The UNC Core Center for Clinical Research (CCCR) recently selected two new pilot grant funding awardees for 2025.
We are excited to announce that Ashley N. Buck, MS, PhD Candidate in the Human Movement Science Curriculum at UNC and NIH/NIAMS T32 Pre- Doctoral Fellow in the Thurston Arthritis Research Center, and Sandra Soto, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor in the UNC School of Nursing, have been chosen to receive pilot grant funding for their proposed projects.
Ashley’s project, “Biomechanical and Biological Phenotypes Emerging Within One Year Post-Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Machine Learning Approach to Understanding Early Knee Osteoarthritis,” aims to implement robust, novel machine learning approaches to enhance early knee osteoarthritis (KOA) screening, enable individualized risk stratification, and inform clinical trial inclusion criteria and targeted interventions to prevent KOA following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Her project will utilize the CCCR’s Phenotyping and Precision Medicine Resource Core and Methodology Core to receive support in the development, execution, and interpretation of clinically-relevant phenotyping and machine learning analyses. Biostatistical consultations and hands-on support from Liubov Arbeeva, MS, Biostatistician in the UNC Thurston Arthritis Research Center, will be a primary use of the funds awarded through the pilot grant.
Dr. Soto’s project, “A Longitudinal Observational Study of Psychosocial Factors Related to Physical Activity Maintenance in Adults with Arthritis,” will use monthly surveys to evaluate changes in psychosocial factors expected to be relevant to physical activity maintenance over the course of 6 months. Dr. Soto anticipates that findings from the study will expand upon current understanding of the psychosocial complexities that underly the maintenance of physical activity over the long-term in a sample with arthritis to inform future interventions. Carolina Alvarez, MS, Biostatistician in the Thurston Arthritis Research Center, will provide statistical expertise on the project.
Pilot grant applications will continue to be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. The number of awards will depend on available pilot grant funding and CCCR priorities. If you are interested in learning more about this funding opportunity and/or applying, please visit the UNC CCCR Pilot Grant Funding website.