Pilot Grants
A major objective of NJ ACTS is to successfully translate biomedical discoveries to clinical applications by promoting creative and innovative science. The NJ ACTS Pilot Program offers pilot grants to foster collaborative research among faculty in three institutions: Princeton University, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and Rutgers University. These pilot projects will then provide a path to sustainable, extramurally funded independent research across the alliance.
The NJ ACTS Pilot Program is funded through the generous support of the NIH CTSA Award, the New Jersey Health Foundation, and each of the academic partners.
Tri-Institutional Clinical and Translational Research Pilot Program 2024
The Tri-Institutional Clinical and Translational Research (CTR) Pilot Program offers pilot grants to develop and advance innovative clinical and translational research, provide a path to sustainable, extramurally-funded independent research, and encourage the development of innovations with the potential for commercialization. The projects are expected to develop the key preliminary data needed for sustained extramural funding.
The three institutions have committed $250,000 toward pilot projects this year. The program is funded through the generous support of each academic partner: Princeton University, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), and Rutgers University.
View Request for Application
Budget Form
Key Pilot Program Dates
| Release Date | October 14, 2024 |
| Pre-submission Webinar | October 28, 2024 from 3:30-4:30 pm. View Webinar Slides View Webinar |
| Letter of Intent Deadline | November 4, 2024 (required)(by midnight EST) Link to LOI form: https://redcap.rwjms.rutgers.edu/surveys/?s=RKJ9HNWX9M34CFAR |
| Application Deadline | December 13, 2024 (required by midnight EST) |
| Award Notification | February 2025 |
| Earliest Start Date | March 2025, Dependent on regulatory approvals |
For more information, contact NJACTS@rbhs.rutgers.edu.
Translational Science Pilot Awards 2024
In harmony with NCATS’ objectives and within the context of the NJ ACTS’ award, we have devised a pilot program designed to propel clinical and translational science initiatives throughout NJ ACTS, engaging our academic alliance partners and our health system partner, RWJ Barnabas Health. Our initiative seeks to furnish initial resources aimed at nurturing programs that can then vie competitively for expanded extramural support, leveraging funding opportunities such as Element E1 or RC22 studies pertinent to NJ ACTS (refer to NJ ACTS website) or through independent extramural avenues (R or K series grants).
The following investigators have received their conditional notices of award for the NJ ACTS Translational Science Pilot Awards 2024
| Principal Investigators | Institution | Project |
| Esra Sefik Samuel S. Wang |
Princeton | A Testing Platform for Probing the Role of Dendritic Structural Plasticity in Neuropsychiatric Disorders |
| Rajarshi Chattaraj Eunjung Lee |
NJIT | Ultrasound Responsive Therapeutic Gas Microbubbles for Localized Treatment of Cardiac Injury |
| Anat Chemerinski Stephen Crystal |
Rutgers | Preconception Care: An Ounce of Prevention |
| Diane Hill Manuel Jimenez |
Rutgers | Assessing Engagement and Recruitment Messaging Using Kiosk Videos |
Pilot Grants Awarded - 2022
Investigators |
Project Title |
Category |
| Christoph Buettner, Rutgers Bryan Pfister, NJIT |
Does Mild Traumatic Brain Injury increase the risk of diabetes | Translational |
| Timothy Buschman, Princeton David Zald, Rutgers |
Quantifying the dynamics of working memory in patients with schizophrenia | Translational |
| Subhajyoti De, Rutgers Saum Ghodoussipour, Rutgers |
Urine cell free DNA based noninvasive characterization of druggable genome in bladder cancer | Methodological |
| Anat Kreimer, Rutgers James Millonig, Rutgers |
Decoding autism regulatory variants using computational genomics in human iPSC-derived neurons | Methodological |
| Josh Berlin, Rutgers Mesut Sahin, NJIT |
Neuroprotective potential for acute electrical stimulation after mild traumatic brain injury | Propel |
| Martin Blaser, Rutgers Gloria Bachman, Rutgers |
Estrogen modification by the microbiome and its role in endometrial hyperplasia | Propel |
| Sarah Brislin, Rutgers Paul Boxer, Rutgers |
Neurobiological predictors of multi-systemic therapy outcomes in justice involved youth | Valued Partner |
| Elizabeth Luth, Rutgers Kathryn Bowles, VNSNY |
Translating data science to palliative care: improving reporting/claims based algorithm | Valued Partner |
| Jaya Satagopan, Rutgers | Harnessing socio-cultural similarities between diverse populations to evaluate uptake of cancer screening in under-represented groups | Process |
Pilot Grants Awarded - 2021
| Investigators | Project Title |
|---|---|
| KiBum Lee, Rutgers Xiaoyang Xu, NJIT |
Therapeutic Development of Patient Cell-derived Exosomes for Effective CVD Treatment |
| Sabine Petry, Princeton Zhiyuan Shen, Rutgers |
Targeting of mitotic spindle assembly factor TPX2 for cancer therapy |
| Yingda Xie, Rutgers Cameron Myrhvold, Princeton Padmapriya Banada, Rutgers |
Development of CRISPR-basd, multiplex, point-of-care testing pathway for tuberculosis and COVID-19 |
| Bharat Biswal, NJIT Laszlo Zaborszky, Rutgers |
Investigating tissue-specific functional maps and its correlation with cognitive domains in Alzheimer’s Disease |
| Luigi Brunetti, Rutgers Mohamed Donia, Princeton |
