Fourteen applications were received, and five were chosen for funding. Awardees include investigators from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. The NC TraCS Pilot Grant Program has $4.3 million available this year to support basic, clinical and social scientists for bench to bedside and bedside to practice translational research. Funds are allocated through TraC$2K, TraC$10K, TraCS Large Pilot Grants, and the UNC Core Facility Program.

TraC$2K offers up to $2,000 grants to assist researchers in implementing a proposed study, or moving a research project forward by providing rapid access to funds that will support almost any aspect of promising and innovative research.

The five awardees of the TraC$2K third round grants are:

Arthur Baker
Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine
Mentor: Kim Boggess
Project Title: Association of Paraoxonase 1 Activity and Preterm Birth

Hsien-Sung Huang
Cell and Molecular Physiology, School of Medicine
Mentor: Benjamin Philpot
Project Title: Novel Method to Isolate Neuronal and Glial mRNA and its Application to Human Genomic Imprinting Disorders

J.P. Jones
Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy
Mentor: Mary Paine
Project Title: Searching for Safer Drugs to Treat Human Sleeping Sickness: Pharmacokinetics and CNS Distribution of a Prototypic Novel Compound

Randall Kimple
Radiation Oncology, School of Medicine
Mentor: Adrienne Cox, Mark Socinski
Project Title: Pre-clinical validation of pazopanib as a radiosensitizer in K-ras mutated lung cancer

Debbie Travers
School of Nursing
Project Title: Emergency Department Utilization by Oncology Patients