DartCF Pilot Project Program RFA

DartCF 2025 Pilot Project Program RFA (Full PDF)

Deadline for proposals: January 31st, 2026.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation-funded Dartmouth Cystic Fibrosis Research Center (DartCF) Pilot Project Program (P3) seeks innovative pilot projects that address important issues in CF disease progression and treatment. Areas of interest include CF-related topics involving respiratory disease or whole-body disease, e.g., infection, immunity/inflammation, immune cell biology, cell biology and protein trafficking, gene therapy, computation, therapeutics, epidemiology and health care delivery, or any other topics related to CF. Gastrointestinal projects may be appropriate, if they focus on whole-body issues, e.g., immunity or inflammation, or cross-talk with other organ system(s). Approaches may include wet bench and/or computational work. Clinical trials cannot be supported by this mechanism. Preference will be given to pilots that make use of the DartCF cores (https://sites.dartmouth.edu/dartcf), which will continue to offer most services free of charge.

The goal of these awards is to attract Dartmouth researchers to CF-related research and to open new research directions for current DartCF faculty. Faculty at all levels are eligible, including those with current extramural funding. Successful applications will propose high-impact basic, translational, clinical, or population-based research with the ultimate goal to leverage extramural funding opportunities.

This year we expect to fund up to 3 pilot awards. One award for translational research at $80K/year and two at $50K/year for basic research. Initial support will be for one year, with a renewal possible for a second year, which is contingent on significant progress and EAC review of the year 1 progress report.

Successful applicants must attend the weekly DartCF seminar (Wednesdays 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM), present a talk in the DartCF seminar series each year, and provide a yearly written progress report.

**IMPORTANT: Interested applicants are expected to first contact P3 Director Dr. Robert Cramer (Robert.A.Cramer.Jr@dartmouth.edu) ASAP to discuss the research before they submit an application.

Mechanisms: The following mechanisms of support are available:

  1. Mentored Pilot Awards Eligibility: PIs must be Dartmouth junior faculty members (tenure-track assistant or associate professors who have not yet received tenure) with PhD and/or MD degrees. The project must identify at least one experienced DartCF researcher as a mentor.
  2. Collaborative Pilot Awards Eligibility: PIs must be tenured or tenure-track Dartmouth faculty members (assistant, associate or full professor) with PhD and/or MD degrees. The proposal must involve faculty from at least two distinct disciplines.
  3. Innovative Pilot Awards Eligibility: PIs must be tenured or tenure-track Dartmouth faculty members (assistant, associate or full professor) with PhD and/or MD degrees. The proposal must represent a highly innovative, new area of CF research for PIs with a track record in CF research.

Note: The target mechanism should be specified at the time of submission.

Invited Applications will contain the following elements:

A two-page document with:

  • Name(s) and department(s) of applicants.
  • Proposal Title (200-character limit).
  • Proposal Type (Mentored, Collaborative, Innovative)
  • Abstract (30 lines). This section should describe the central hypothesis of the application, research overview, specific aims and potential positive impact on the CF knowledge base or patient impact.
  • Research Description following general NIH format (significance and approach). References do not count towards the page limit.
  • Present a funding strategy for future extramural funding (not included in two-page limit, but limited to 30 lines of text).
  • NIH biosketch(es) for the PI and mentor(s) (if a mentored award) (not included in two page limit).

Submit as a single PDF [named “lastname_DartCFPilot”] by email to Shaniqua Jones (Shaniqua.A.Jones@Dartmouth.edu) by January 31st, 2026

Review

Proposals will be reviewed by the DartCF Leadership Committee and the External Advisory Committee, who will rank applications relative to the criteria described below. The expected funding start date for successful proposals is July 2026, contingent upon final approval by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Review criteria: P3 projects should support our mission as a nationally recognized center of excellence in CF. The most competitive proposals will:

  • Develop strong interactions with DartCF faculty and/or scientific cores: https://sites.dartmouth.edu/dartcf/
  • Address a research problem relevant to understanding or treating CF patho/physiology focused on the Dartmouth-CFF-RDP mission related to the respiratory tract and associated organ systems.
  • Present high-quality, high-impact science. Scientific excellence is a prerequisite for funding;
  • Incorporate interdisciplinary, cross-programmatic, collaborative, or innovative approaches. Demonstrate a strong potential to carry out the proposed research (NIH Investigator criterion);