Duke Improving Clinical and Translational Science (IMPaCTS) Challenge: Enhancing the Participant Experience Awards (2025 – 2027)

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The Duke Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) catalyzes science that improves health—for individuals and communities—in our region and across the nation. The institute invites proposals for innovative pilot projects that improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and impact of translational research and accelerate the advancement of scientific discoveries into practice to improve health and reduce disease burden. This funding opportunity is made possible through support from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences’ (NCATS) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). 

Purpose  

The Duke IMPaCTS Challenge: Enhancing the Participant Experience Awards program will fund research that improves the participant experience through practical, generalizable, and scalable solutions. We seek projects that enhance trust, engagement, satisfaction, and retention in research while ensuring participants feel valued as partners. Funded research must produce generalizable insights, methods, or tools to improve the participant experience and accelerate research across disease states (see Generalizability below).   

Challenges to participant recruitment, retention, and satisfaction include logistical hurdles (e.g., travel, time, financial burden), informational complexities (e.g., lengthy, jargon-filled consent forms and limited return-of-results), and trust deficits, particularly among historically underserved populations. Duke CTSI recognizes that overcoming these challenges and creating an accessible, trustworthy research enterprise is essential to accelerating translation from bench to bedside to community. We encourage projects that: (1) explore innovative new directions; (2) employ interdisciplinary approaches, and/or (3) establish proof of concept. This funding supports developmental, exploratory, and pilot studies. Research projects that pilot the implementation of existing, proven strategies for improving clinical and translational research are also encouraged. The funding program is not intended for large-scale projects suited for traditional grant mechanisms. 

Methodologies 

To address research questions, we welcome diverse methodologies, including but not limited to, qualitative, evaluation, education, marketing and communication research, surveys, stated-preference methods (e.g., discrete choice experiments), user-centered design, systems engineering, implementation and dissemination science, artificial intelligence/machine learning approaches, and community-engaged approaches. Applications proposing new processes, guidelines, technologies, tools, programs, or infrastructure must include empirical approaches to inform, test, and evaluate their development.  

Leveraging Existing Data, Research, and Resources 

We encourage the use of existing Duke data sources including but not limited to: Study-level data (participant flow, retention patterns); Administrative data (OnCore); Survey data (Duke Health Listens, Project ENTRUST); and Electronic health records. In addition, applicants are encouraged to use validated approaches for measuring participant experience (e.g., Research Participant Perceptions Survey; Kost et al 2025). Also, teams may leverage existing research programs. For instance, participants in an existing study could be recruited to participate in an add-on qualitative or survey study. At the same time, pilot funds may not be commingled with existing research funding. Please consult CTSI accelerator staff regarding allowable costs. Applicants who plan to request administrative or operational data should consult with the Duke Office of Clinical Research (DOCR) prior to submission. DOCR can provide guidance to ensure the requested data elements meet project needs, confirm data availability, and prepare an appropriate cost estimate or quote for data retrieval. To request DOCR Services, complete the Request Form or email docr.help@duke.edu. Finally, applications that make use of existing Duke CTSI resources (https://ctsi.duke.edu/) are encouraged. 

Generalizability 

Projects may focus on a specific disease state, patient population, or intervention, but must provide generalizable innovations or insights that can be applied to other disease states. For example, an application testing strategies for return-of-results to participants in smoking cessation clinical trials, must 1) make clear how results apply to other patient populations and 2) include plans to disseminate results and research projects (e.g., toolkits, templates, etc.) in ways that promote broader use. 

Examples of Responsive Research 

Example topic areas are listed below; detailed examples can be found under Additional Resources.  

