Pilot & Feasibility Program

Co-Directors: Jeanne Clark, MD, MPH and Toni Pollin, MS, PhD, CGC

P/F Guidelines (subject to change - please check back periodically)

ATTENTION:

The Mid-Atlantic NORC Grant renewal application is submitted to NIH/NIDDK in October 2019 and our application will be reviewed sometime in March-April 2020. The continuation of Pilot and Feasibility Program is contingent upon the renewal of the NORC grant. Please stay tuned on status updates if you plan to submit a Letter of Intent.

NORC P&F Criteria-Guidelines 2020

The P/F Application Process Takes Place In Three Phases:

Letter of Intent that includes information on eligibility, current and pending funding, and a brief synopsis of the research plan;
Submission of a 5-page proposal in modified NIH format (Specific Aims, Background and Significance, Preliminary Results, Experimental Approach, Potential Pitfalls, Alternative Approaches and Future Plans) as well as a budget that addresses potential overlap;
Review by the Executive Committee and selected outside reviewers with the assistance and final approval of the External Advisory Committee.

Grants of up to $50,000 (direct cost) will be awarded (with no more than $5,000 going towards salary support for the PI or Co-I). Eligibility for a second year of funding will be considered after submission of a progress report and plans for the second year. The letter of intent will be used to establish the eligibility of the investigator for P/F funding. Current awardees seeking a 2nd year of funding should also submit a letter of intent.

Priority For Funding Goes To:

new investigators collecting preliminary data for a NIH submission;
established investigators seeking to apply their expertise to the obesity or related nutrition field (a significant departure from their current work);
established investigators in the obesity field seeking funding for a new avenue of research (including high risk/high gain category)

Eligibility for P/F Funding:

New investigator applicants must have a doctoral degree and at least two and preferably three or more years of post-doctoral experience, and a faculty appointment by 9/1/18. New investigators should be embarking on an independent research career. Post-doctoral fellows are not eligible, unless they are transitioning to faculty by 9/1/18. For those in this situation, documentation of the faculty appointment (including effective date) must be submitted with the full application.

The aim of the P/F project is to provide convincing data for future proposals to the NIH or other national agencies. Investigators are encouraged to undertake high risk/high gain projects that have potential to develop but for which no preliminary data/feasibility are currently available. Nevertheless, the capability of the PI (and his or her collaborators) to undertake such a project should be clearly outlined.

All applicants must be willing to actively participate in Mid-Atlantic NORC Center activities, including seminars, workshops, and symposia, and to present a seminar describing their work. Each P/F awardee will be assigned a working group and must be willing to meet regularly with the working group (2-4 times per year, depending on progress).

It is acceptable to submit a project that is currently under review elsewhere; however, future funding by another agency for the same project will preclude Mid-Atlantic NORC funding.

P/F projects are required to use Core laboratories:

Administrative Core
Clinical and Translational Research (CTR) Core
Animal Phenotyping Core
Community-Based Pediatric Nutrition and Obesity Research Core

Please review the prior to submitting your Letter of Intent.

2019-2020 P&F AWARDEES

Emily Brigham, MD, MHS., Assistant Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine “Defining the Relationship Between Omega-3 and -6 Intake, Downstream Oxylipins, and Respiratory Health in Adults with Cystic Fibrosis”

Irina Timofte, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine/Pulmonary and Critical Care, University of Maryland School of Medicine “Assessing the Implication of Nutritional Supplementation in addition to Progressive Rehabilitation Therapy in Patients with Advanced Lung Disease requiring Lung Transplantation”

Jay Barban, MD, Ph.D., Professor of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine “Regulation of adiposity by the microRNA system”

2018-2019 P&F AWARDEES

Joseph Stains, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Orthopaedics, University of Maryland, Baltimore & Ryan Riddle, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine " Interactions between bone, sclerostin, and white adipose tissue"

Jay Baraban, MD, Ph.D., Professor of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. " Regulation of adiposity by the microRNA system"

Casey Rebholz, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Associate Faculty, Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins University. "Development of a Targeted Biomarker Panel of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet"

Huichin Xu, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland, School of Medicine " Butyrate regulates non-coding RNAs to mitigate high-fat-diet-induced obesity"

2017-2018 P&F AWARDEES

Vidyulata Kamath, Ph.D., ABPP-CN, Assistant Professor, Division of Medical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “The impact of methadone maintenance therapy on food intake and food reward processing in opioid dependence: An event-related brain potential study”

Jessie Buckley, Ph.D., MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “The impact of prenatal exposure to flame retardant chemicals on childhood obesity in Baltimore”

Noel Mueller, Ph.D., MPH, Assistant Professor , Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Examining the microbial contribution to the intergenerational association of obesity in two birth cohort studies”

Elizabeth Parker, Ph.D. RD, Assistant Professor, Family and community Medicine, UMSOM. “A feasibility study to assess health-related behaviors in teachers"

2016-2017 P&F AWARDEES

Jonathan Jun, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University. "Nocturnal Fatty Acid Metabolism in Obstructive Sleep Apnea." (2nd year funding)

Adeel Kaiser, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, UMSOM. "The effects of a ketogenic diet intervention on overweight and obese men undergoing active surveillance for prostate cancer."

