NMSU is a member of the Mountain-West Clinical & Translational Research Infrastructure Network (CTR-IN), an NIH-funded Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program established in 2013. Led by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the mission of the MW CTR-IN includes increasing and enhancing clinical and translational research capacity and facilitate extramural funding success of researchers in 13 universities across seven IDeA states. It also aims at accelerating scientific discovery to improve the health of the residents of the Mountain West IDeA States Region. The network members are:

• University of Alaska, Anchorage
• University of Alaska, Fairbanks
• University of Hawaii, Manoa
• Boise State University
• Idaho State University
• Universit of Idaho
• Montana State University
• University of Montana
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• University of Nevada, Reno (Including the University of Nevada School of Medicine)
• New Mexico State University
• University of New Mexico (Health Science Center)
• University of Wyoming

The MW CTR IN network serves to connect early career investigators to mentors, collaborators, biostatisticians, communities, and funding opportunities. This network provides three types of competitive seed funding opportunities annually:

• Pilot Project Grants ($90,000 for 12-month projects)for early career and/or other midlevel-to-senior investigators seeking support to obtain key preliminary data that will eventually support and inform a competitive “R-level” grant application to NIH or other extramural funding sources.
• Multi-Site Pilot Project (MSPP) Grants ($100,000 to $200,000 for 12-month projects) for multi-site clinical and translational (CTR) research with the expectation that the project will yield key preliminary data and capacity building to facilitate a large-scale multi-site extramural grant application or other extramural grant funding opportunities.
• Community Engaged Research Pilot (CERP) Grants ($90,000 for 12-month projects) for faculty who have already established relationships with community partners to engage in research with those communities and are seeking to generate key preliminary data and evidence of robust community-engaged research to support and inform a competitive “R-level” grant application to NIH or other extramural funding sources.

Every year (around October) NMSU announces the availability of these funds through email distribution and NMSU Research Digest, the newsletter of the Office of the VP for Research, Creativity, and Economic Development. The 2024-25 funding announcements are available here (PPG, MSPP, CERP). Eligible faculty apply for these seed funds by submitting a Nomination Package (in December) which includes a summary of their research concepts. Those invited back by MW CTR-IN for submitting full proposals submit their expanded proposals by the deadline specified in the announcement (in March).

Our faculty have had success in garnering these fundings to support their research endeavors. To view past funded projects click here. NMSU’s current awardees are:

• Dr. Humairah Rahman (Assistant Professor of Public Health), project title, “Evaluation of Well Water Contamination and Cancers Associated with Arsenic Exposure in Doña Ana, New Mexico”
• Dr. Dejan Magoc (Assistant Professor of Public Health), project title “The Healthy Kids+ Initiative: Promoting Active Living through Behavior Change”

For more information about the MW CTR-IN nomination process, please contact Dr. Hamid Mansouri Rad, Senior Proposal Development Specialist at Research Administration Services (RAS) who serves as the MW CTR-IN Concierge at NMSU.

Eligible NMSU faculty preparing proposals to MW CTR-IN funding opportunities can obtain scientific support for their proposals by contacting:

• Dr. Rebecca Palacios, NMSU Professor of Public Health who serves as the Site Direct of the MW CTR-IN Community Engagement and Outreach Support, and
• Dr. Charlotte Gard, Associate Professor of Economics, Applied Statistics, and International Business who serves as a MW CTR-IN Biostatistician at NMSU.

Finally, staff at NMSU RAS provide support to all faculty across the university. This support includes proposal development for faculty interested in MW CTR-IN pilot grants. To obtain assistace please send email to Dr. Mansouri Rad or Ms. Cindy Ramirez, Proposal Development Specialists at RAS. To obtain support for budget preparation please contact:

• Ms. Vanessa Gonzalez, Grants and Contracts Administrator who supports the Health side of the College of HEST
• Ms. Laura Anaya-Bolivar, Grants and Contract Administrator who supports the Education side of the College of HEST
• Ms. Daniela Miranda-Tellez, Ms. Sarah MacCallum, or Ms. Linda Braxton, Grants and Contract Administrators who support the College of Arts and Sciences 

Dr. Hamid Mansouri Rad,
MW CTR-IN Concierge

Dr. Rebecca Palacios,
MW CTR-IN Community
Engagement and Outreach Support

Dr. Charlotte Gard, MW CTR-IN Biostatistician