Pilot and Feasibility Program

The Pilot and Feasibility (P&F) Program  is led by DERC Associate Director Diane J. Mathis, Ph.D., who holds the William T. Young Chair in Diabetes Research and heads the Section on Immunology and Immunogenetics at Joslin with Christophe O. Benoist, M.D., Ph.D. The program is designed to support young researchers who have not yet received significant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other sources, as well as provide seed funding for seasoned investigators who are exploring innovative, high-risk projects in diabetes research.

Projects funded in past years have covered a wide range of topics in the fields of type 1 and type 2 diabetes and their complications, including the control of insulin-gene expression, mechanisms of insulin action and resistance, beta-cell apoptosis, mechanisms of leptin action and resistance and autoantigen therapy for type 1 diabetes. Investigators who are funded come from inside and outside Joslin Diabetes Center.