Incorporating drug metabolism by the human gut microbiome into personalized medicine |
| Stephen Crystal, Rutgers Nathaniel Daw, Princeton Jason Roy, Rutgers |
Post-Release Outcomes of Prison Based Treatments and Interventions for Opioid Use Disorder |
| Celeste Nelson, Princeton Shridar Ganesan, Rutgers |
The effects of cell and tissue-level heterogeneity on triple-negative breast cancer progression |
| Mohammad Ali Saghiri, Rutgers Vivek Kumar, NJIT |
A Novel Expandable Endodonic Biomaterial |
| Chang Chan, Rutgers | Development of computational methods to identify oncogenic tyrosine kinase transcripts |
| Alexander Ploss, Princeton | Capturing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 evolution on human pulmonary responses |
| Alexander Neimark, Rutgers | Development of Computational Models to Explore Interactions of Coronavirus Virions with Lung Surfactant Films |
| Danelle Devenport, Princeton | Novel mouse models for live imaging basement membrane dynamics and breach in melanocyte migration and melanoma |
| Peter Kokkinos, Rutgers Joshua McGee, Rutgers |
Exercise blood pressure as a predictor of left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus |
| Jinglin Fu, Rutgers Bo Wang, Delaware Diagnostics |
dNANOSIS, a Rapid and Reliable Nucleic Acid Assay for Detecting Infectious Diseases |
| Victoria Abraira, Rutgers Jian-Ming Lee, Unilever |
Skin Deep: a Rutgers-Unilever partnership for topical pain relief |
| Zhi Wei, NJIT Joseph Glessner, CHOP |
Deep Learning Methods for Identifying Copy Number Variations |
| Amesika Nyaku, Rutgers Erin Zerbo, Rutgers Jenna Mellor, Rutgers |
Risk Environment Analysis to Inform Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) |
Pilot Grants Awarded - 2020
| Investigators | Project Title |
|---|---|
| Jonathan Cohen, Princeton Anna Konova, Rutgers Laura Bustamante, Princeton |
Motivation for cognitive and physical effort in depression |
| Andrea Graham, Princeton William Gause, Rutgers |
Improving mouse models of lung defense: neutrophil-mediated parasite resistance, tissue damage and repair |
| Eun Jung Lee, NJIT Vivek Kumar, NJIT Dominic Del Re, Rutgers |
Angiogenic peptide hydrogel for cardiac repair |
| Daniel Notterman, Princeton Ian Marshall, Rutgers Kristina Olson, Princeton |
Developing a longitudinal cohort of transgender youth to access health and wellbeing through physical, psychological, and molecular assessment |
| Roman Voronov, NJIT Joseph Freeman, Rutgers |
A Microfluidics Technology for Non-Sacrificial Analysis of Biomaterial Implants In Vivo |
| Yelda Semizer, NJIT | Mechanisms of Medical Image Perception in Radiologists |
| Howard Stone, Princeton Mohamed Labib, NovaFlux Inc. |
Aerosol Production of Bacteriophage Formulations from Submicron Droplets for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications |
| Barbara Tafuto, Rutgers Riddhi Vyas, Rutgers Trish Pruis, OHSU |
CTSA Hub Website Database and Search Engine |
Pilot Grants Awarded - 2019
| Investigators | Project Title |
|---|---|
| Alice Chu, Rutgers Jordan Taylor, Princeton |
A dynamic functional splint to restore hand function in children with cerebral palsy |
| Emanuel Goldman, Rutgers Zemer Gitai, Princeton Wlodek Mandecki, Rutgers |
A FRET-based HTS to identify antibacterial drug leads targeting ternary complex formation in E.coli |
| Xiaoyang Xu, NJIT Yuanxiang Tao, Rutgers |
Development of a new long-acting local anesthetics and its application in chronic pain |
| Abdelfattah El Ouaamari, Rutgers Esteban Engel, Princeton |
Structural and functional mapping of islet β cell sensory innervation |
| Gerard Fluet, Rutgers Sergei Adamovich, NJIT |
Remote evaluation of upper extremity motor control |
| Antje Ihlefeld, NJIT Yu Lan Mary Ying, Rutgers |
Leveraging functional near infrared spectroscopy for auditory brain health |
| Yi Chen, NJIT David Foran, Rutgers |
A natural language processing platform for automated information extraction from EHR’s for clinical decision support and investigative research |
| Dantong Yu, NJIT Xinyue Ye, NJIT Yaqun Wang, Rutgers |
Apply natural language processing and deep learning to EMR management, preprocessing and decision making |
| David Barker, Rutgers Catherine Jensen Peña, Princeton |
Pain as a trigger for opioid dependence in the context of epigenetic susceptibility |
| Kathryn Edin, Princeton Sarah Gold, Princeton |
Housing and Health in New Jersey’s Capital City |
Pilot News and Publications
Rutgers Researcher Victoria Abraira Named Rita Allen Foundation Scholar
Victoria Abraira’s grandmother had trouble seeing or hearing when she was in her 90s during the final years of her life. But Abraira said the matriarch of her family always knew when she came to visit simply from her touch. “She could feel that it was me when I...
Princeton Researchers Receive Dean for Research Innovation Funds for New Ideas in the Natural Sciences
Princeton researchers Jordan Taylor (Psychology) and Sabine Petry (Molecular Biology) received Dean for Research Innovation Funds for New Ideas in the Natural Sciences. Projects that explore what music can teach us about the brain, how cells protect themselves from...
Pilot Co-Leads
Arnold Rabson, MD
Director, Child Health Institute
Samuel Wang, PhD
Professor of Molecular Biology and Neuroscience
Wang Laboratory
Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University
Guiling (Grace) Wang, PhD, CFA
Distinguished Professor of Computer Science
Associate Dean for Research
Ying Wu College of Computing, New Jersey Institute of Technology