply. If the senior investigator already has funding for the proposed project, then it would not be a responsive application. Applicants are encouraged to contact the JHU NIMH Center with any questions and/or to discuss their projects.
Scoring Criteria
Routine studies that follow long-established lines of investigation in a given discipline are not automatically excluded from consideration, but will be scored in accordance with the accompanying criteria. Note that to get the maximum score, a proposal of high novelty must still conform to the requirements of excellent and feasible experimental design. If you still have questions after reviewing the guidelines below, please feel free to contact Dr. Ahmet Hoke or Dr. Amanda Brown.
Detailed scoring criteria:
- Scientific merit, including feasibility and experimental design (10 points). Well controlled experiments with convincing or proven methodologies; clearly and appropriately related to the Specific Aims and individual hypotheses; useful information likely to be generated whether the hypothesis is supported or rejected by experimental results. Adequate discussion of statistical issues. Potential problems identified and suitable alternative approaches outlined in convincing detail.
- Scientific impact and novelty (8 points). To receive full score, the proposal should have: major new implications for therapeutics or direct patient care, AND/OR represent a major departure from the established paradigms in the literature, AND/OR potentially answer a major unsolved problem or question in the indicated field(s) involved. Novelty and impact can derive from the first application of new techniques or disciplines to preexisting problems (an example from the past would be the first MRI brain studies of HIV-associated dementia or a new animal model of HIV CNS disease).
Bonus points:
- PI new to NeuroHIV research (4 points)
- New collaboration between investigators (1 point)
- New area of research for PI (1 point)
- Proposal is utilizing P30 resources (1 point)
Contact us if you have questions
- Co-Director: Dr. Ahmet Hoke ([email protected], 410-955-2227)
- Co-Director: Dr. Amanda Brown ([email protected]; 410-614-2429)
Past Pilot Grant Awardees
-
- Huijun Jack Wei, PhD
Title: “Development of novel neutral Sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2) inhibitor as a novel therapeutic approach for HIV-Associated Cognitive Disorders (HAND)” - Lindsay Hayes, PhD
Title: “Isolation of brain-derived myeloid cells in NeuroHIV“ - Run-Duo Gao, PhD
Title: “Development of a novel sigma-1 receptor agonist with the potential to improve cognitive function in HAND” - Sandeepa Sur, PhD
Title: “Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping of Brain Iron Content: Mechanistic Links to Neuropsychiatric symptoms and Cognitive Impairment in People with HIV”
- Huijun Jack Wei, PhD
-
- Benjamin Bell, PhD
Title: “Evaluation of impact and treatment effect on sleep disturbances in two murine models of HAND” - Pragney Deme, PhD
Title: Serum metabolic changes associated with HIV infection before and after ART; relationship to cognitive status in people living with HIV in Uganda - Cory White, PhD
Title: “Determining the consequences of HIV-infection and antiretroviral therapies on lipid metabolism in the central nervous system” - Jinchong Xu, PhD
Title: “Microglia Assembled Human Brain Organoids to Evaluate the Combined Antiviral Therapy”
- Benjamin Bell, PhD
-
- Yiyao Huang, MD
Title: “Noncoding RNA regulation and release in SIV-infected brain” - Rana Rais, PhD
Title: “Pharmacokinetic evaluation of proprietary neutral-spinghomyelinase-2 (nSMase2) inhibitors in non-human primates” - Rebecca Veenhuis, PhD
Title: “The relationship between the size of the HIV latent reservoir in CD4 T cells and monocytes and risk for CNS dysfunction in virally suppressed HIV+ women”
- Yiyao Huang, MD
-
- Carlo Colantuoni, PhD
Title: "iPSC-Derived Neural Systems to Explore HIV-Associated Cognitive Impairment (HIV-CI)" - Leah Rubin, PhD, MPH
Title: "Soluble and cellular immune activation and inflammation markers in detrimental cognitive change despite suppression of plasma RNA in HIV-infected women" - Michael Nedelcovych, PhD
Title: "Glutamine Antagonism as a Novel Therapeutic Approach for HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders (HAND)" - Seung Wan Yoo, PhD
Title: "Inhibition of HIV replication with novel small molecule inhibitors of neutral sphingomyelinase 2" - Tory Johnson, PhD
Title: "Detecting Tat from human serum samples"
- Carlo Colantuoni, PhD
-
- Charlene Gamaldo, M.D., FAASM, FAAN
Title: “The Application of Mobile Health Technology as an Effective Tool to Improve the Sleep Health Care of Seropositive HIV Individuals” - Takashi Tsukamoto, Ph.D.
Title: “Preclinical evaluation of the therapeutic utility of system xc- inhibition in HAND” - Charles Bailey, DVM Dipl. ACVP
Title: “TREM2 in the Macaque Model of HAND: Determining the Role of TREM2 in HIV-associated Neurocognitive Disorders” - Camilo Rojas, Ph.D.
Title: ” Identification of Inhibitors of Serine Palmitoyl Transferase to Use as Chemical Probes in Models of HAND”
- Charlene Gamaldo, M.D., FAASM, FAAN
-
- Kelly Pate, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Research Study Title: "A mouse model of the role of platelets in the establishment of latent viral reservoirs" - Rana Rais, Ph.D.
Research Study Title: "Evaluation of system xc- inhibition in preclinical models of neuroAIDS" - Camilo Rojas, P.hD.
Research Study Title: "Inhibition of neutral sphingomylinase 2 for the treatment of HAND" - David Graham, Ph.D.
Research Study Title: "The study of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) pathogenesis in pigtailed and rhesus monkeys"
- Kelly Pate, D.V.M., Ph.D.
-
Cherie Marvel, Ph.D.
Research Study Title: "Examining the role of attentional bias on risk taking behavior in HIV-positive patients" -
- Shilpa Buch, Ph.D.
Research Study Title: "Role of endoplasmis reticulum stress in HIV Tat and cocaine-mediated cooperative activation of astrocytes: implications for HAND" - Ekaterina Dadachova, Ph.D.
Research Study Title: "Elimination of HIV in CNS with armed antibodies to gp41 glycoprotein" - Kenneth Witwer, Ph.D.
Research Study Title: "Development of miRNA-based therapies to silence or purge the latent macrophase reservoir in HAND"
- Shilpa Buch, Ph.D.
-
21 additional pilot grants were awarded during those years that significantly contributed to the continued research success of its grantees and the JHU NIMH Center.