The Duke-Observational Research Building Interdisciplinary Therapeutic Advances (ORBIT) Hub is pleased to announce a pilot grant program to support junior investigators working in research concerning evidence generation using real-world/routinely-collected data. ORBIT brings together Duke investigators with distinct though complementary skillsets in artificial intelligence (AI), economics, statistics, data science, population health, and clinical medicine. ORBIT’s mission is to stimulate collaboration within and across disciplines to achieve two central objectives: 1) To develop techniques and tools in real-world data that can be deployed to generate high-level evidence from real-world data; and 2) To facilitate efficient randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using real-world, observational data overlaid with techniques in AI and data science. This pilot grant program will support junior investigators at Duke who wish to grow their career in this space.
Application Process
Please submit an application as a single .pdf file containing the following sections:
● 1. Research Strategy (2 pages)
● 2. External Funding Plan (1 page)
● 3. Mentor Support Letter (1 page)
● 4. Biosketch (NIH format)
● 5. Budget Justification (0.5-1 page)
Applications should be sent to Marcus Layer (marcus.layer@duke.edu) prior to 5pm on February 10th 2026.
Scoring Criteria
-Clarity of research strategy (preliminary data are permitted but not required)
-Strength of mentoring support
-Integration of research plan with ORBIT hub mission
-Potential for pilot funding to lead to further extramural funding
Please contact Brian Mac Grory (brian.macgrory@duke.edu) with questions about eligiiblity or scoring criteria for this pilot funding program.
-Graduate student, post-doctoral associate/fellow, instructor, or assistant professor
-Enrolled/appointed at Duke through December 31st 2026
-This announcement is open to every school in the Duke community
-Two awards of $10,000 will be distributed
-Awards are announced on March 1st 2026 and funding runs from April 1st 2026 to March 31st 2027
-Funds can be used for data access, computing or statistical support, or other justified expenses.
-Funds cannot be used for salary support.
-Successful candidates will have access to mentoring from investigators within the ORBIT hub, access to additional data/analytic resources, and support for developing further external funding.