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Team Science

About the Team Science Pilot Award

The Team Science Pilot Awards promotes the submission of team-based initiatives by providing support for larger multi-principal investigator singular projects. The intent is to enable subsequent multi-project cancer applications (NIH P- or U-series type mechanisms) for extramural funding opportunities. At the time of submission, multi-project submissions must have well-established scientific teams and projects, with an anticipated NCI/NIH submission timeline within 12 to 24 months of receipt of Massey pilot funds.

Award details

  • Up to $200,000 can be awarded across components (projects, cores)
  • Funding may not exceed two years of support
  • Release of a Year 2 funding is contingent upon the following accomplishments in Year 1:
    • Pre-application consultation meeting with the NCI/NIH
    • Convening an External Advisory Board and submission of their report
    • Engagement with the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement to incorporate an MCC Community Champion into the project development
    • Presentation on progress with Massey’s Scientific Steering Committee
  • A Massey investigator may only hold one active pilot research award at a time

Application requirements

  • A completed cover sheet should be included with the application.
  • An Internal Advisory Board (IAB) must already be established and have met at least once prior to submitting a Letter of Intent.
  • A Letter of Support is required from the IAB Chair summarizing feedback from their latest meeting.
  • Applicants are required to consult with a biostatistician as part of the proposal to assist with design and statistical methods if applicable. For biostatistical support, please contact Dr. Nolan Wages at wagesn@vcu.edu, or visit the Massey Biostatistics Shared Resource.
  • Applicants are also encouraged to engage a Community Champion in the project. Please contact Dr. Maria Thomson at cancerchamps@vcu.edu to set an appointment for your consultation.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis

Principal investigator(s) are required to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) and select applicants will be invited to submit a full application within eight weeks. LOIs can be submitted at any time throughout the year to Alex Haynes at haynesa4@vcu.edu.

View the 2023 Team Science FOA

Questions? Contact Alex Haynes at haynesa4@vcu.edu or (305) 915-4200.

Previous awardees

Awardees Project
Devanand Sarkar, Ph.D.
Professor, Human & Molecular Genetics
Huiping Zhou, Ph.D.
Professor, Microbiology & Immunology
Xiang-Yang (Shawn) Wang, Ph.D.
Professor, Human & Molecular Genetics
Paul B. Fisher, Ph.D.
Professor, Human & Molecular Genetics

Gastrointestinal cancers (GI):
Exploiting Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

View abstract