Michelle Lent, PhD, Investigator I, Geisinger Obesity Institute, Geisinger Health System. "Long-Term Mortality Risk Following Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB): A Case-Control Study."

Kamal Moudgil, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, UMSOM. "Celastrol-induced modulation of immune events to control inflammation and metabolic aberrations in obesity."

Casey Rebholz, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Associate Faculty, Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins University. "Metabolomic Signature of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet: A Pilot Study."

2015-2016 P&F AWARDEES

Wendy Bennett, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University. "Pilot testing of a health coaching pregnancy intervention."

Jonathan Jun, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University. "Nocturnal Fatty Acid Metabolism in Obstructive Sleep Apnea."

Clare Lee, MD, MHS, Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Johns Hopkins University. "Post-Bariatric Surgery Hypoglycemia – Understanding Its Occurrence, Risk Factors and Mechanisms."

Michael Wolfgang, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University. "Roles and Requirements of Hepatic Fatty Acid Oxidation."

Jixin Zhong, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, UMSOM. "Targeting DPP4 non-enzymatic activity in modulating obesity-induced adipose tissue inflammation and insulin resistance."

2014-2015 P&F Awardees

Lawrence J. Cheskin, MD, FACP, Associate Professor, Medicine (GI) & Human Nutrition, Johns Hopkins University. "Using computational modeling to evaluate the potential clinical and economic impact of obesity interventions through the lifespan: a tool for prevention and treatment."

Teodor T. Postolache, MD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, UMSOM. "Association between obesity and chronic latent Toxoplasma gondii infection in the Old Order Amish." (2nd year funding)

Abdel R. A. Hamad, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Johns Hopkins University. "A novel syndecan-1-expressing iNKT cells regulate body fat." (2nd year funding)

May E. Montasser, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Nutrition, UMSOM. "Epigenetic Association Study of Impaired Fasting Glucose in the Amish."

2013-2014 P&F Awardees

Norann A. Zaghloul, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Nutrition, UMSOM. "Functional annotation of type 2 diabetes associated loci." (2nd year funding)

Teodor T. Postolache, MD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, UMSOM. "Association between obesity and chronic latent Toxoplasma gondii infection in the Old Order Amish."

Abdel R. A. Hamad, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Johns Hopkins University. "A novel syndecan-1-expressing iNKT cells regulate body fat."

Neeraj K. Saxena, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, UMSOM. "Resolution of hepatic steatosis and prevention of obesity-related liver tumorigenesis."

Amber L. Beitelshees, PharmD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Nutrition, UMSOM. "NELL1: A paracrine regulator or visceral adiposity." (2nd year funding)

2012-2013 P&F Awardees

Norann A. Zaghloul, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Nutrition, UMSOM. "Functional annotation of type 2 diabetes associated loci."

Amber L. Beitelshees, PharmD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Nutrition, UMSOM. "NELL1: A paracrine regulator or visceral adiposity."

Kristen Hurley, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UMSOM. "Weight Gain Trajectories During the First 5 Years of Life in a National Cohort."

Kavita Bhalla, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Marlene & Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Cener, UMSOM. "The role of AFC in linking inflammation and type II diabetes."

Zhiyong Guo, MD, PhD, Research Associate, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, UMSOM. "Preliminary Study of Novel AR Variants in Adipose Tissue."

2011-2012 P&F Awardees

Alexis Gorden, M.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, UMSOM. "Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms That Associate with Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease." (2nd year funding)

Nisa M. Maruthur, M.D., M.H.S., Assistant Professor, Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine; JHU. "Effect of Zinc on Insulin Secretion by SLC30A8 Genotype."

Sarah Netzel-Arnett, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, UMSOM. "Regulation of Adipogenic Differentiation by Serpins."

Christopher D'Adamo, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, UMSOM and Patrick McArdle, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Nutrition, UMSOM. Genetic Predictors of Serum Micronutrient Concentrations in the Old Order Amish."

2010-2011 P&F Awardees

Stephen J. Prior, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, UMB. "EPCs as an emerging mediator of exercise-induced improvements in obesity and insulin resistance."

Alexis Gorden, M.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, UMB. "Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms That Associate with Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease."

Emmanuel F. Mongodin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Institute for Genome Sciences; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, UMB. "Stability of the Gut Microbiome Following a Dietary Intervention."

Nisa M. Maruthur, M.D., M.H.S., Assistant Professor, Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine; JHU. "Effect of Zinc on Insulin Secretion by SLC30A8 Genotype."

