Pilot Grants

The HICAHS Pilot Grants Program funded innovative research projects that promoted worker health and safety in the agriculture, forestry, or fishing industries. This funding opportunity was targeted to students, post-docs, junior investigators or investigators new to occupational safety and health in agriculture.

This research pilot grant program has been highly successful, leading to the generation of federally-funded R01 grants, the development of new educational materials and intervention techniques, the training of student and junior investigators and publication of peer-reviewed journal articles and conference presentations.

Recent Research and Pilot Grant Recipients:

• Paper-based Analytical Device for Detection of PFAS in Agricultural Waters – Ruth Menger, PhD candidate, Colorado State University
• Factors Contributing to Sex Differences in Mice Inhaling Aspergillus fumigatus – Sumali Pandey, PhD, Minnesota State University Moorhead
• Nasal Swabs Show Promise as a Biomonitoring Tool for Extrathoracic PM Exposure – Joemy Ramsay, PhD, University of Utah
• Antimicrobial Resistant Genes of Salmonella enterica from Dairy Farm Worker Clothing & Environment – Sangeeta Rao, PhD and Nora Jean Nealon, PhD, DVM candidate, Colorado State University

Similar Funding Opportunities

Many NIOSH-funded centers provide pilot/feasibility research funding. See below for opportunities that overlap with the HICAHS region.

• Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health – Pilot/Feasibility Projects Program
• Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health – Pilot Grants
• Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center (MAP ERC) – Pilot Project Awards
• Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health – Pilot Project Funding
• Southwest Center for Agricultural Health, Injury Prevention, and Education – Pilot-Feasibility Study Opportunity