  • Understanding the participant experience (e.g., mapping barriers to participation across populations, study types, or settings). 
  • Simplifying informed consent and return-of-results processes (e.g., developing scalable approaches for returning individual or aggregate results that promote trust, clarity, and participant empowerment). 
  • Leveraging technology to improve recruitment, retention, or communication (e.g., evaluating decentralized or hybrid trial approaches that reduce travel and increase convenience). 
  • Creating culturally responsive or community-driven engagement and recruitment strategies (e.g., partnering with trusted community organizations to co-design outreach strategies and study materials). 
  • Development of artificial intelligence assisted services that plug into existing study operations and personalize, simplify, and scale participant-facing functions (e.g., recruitment, consent, communication, and return-of-results). 

Funding  

  • The program will award up to eight (8) awards per funding cycle.  
  • Each award will provide $25,000 to $50,000 in direct costs only.  
  • Cost sharing is not allowed. Pilot projects must be fully supported only with NIH funds awarded through the CTSA program (no other funding sources may be used to support these projects). 
  • Funds may not directly support any clinical trials beyond Phase IIB except for Phase III clinical trials for treatment of rare diseases.  
  • All salary requests are subject to the current NIH-mandated annual salary cap. 
  • Project must be completed within the specified funding cycle.   
  • Requests for a no-cost extension will not be approved. 
  • This award does not need to be routed through the Office of Research Administration (ORA).  However, we require you to include your grants team in the preparation of this proposal budget. 

Please note that for this award, NIH has notified us of the following: “NIH funds may not be used to support activities that are outside the revised scope of the award, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) research programs, vaccine hesitancy, health equity, COVID-19 (other than long COVID) research or related research training activities or programs. Any funds used to support activities outside the scope will result in a disallowance of costs, and funds will be recovered. This study is funded by the NIH and accordingly only biological sex is being collected and reported in research to align with agency directives.”  

Eligibility 

  • Application is open to investigators from Duke University and partner organizations (North Carolina Central University, Durham Tech, and Lincoln Community Health Center, or other). 
  • Proposals must have a Duke PI or co-PI. 
  • Multiple PI (MPI) proposals must include a Duke PI or co-PI on the application. 
  • Applicants must have a principal investigator status per their organization policy. View Duke’s written policy. For questions regarding eligibility, contact Eman Ghanem (ctsifunding@duke.edu).  
  • Inter-institutional collaborations are strongly encouraged, with the understanding that both PIs will share equal responsibility for the conduct and direction of the project. 
  • More than one proposal may be submitted with an applicant acting as PI or co-PI, but the applicant is eligible to receive only one award as PI or co-PI during a given funding cycle.  

Key Dates  

The program is accepting applications for two 12-month funding cycles; applicants may select their preferred cycle on the application form. Please refer to the specific dates below. 

Event Date
Release Date: November 5, 2025
Virtual Information Session (Register Here) November 13, 2025, 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET
Mandatory LOI Deadline: December 5, 2025
Optional Consultations:* November 3, 2025 – January 5, 2026
Full Application Deadline: January 15, 2026
Anticipated Award Notification: March 2026
Run-in Period for NCATS Prior-approval:‡ March – April,2026
2025 – 2026 Anticipated Start Date: April 1, 2026
2026 – 2027 Anticipated Start Date: August 1, 2026

*Applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with the Pilot Program Team prior to submitting a full proposal to ensure optimal responsiveness to the RFA.  

‡Funding start date depends on securing required NCATS prior approval for projects involving human subjects or animal research. 

RFA and Application Instructions 

Duke CTSI uses the MyResearchProposal (MRP) online application portal to submit LOIs and full applications. 

  • To apply visit https://duke.is/DukeMRP, click on “Create New User” (or log in if you already have an account).  Proposals must be submitted under the Principal Investigator’s name. 
  • A step-by-step user’s guide for applying via the MyResearchProposal software is available under “Additional Resources” below.  
  • Enter Access Code ‘CTSI,’ then select “Duke IMPaCTS Challenge: Enhancing the Participant Experience Awards (2025-2027)

Read the Full Request for Applications (RFA) and Application Instructions.  

Additional Resources  

Contact Information 

For additional information on this funding opportunity please submit a Consultation Request or contact Duke CTSI at CTSIfunding@duke.edu.