Michael Crow, Ph.D., Associate Professor; Director, Basic & Translational Research, Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care, JHU. "The Role of Nutrition in Acute Lung Injury-Associated Skeletal Muscle Wasting" (2nd year funding)

Erin Hager, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Growth and Nutrition Division, Department of Pediatrics, UMB. "Determining Actical Thresholds for Ankle Accelerometry among Adolescent Girls" (2nd year funding)

Antonio Passaniti, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pathology, UMB. "RUNX2 as a new molecular biomarker involved in the regulation of normal angiogenesis, possibly altered with the acquisition of diabetic vascular complications" (2nd year funding)

Hong Wang, Ph.D., Post Doctoral Fellow,Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB. "Role of LSDP5, a lipid droplet surface associated protein in regulating cardiac myocytes β-oxidation" (2nd year funding)

Yan Wang, M.D., Dr.P.H., Epidemiologist/Data Analyst, Division of Growth and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, UMB. "Is the relationship between depressive symptoms and obesity explained by physical activity and diet? A prospective study among African American adolescents" (2nd year funding)

2009-2010 P&F Awardees

Erin Hager, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Growth and Nutrition Division
Department of Pediatrics, UMB. "Determining Actical Thresholds for Ankle Accelerometry among Adolescent Girls"

Anjeli Inscore, PsyD., Research Associate, Division of Gerontology,UMB. "Yoga to Improve Psychological and Neuroendocrine Function and Promote Weight Loss in Obesity"

Laundette Jones, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, UMB. "Is BRCA1 a novel regulator of adipocity and energy balance?"

Kellie Tamashiro, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, JHU. "Epigenetic mechanisms for altered energy homeostasis in offspring produced by assisted reproductive techniques" (2nd year funding)

Hong Wang, Ph.D., Post Doctoral Fellow,Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB. "Role of LSDP5, a lipid droplet surface associated protein in regulating cardiac myocytes β-oxidation"

2008-2009 P&F Awardees

Susan Aja, Ph.D., Asst. Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, JHU. "Regulation of Systemic Energy Balance by AMP-activated Protein Kinase in Select Hypothalamic Nuclei"

Christy Chang, Ph.D., Asst. Professor, Medicine & Epidemiology, UMB. "The relationship between STK39 genotypes, salt sensitivity, HCTZ-induced BP response"

Coleen Damcott, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Nutrition, UMB. "Effects of Genetic Variation in Genes Involved in the
Lipolytic Pathway on Triglyceride Metabolism and Type 2 Diabetes Risk" (2nd year funding)

Geoffrey Girnun, Ph.D., Asst. Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMB. "Selective activation of PPARg by a structurally distinct new class of ligand"

Kellie Tamashiro, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, JHU. "Epigenetic mechanisms for altered energy homeostasis in offspring produced by assisted reproductive techniques"

2007-2008 P&F Awardees

Mao Fu, Ph.D., M.D.; Research Associate, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB. "Positional cloning of obesity candidate genes in the Old Order Amish" (2nd year funding)

Gloria Hoffman, Ph.D.; Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, UMB. "Interactions of Sleep Deprivation and Stress: the Deadly Combination?" (2nd year funding)

Mi-Jeong Lee, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB. "The role of the glucocorticoid receptor in adipose tissue development and function"

Toni Pollin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB. "Characterizing the role of single gene disorders in 'ordinary' Diabetes Mellitus: translating genetic discoveries to the clinic"

Megan Rizzo, Ph.D., Department of Physiology, UMB. "Investigation of MODY2 mutations on Glucokinase nitrosylation"

Elizabeth Streeten, M.D.; Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB. "Clinical and molecular characterization of suspected partial 25-hydroxyvitamin D-1-alpha hydroxylase deficiency" (2nd year funding)

Rongze Yang, M.D., Ph.D.; Research Associate, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB. "The Role of TORC2 in Adipocyte Differentiation and Lipid Metabolism" (2nd year funding)

2006-2007 P&F Awardees

Mao Fu, Ph.D., M.D.; Research Associate, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB. "Positional cloning of obesity candidate genes in the Old Order Amish"

Gloria Hoffman, Ph.D.; Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, UMB. "Development of a New Model of Morbidity induced by Intermittent Sleep Deprivation or Sleep Deprivation and Stress"

Richard Horenstein, M.D.; Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB. "The effect of common variants in the transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) gene on GLP-1 levels in response to a glucose and fat challenge"

Vladimir Savransky, M.D., Ph.D.; Research Associate, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, JHU School of Medicine. " Sleep Apnea and Lipid Metabolism in Obesity" (2nd year funding)

Michael Shapiro, Ph.D.; Associate Professor, UMB School of Pharmacy. "NMR Metabolomics on PKCI Knockout Mice"

Rongze Yang, M.D., Ph.D.; Research Associate, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, UMB. "The Role of TORC2 in Hepatic Gluconeogenesis, Energy Homeostasis and Diabetes"