Pilot & Feasibility Studies

The goal of the Pilot and Feasibility Study Program is to encourage research on diabetes and its complications by two target groups: young researchers in these fields who have not yet received significant NIH or other funding, and seasoned investigators either entering the diabetes field for the first time or exploring a completely new direction.

A call for applications is made in the spring of each year for grants to begin the following summer. This year, two grants will be awarded to researchers based either at the Joslin Diabetes Center or at neighboring institutions within Harvard Medical School and affiliated hospitals. At this time we can only guarantee one year of funding, as our DRC grant itself is up for renewal. Should it be fully-funded then awarded 2011 P&F grants will be of the usual two years duration. A special effort is made to foster interactions between Joslin DERC investigators and the external P&F Study Program awardees. This includes facilitating access to Joslin DRC cores, an invitation to give a seminar in the Joslin internal research seminar series, and invitations to Joslin retreats and other enrichment activities.

The program has been highly successful since its inception. Projects funded in past years have covered a wide range of topics in the fields of type 1 and type 2 diabetes and their complications, including the control of insulin gene expression, mechanisms of insulin action and resistance, beta cell apoptosis, mechanisms of leptin action and resistance, and autoantigen therapy of type 1 diabetes. The approaches have also been very diverse, covering a panoply of biochemical, molecular biologic, genetic and clinical strategies. This breadth reflects the interests of Joslin’s diabetes research program as a whole; see more about Joslin’s Research Programs.