Translational Science Pilot Award

This service is provided by the Pilot Program 

Overview

The Translational Science Pilot Award is focused on translational science projects aimed at overcoming common scientific and operational barriers to research. By improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the translational research process across diseases and fields, these efforts can accelerate the translation of discoveries into improved human health. 

We invite innovative projects across the translational spectrum from basic science, to clinical implementation, to community and public health delivery and scale-up. 

• Project Period: June 1, 2027 - May 31, 2028. 
• Award Amount: $50,000 

 Proposals should:  

• Propose an innovation and/or identify a barrier or problem they seek to address  
• Propose a plan to test the innovation and/or mitigate the barrier   
• Describe how they will evaluate the effectiveness of the project  
• Describe how the proposed innovation/solution can be broadly applied across diseases and conditions and a translational science deliverable (e.g., playbook, toolkit, method, software etc.) that can help extend its use beyond the proposed project 

Disease-specific projects are welcome as they can solve pressing problems and offer important insights into broader translational science challenges. However, applicants should demonstrate how the proposed work addresses a broader need and generates knowledge, methods, or tools that extend beyond a single disease area. 

Eligibility 

• Principal investigator(s) must have a faculty appointment at Columbia University of assistant professor or higher. 
• Postdoctoral fellows are not eligible to apply as principal investigator. 
• Teams may include outside consultants/collaborators (e.g., community stakeholders, other academic organizations, and industry partners) with unique experience or expertise in innovative approaches not currently available at NYP/Columbia. However, sub-awards are not permitted. 
• Only one submission is permitted per principal investigator (PI). However, PIs may be listed as co-investigators or consultants on other applications. 
• Program Directors and senior leadership of the Irving Institute may be consulted during the preparation of the application, but they should not be included as co-investigators or consultants on the application.  

Deadline

Apply by November 24, 2026 

Cite it, Submit it, Share it! 

Cite our CTSA grant in any relevant publications, abstracts, chapters, and/or posters: 

“This publication was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant Number UM1TR006153. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.” 

• Submit your publications to PubMed Central (PMC) for compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy. 

• Share your research updates with us by sending an email to irving_institute@cumc.columbia.edu