Pilot Grant Projects

The purpose of the pilot grant is to encourage innovative and novel research focused on infection, inflammation, and immunity in children. Since 2024, i4Kids Pilot Grants are made possible by generous support from the Rowe Family and other philanthropic donors. Learn about all i4Kids Pilot Grant Awardees below. 

The next funding cycle deadline will be announced winter 2026.

The pilot grant award amount is up to $50,000.

Click here to learn more and apply

 

2025 Pilot Grant Awardees

Emerging variants of human metapneumovirus in the United States
Anna Wang-Erickson, PhD (Department: Pediatrics, Division: Infectious Diseases)
Taylor Eddens, MD, PhD (Department: Pediatrics, Divison: Allergy and Immunology)

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2024 Pilot Grant Awardees

Functional genomics of non-ribosomal peptides in clinical bacterial strains
Daria Van Tyne, PhD (Department: Medicine, Division: Infectious Diseases)
Hosein Mohimani, PhD (Department: Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University)

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2023 Pilot Grant Awardees

Pilot Study of Lineage Plasticity Along Airway Epithelial Differentiation in Response to Pro-inflammatory Stimulation
Kong Chen, PhD (Department: Medicine, Division: Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine)
Xi Ren, PhD (Department: Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University)
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2022 Pilot Grant Awardees

Early-life Exposure to Inorganic Arsenic Primes the Offspring to Increased Airway Hyperresponsiveness: Insights from Integrative Analysis of Epigenome
Wan-Yee Tang, PhD (Department: Environmental and Occupational Health)
Dhivyaa Rajasundaram, PhD (Department: Pediatrics)

Mechanisms of Maternal Antibody Protection in Human Milk and Blood against SARS-CoV2 in Young Children
Anne-Marie Rick, MD, MPH, PhD  (Department: Pediatrics, Division: General Academic Pediatrics)
Ernesto Marques, MD, PhD (Department: Infectious Diseases and Microbiology)

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2021 Pilot Grant Awardees 

KGF to reduce bladder injury and susceptibility to urinary tract infection in neuropathic bladders
Catherine Forster, MD MS (Department: Pediatrics, Division: Pediatric Hospital Medicine)
Carlton Bates, MD (Department: Pediatrics, Division: Nephrology)

FSTL-1 Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Self-Renewal
Brian Campfield, MD (Department: Pediatrics, Division: Infectious Diseases) 
Craig Byersdorfer, MD PhD (Department: Pediatrics, Division: Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapies) 

Investigation of EVD68 Pathogenesis in the Human Spinal Cord
Megan Culler Freeman, MD PhD (Department: Pediatrics, Division: Infectious Diseases)
With generous support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

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2020 Pilot Grant Awardees 

Emrullah Korkmaz, PhD (Department: Dermatology & Bioengineering) 
Deborah Albright, MD (Department: Pediatrics, Division: Allergy & Immunology) 
Tina Sumpter, PhD (Derpartment: Dermatology, Division: Immunology)
 
Wei Chen, PhD (Department: Pediatrics, Division: Pulmonology)
Wei Gao, PhD (Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering) 
Erick Forno, MD MPH (Department: Pediatrics, Division: Pulmonary Medicine)
 
Rheinhard Hinterleiter, PhD (Department: Immunology)
Terence Dermody, MD (Department: Pediatrics, Division: Infectious Diseases)
 
Thomas Hooven, MD (Department: Pediatrics, Division: Neonatology / Newborn Medicine)  
David Aronoff, MD (Department: Medicine, Division: Infectious Diseases)

 

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