The Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity Diseases is seeking applications for a pilot grant competition.

The objectives of the program are to stimulate research in the area of nutrient signaling and to enhance competitiveness in obtaining external funding support. The application deadline is Aug. 31. One project will receive funding.

Proposals in two areas will be given priority. Those areas are:

• Prevention of obesity-related diseases through dietary molecules. Proposals in this area must focus on the prevention of diseases through essential and non-essential dietary compounds. Pharmaceutical approaches to the prevention and treatment of disease will not be considered.

• Interactions between diet and non-coding RNAs, biomarkers of disease or quantitative research related to metabolic disease. Three lines of research will be considered — proposals with a focus on interactions among nutrition, non-coding RNAs and disease; proposals with a focus on biomarkers of disease; or proposals that utilize quantitative research to study metabolic disease.

Applications are being accepted from researchers across the university. Current funded project leaders in the Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity Diseases are not eligible for the competition.

Collaborations across the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and University of Nebraska Medical Center and proposals that lead to the development of new research tools (animals, laboratory protocols and computational protocols) are strongly encouraged.

One proposal per principal investigatory is permitted. There is no limit on the number of proposals an applicant may participate in as a co-investigator.

The center is particularly interested in projects that satisfy the following: collaborative, interdisciplinary research; research that directly addresses the most critical areas in nutrient signaling and the prevention of obesity-related diseases (metabolic switches, epigenetics, computational biology and quantitative research, metabolomics, microbiomics, extracellular vesicles and/or non-coding RNAs); and projects with a high likelihood to receive future external funding.

Project leaders will become members of the center, are expected to attend monthly meetings and will participate in other center events. Project leaders are also required to present research progress at a monthly work-in-progress seminar and to an external advisory committee at the center’s annual review meeting.

Principal investigators must submit an annual report to the center each year a project is active. A final report documenting progress, publications and grant proposals submitted and awarded, is due to the center 30 days prior to the end of the funding period.

Funded research teams must submit an R01 grant proposal to the National Institutes of Health or similar federal agency before the end of the funding period.

Funded researchers at the pre-tenure level are encouraged to compete for project leader slots in the center as they become available.

The maximum budget per project is up to $50,000 in direct costs per year for a maximum of two years. Facilities and administrative costs are not allowed. Applicants can request less funding. All funding is contingent upon satisfactory progress in the first year, a continuation request by the investigator and availability of funds.

Equipment requests should not constitute the majority of the project budget. All budgeted items must be justified and relate directly to the research project. Salaries for faculty are not allowed. However, salaries for other personnel are permitted.

The application form for pilot awards is currently available on the center’s website under the “Funding Opportunities” tab.

Application forms can also be obtained from Sarah Gibson, Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 316D Leverton Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0806; 402-472-3862; or sgibson@unl.edu.

Successful applicants will be notified as soon as possible. The funding start date is anticipated to be Jan. 1.

The Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity is funded by a Center for Biomedical Research Excellence grant award from the National Institutes of Health. For more information, click here.