Landon Center on Aging Pilot Project Program

Landon Center on Aging Pilot Project Program is sponsored by Landon Center on Aging (University of Kansas Medical Center). This annual funding opportunity supports rigorous, innovative, and collaborative studies relevant to aging, age-related diseases, healthspan, and longevity.

School of Health Professions The University of Kansas Health System The University of Kansas Cancer Center Grayhawk Healthy Aging Collaborative (Gray-HAC) Human Performance Laboratory Translational Geroscience Information for Research Volunteers Pilot Project Program Grants Previous grant recipients are listed as Research Fellows on our Associate Faculty page The LCOA Pilot Project Program is an annual funding opportunity that supports rigorous, innovative, and collaborative studies relevant to aging, age-related diseases, healthspan, and longevity.

The program is supported by the Kansas Successful Aging and Resilience COBRE (K-SARC) and the Landon Center on Aging. LCOA anticipates funding up to 3 awards with maximum direct costs of $50,000 each. No dollars may be spent on faculty salaries.

The award period is 6-12 months. Investigators will be expected to submit applications for external funding, preferably to the National Institutes of Health, or NIH supported K-SARC projects within one year of completing their pilot project.

The goals of the LCOA Pilot Project Program are to: Provide support for earls y-stage projects to generate data that will lead to successful external applications focused on aging and age-related diseases. Facilitate the translation of research advances into improved diagnoses and care for older adults and their families.

Advance innovative interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaborative research to detect, understand, and minimize frailty and maximize resilience and healthspan in older adults. A major focus for the K-SARC and LCOA is characterizing and maximizing resilience to enhance healthspan and quality of life during aging and in older adults. This includes physical performance, functional capacity, and cognition.

Applications are desired that address resilience, particularly within frameworks such as benchtop-to-bedside, cells-to-community, and lab-to-living room. Proposals can utilize cellular, animal, or clinical models. Investigators are highly encouraged to consult and collaborate with current core LCOA faculty and researchers regarding guidance on project development and implementation.

Resources also include the K-SARC’s Phenotypic Aging Resilience Core(K-PARC), formerly the Human Performance Laboratory directed by Dr. Jacob Sosnoff , and K-SARC’s Molecular Aging Resilience Core (K-MARC) directed by Dr. Heather Wilkins . Previous applicants to the LCOA Pilot Project Program who did not receive funding are encouraged to re-apply but are strongly urged to incorporate critiques from the preceding submissions.

Faculty members, staff scientists, or adjunct faculty members of all University of Kansas campuses with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research are eligible to apply as Principal Investigators (PIs).

The most competitive applications will demonstrate a clear and rapid path towards external (preferably NIH) funding in the fields of aging and age-related diseases and help to lay a collaborative foundation for the development and submission of successful program project grants.

While all investigators are eligible to apply, early-career investigators and those not currently performing aging and age-related research will be given additional consideration for funding. The Landon Center on Aging (LCOA) is dedicated to promoting health and well-being among older adults through excellence in education, research, clinical care, and community service.

The LCOA seeks to expand utilizable medical knowledge through research on aging and age-related diseases. In addition, we seek to establish an environment that fosters geroscience research, mentorship, and education; promotes institutional leadership in the field; and nurtures an increasing and progressively diverse pool of geroscience researchers at the University of Kansas and beyond.

Submission of Letter of Intent A non-binding letter of intent is required along with the following information: Principal Investigator Information A descriptive research title A brief overview of the proposed research Sufficient information to allow the LCOA Pilot Project Program review committee to determine if the project addresses the mission of the program. LOIs are due on October 8th, 2026.

All applicants will receive written feedback on their submitted LOI Applicants selected to submit a full proposal will be notified by October 15th, 2026 Full proposals will be due November 10th, 2026 Funding will start in December 2026 Submit your LOI HERE “2026-2027 Landon Center on Aging Pilot Project Program." Please contact Tanya Rehma with questions.

Proposal - Required Submission Items The proposal instructions are subject to change prior to October 15, 2026 The submission process will take place in InfoReady. Face Page : List the project title, investigator names and titles, and provide an abstract of the proposal (250 words or less). Research Plan : Provide a detailed research plan (not to exceed 4 pages) similar to the NIH R03 grant mechanism.

Specific page limitations and sections for this pilot project program are as follows: Specific Aims (up to 1 page) Significance, Innovation, Approach, and Future Potential (up to 3 pages, including preliminary data and figures).

In the 3 pages, applicants should describe what data will be used in future grant applications, specific extramural funding announcements for which the project would be suitable, and how the project can contribute to the development of collaborative and center-scale grant applications that align with the theme described above. No supplemental material is allowed.

References (not included in the page limit) Detailed Budget and Justification : Please use the NIH PHS398 Detailed Budget For Initial Budget Period form for this one-year grant. (This link takes you outside the KU Medical Center website. External sites are not maintained by the medical center and may not meet accessibility standards.)

Requests should not exceed $50,000 in direct costs and may not include salary for faculty and/or the principal investigator. Smaller grants are encouraged. No indirect (F & A) dollars are awarded.

Some effort for the PI is required, and assistant and staff salaries are permitted. Salary support must be commensurate with the effort required to complete the project. NIH Biographical Sketch : A biographical sketch in the current NIH format , including a project-specific personal statement, is required for each investigator, including Co-Investigators.

Additional Sections and Components Letters of Support : Letters of support are strongly encouraged for any resource not directly under the control of the PI. This may include a letter of support from a Co-I regarding access to the needed resource.

Statement of Effort: Statement in the form of a letter signed by the department chair or appropriate supervisor specifying the percentage effort the awardee will devote to the research project during the award period. Application Review Information Each application will undergo peer review by at least two reviewers. Final funding decisions will be made by the Director of the LCOA based upon reviewer feedback and discussion.

All applicants will receive written feedback on their proposals. Several factors are considered during the funding decision-making process. These include: External fundability : Potential for future external Significance: Scientific, technical, or clinical significance and innovation, along with the likelihood for publication of the proposed work.

Thematic focus : Appropriateness for mission and thematic scope of the LCOA, with a geroscience and resilience focus. Collaborative approach : Applicants are strongly encouraged to develop interdisciplinary geroscience initiatives with existing Landon Center on Aging faculty and to utilize Landon Center on Aging resources and cores.

Investigator : Qualifications and research experience of the research team, and evidence of commitment to research on aging and age-related diseases. Additional criteria helpful to the review are: Clear milestones for progress Compliance with human subjects protection or animal use and care guidelines Clear demonstration that the proposed work can be completed within the project year.

For projects requiring Human Subjects Committee or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approval, funding cannot begin until the approval is obtained. Funds will be distributed in two installments of $25,000. The second installment will be distributed after approval of the mid-year progress report.

Awardees will provide an overview of their project at the PPP Orientation meeting and receive feedback and recommendations from the review committee. A required mid-year progress report and final comprehensive progress report will provide details regarding study-related productivity, such as manuscripts, grant applications, and funding.

In addition, each awardee will present the findings of their project as part of our ongoing research symposium series. Pilot Project Program Orientation Meeting: TBA Symposium to Present Research Updates: TBA For more information regarding thematic focus, please contact Dr. Bruce Troen. For questions that arise regarding the application process that are not covered in this RFA, please contact Tanya Rehma.

Page updated Sept. 28, 2026 University of Kansas Medical Center