The Pilot Award Program

The ÏòÈÕ¿ûÊÓƵAthletic and Human Performance Research Center (AHPRC) pilot award program is designed to facilitate and foster collaborative health- and performance-related research between disciplines at ÏòÈÕ¿ûÊÓƵ and with partner institutions that align with the following:

1. understanding the mechanisms, the best strategies and cutting-edge technology for enhancing athletic and human performance in healthy and clinical populations across the lifespan,
2. utilizing ‘exercise as medicine’ as well as nutritional, psychological and other novel interventions for optimizing performance, training, rehabilitation and prevention of disease and injury.

Goals of the Pilot Funding Opportunity

• The goal of this request for proposals (RFP) is to stimulate and support health and human performance research among disciplines at ÏòÈÕ¿ûÊÓƵor in collaboration with partner institutions and community organizations that can be further developed into larger extramurally funded projects and collaborations that may be conducted within the AHPRC.  The proposed studies must be consistent with the global aims of the AHPRC and the funding award program. 
• The goal of the AHPRC is to encourage new and innovative approaches and harness already established strategies, methods and data sets to understand and enhance performance (physical and mental) in athletic, healthy and clinical populations across the lifespan and in response to exercise, physical activity, nutritional, psychological and other novel interventions.  This will be done by creating clusters of investigators across disciplines in the ÏòÈÕ¿ûÊÓƵcommunity and in collaboration with partner institutions.  This award scheme prioritizes multiple investigators within a project to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration between teams of investigators to solve problems related to the global aims of the AHPRC. 

Funds will be Provided to

1. Support new and promising collaborative and community-based projects that increase the understanding of athletic and human performance with respect to injury prevention, rehabilitation and optimizing human performance within athletic, healthy and clinical populations. For example, topic areas could include (but not limited to) metabolic disorders, cancer, adaptive sports, data analytics in human sports and performance, head injuries/concussion, populations across the lifespan (pediatric and older adults), or COVID-19 pandemic-related health disparities. 
2. Gather preliminary data for projects poised to be competitive for new extramural grant submissions that are relevant to
   • understanding the mechanisms of human performance (physical and mental) within athletic, healthy, clinical, or community-based populations.
   • understanding the influence of physical activity, exercise training, nutrition and psychological interventions on health and human performance within athletic, healthy, clinical, or community-based populations.
   • research in novel technologies, approaches and data applications to understanding and improving health and human performance in athletic, healthy, clinical, or community-based populations.
3. Fund novel analyses or approaches of already existing data sets that provide new insights and understanding of health and human performance in athletic, healthy, clinical, or community-based populations .
4. Stimulate and foster:
   
   • Interdisciplinary collaborations between scientists, engineers, coaches, clinicians, and other researchers to understand and improve human performance and solve health-related problems using exercise training, physical activity, nutrition, and psychological interventions in athletic, healthy or clinical populations.
   • Community-engaged research and partnerships to improve community wellness and address health disparities.