The Johns Hopkins NIMH Center offers Development Core Pilot Awards for innovative projects focused on the neurological complications of HIV infection. One of the center’s main objectives is funding new investigators (including cross-disciplinary faculty) interested in collaborating with the center faculty to generate preliminary data that will lead to future NIMH funding addressing the neurological complications of HIV infection.

Four pilot grants of up to $24,000 in direct costs for a one-year period will be awarded. 

Who Should Apply

All JHU faculty and postdoctoral fellows and faculty members are encouraged to apply. Fellows seeking funds for a project indirectly related to their mentor's research (i.e. trying to start an independent line of investigation) are also encouraged to apply. If the senior investigator has funding for the same proposed project, such a pilot proposal would be considered non-responsive application.

Proposal Guidelines

The need is urgent for innovative approaches to address in people with HIV-1 infection (PWH) the neurological and neuropsychiatric complications and viral reservoirs in the central nervous system.

The Center is interested in proposals that:

• Use clinical data and biospecimens from phenotyped cohorts available through the JH CAHN and/or institutional partners (see graphic)
• Address fundamental biology related to HIV-CNS neuropathogenesis and when possible linking to the principles of Research Domain Criteria (RDoc)
• Preclinical drug discovery research on cellular pathways with druggable molecular targets implicated in HIV-neuropathogenesis

How to Apply

Application due date: January 12, 2026

Application requirements

• The application should be 6-pages maximum in the NIH, R21 format, detailing:
  • specific aims
  • significance
  • innovation
  • approach (including preliminary data, if any)
• A Rigor and Reproducibility section as required by the NIH. See NIH guidance for this section.
• Not included in the 6-page maximum:
  • Investigator’s NIH biosketch
  • Project budget ($24,000 max)

Proposals are accepted through the MyPeerReview online platform. See instructions for submitting your application (PDF).

Start your application 

Contacts

Please contact us with any questions or to discuss your project:

• Co-Director: Dr. Ahmet Hoke ([email protected], 410-955-2227)
• Co-Director: Dr. Amanda Brown ([email protected]; 410-614-2429)

Scoring Criteria

• Scientific merit, including feasibility and experimental design (10 points). Well controlled experiments with convincing or proven methodologies; clearly and appropriately related to the Specific Aims and individual hypotheses; useful information likely to be generated whether the hypothesis is supported or rejected by experimental results. Adequate discussion of statistical issues. Potential problems identified and suitable alternative approaches outlined in convincing detail.
• Scientific impact and novelty (8 points). To receive full score, the proposal should have: major new implications for therapeutics or direct patient care, AND/OR represent a major departure from the established paradigms in the literature, AND/OR potentially answer a major unsolved problem or question in the indicated field(s) involved. Novelty and impact can derive from the first application of new techniques or disciplines to preexisting problems (an example from the past would be the first MRI brain studies of HIV-associated dementia or a new animal model of HIV CNS disease).

Bonus points:

• PI new to NeuroHIV research (4 points)
• New collaboration between JHU investigators (2 point)
• Proposal is utilizing JH CAHN resources with a focal point on Research Domain Criteria (RDoc) (1 point)

All proposals must conform to the requirements of feasible and rigorous experimental design. Routine studies that follow long-established lines of investigation in a given discipline will not be considered responsive. 

Funding Decision

Internal funding decision will be made by January 30, 2026. Funded grants are subject to final approval from the NIMH Program Officer and Grants Manager. The expected project start dates vary, ranging from one to two months after the internal funding decision date. We are aiming for the March 1, 2026 start date. 

Other Considerations if Your Grant Receives a Fundable Score

After the JH CAHN scientific review process, if your pilot grant is considered for funding, additional research compliance documents will be required:

• If your proposed research needing Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Animal Care Use Committee (ACUC) approval, be sure you have completed all compliance training and preferably have the relevant protocol already approved. If a protocol must be submitted for review and approval, understand that your project start date will be delayed.

• Review of all pilot grant by the JH CAHN’s NIMH Program Officer is required before any research can commence. This process can take one to several weeks.