Pilot Award

All applicants must be junior or early-stage investigators. This is limited to any new investigator who has completed, or is working towards, their terminal research degree or medical residency-whichever is most recent, within the past 10 years, and has not yet competed successfully for a substantial NIH research grant e.g., R01. Pre- and post-doctoral fellows, junior faculty conducting research, and non-research track clinicians affiliated with the POGEC network are welcomed to apply.

Applications with more than one PI (multi-PI, MPI) will be accepted. However, all PIs must meet eligibility criteria. To be proposed as a PI, non-research track clinicians must be partnered with another PI conducting research.

Application Details

Using the Google Form linked above, please submit the following information as part of your application:

• Complete the Applicant Information section

• Project proposal, including:

  • Project title, including goals, specific aims, methods, statistical analysis, details on samples being used (e.g. sample size, type, etc.), timeline, and relevance to the origins of gastroesophageal cancer (500-word max., arial font 11)  

  • References (not included in the 500-word limit)

• For previous pilot award recipients, upload a supplementary document (500-word maximum, Arial font size 11), including 

  • A progress update on the prior pilot project

  • A description of how the proposed project differs from previous work

• Upload a proposed budget

Applications must be submitted via the Google Form linked above by May 20, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST.

For any scientific questions about the proposal, please contact Dr. Jeanine M. Genkinger (jg3081@cumc.columbia.edu) or Dr. Chin Hur (ch447@cumc.columbia.edu). For any general application questions, please contact Christian Kulp (cbk2138@cumc.columbia.edu).