Mount Sinai Skin Biology and Diseases Resource-Based Center (SBDRC)

SBDRC-BFSCI-Dermatology Department Pilot Grant Program

Pilot grants from the Black Family Stem Cell Institute, the Mount Sinai Skin Biology and Diseases Resource-based Center (SBDRC), and the Department of Dermatology at Icahn Mount Sinai are available on an annual basis to support research projects in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine and skin biology and disease.

  1. Research Grants (up to $40K) are intended for principal investigators meeting any of the following criteria:
  •  New principal investigators (less than five years from appointment as Assistant Professor) who have not had R01, P01 or equivalent funding
  • Established basic research or clinical investigators outside the field of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine and/or skin biology and disease who wish to apply their expertise to these areas
  • Researchers with proposals that involve interdisciplinary collaborations
  1. Transition to Independence Minigrants (up to $100K) are available to:
  • Post-doctoral research fellows with at least one year of post-doctoral research training
  • Instructors with at least one year of research training
  • Dermatology residents engaged in research

Applications should include the following elements:

  1. Research Strategy (one page): include title, name and affiliations, significance or the project, innovation, and approach
  2. Figures (one page)
  3. Bibliography and References Cited (one page)
  4. For transition to independence grants, lease add one letter of support from the postdoctoral mentor stating how the grant will support a unique line of research separate from PI of the laboratory
  5. Budget using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Budget Page PHS398/FP5 and budget justification
  6. NIH Biosketch
  7. Other support
  8. Vertebrate animals and human subjects information in NIH format

New call for pilot grant proposals. Deadline is October 5th, 2022. Please click here for more information.

2021-2022 Pilot Grant Recipients

Research Grants:

Zhe Ying, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Cell, Developmental, and Regenerative Biology, Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Icahn Mount Sinai
Title: Exploring the mechanism of epidermal progenitor homeostasis governed by a non-canonical p53 transcriptional program

Nicholas David Gulati, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology, Icahn Mount Sinai
Title: Use of topical diphencyprone to improve efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibition in melanoma patients

Elizabeth A. Spencer, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Icahn Mount Sinai
Title: Skin tape profiling of patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Transition to Independence Minigrants:

Jacqueline Frost, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn Mount Sinai
Title: Dissecting signaling pathways in differentiation of healthy and psoriatic skin

Dan Filipescu, PhD, Instructor, Departments of Oncological Sciences and Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Title: Spatial transcriptomic analysis of melanocyte transformation in the macroH2A-deficient TME.

Xuming Zhu, PhD, Instructor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Title: Mechanisms of Meibomian gland homeostasis and aging

Pooja Flora, PhD, Postdoctoral fellow, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Title: Uncovering epigenetic mechanisms safeguarding hair follicle stem cell longevity in the adult epidermis.