Nutrition Obesity Research Center

Funding Eligibility

To be eligible for a P/F grant, you must be a junior investigator who has not previously received NIH RO1-type support OR an established investigator, whose expertise and research lie outside the area of nutrition and has a developed a new or innovative idea in a nutrition-related area.

Funding Period

The funding period is from April 1st to March 31st. Renewal for a second year is possible for meritorious projects that have made appropriate progress during the first year of funding.  

How to Apply
The first step in applying for a Pilot & Feasibility grant is to prepare a Letter of Intent. Letters of Intent will be due Friday, November 20, 2009. Only selected applicants will be asked to submit a full proposal. A NORC Review Committee will evaluate the LOIs and will notify the selected investigators by Friday, December 18, 2009. Full proposals will be due Monday, February 1, 2010. Funding for successful applications will begin on April 1, 2010.

2010-2011 PF Request for Letters of Intent

2010 Request for Proposals and P/F Grant Guidelines

2009-2010 Pilot and Feasibility Awardees:

1st year awardees:

Zuzana Drobna, PhD,Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition. Her pilot project is entitled Epigenetics of the Nutrient‐Carcinogen Interactions: The role of Folatein Transplacental Carcinogenesis Associated with Exposure to Arsenic. The main goals of this project are to characterize the association between the aberrant DNA methylation pattern and gene expression in fetal livers of CD1 mice after in utero exposure to inorganicarsenic and to examine whether the effects of this exposure on DNA methylation and gene expression can be prevented by an increased prenatal intake of SAM precursor, folate.

Patricia A. Sheridan, PhD is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition. Dr. Sheridan's project is entitled Obesity and microglial activation: potential for synergism in neurodegenerative diseases. Her project will examine whether the consumption of a high fat diet and subsequent obesity will result in microglial activation leading to increased neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in the brain.

Eric L. Klett, MD is an Instructor in the Department of Medicine (Division of Endocrinology). His project entitled Effects of dietary non‐cholesterol sterols on pancreatic ß‐cell function will seek to understand how dietary sterols (cholesterol, cholesterol precursors, and plant sterols) contribute to ß‐cell dysfunction and the development of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Alison Stuebe, MD, MSc is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Division of Maternal‐Fetal Medicine). Dr. Stuebe's pilot project is entitled Genetic polymorphisms and metabolic complications of pregnancy . The overall goal of this pilot study is to determine the genetic underpinnings of obesity, using the dynamic milieu of pregnancy as a model system to define the effects of genetic variants on adiposity.

2nd year awardees:

Jessie Satia, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition . Her pilot project is titled Effect Of Supplemental Selenium And Omega‐3 Fatty Acids On Markers Of Inflammation In Colorectal Adenoma Patients. This pilot study is a placebo‐controlled randomized trial that will examine whether dietary supplementation of selenium and omega‐3 fatty acids, at higher levels than in the usual diet, lowers circulating levels of markers of systemic inflammation in persons at high risk for colon cancer (i.e., adenoma patients).

Eric Hodges, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing. His project is entitled Maternal Feeding Responsiveness During Infancy and Toddlerhood. This pilot study will assess the role of maternal feeding responsiveness in the development and maintenance of obesity in early childhood in hopes of identifying modifiable targets for prevention and early intervention.

Mihai Niculescu, MD, PhD is a Research Assistant Professor at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute in Kannapolis. His project Maternal High‐Fat Diet Alters the Fetal Brain Development by Epigenetic Mechanisms will test the hypothesis that maternal exposure to a high fat diet, prior and during pregnancy, negatively alters hippocampal neurogenesis in the offspring, and that the subsequent permanent alterations are epigenetically regulated.

Read Current P/F Awardee Abstracts - Coming Soon!