The key activities of the Pilot Projects core include:

• Complexity: Provide forums to support new investigators in interdisciplinary collaborations and innovative programs of research. The PI and co-directors of the Core work closely with the Center investigators and administators to plan the topics and speakers for all seminars, workshops, think-tanks, and forums. The Core focuses directly on the scientific gaps and investigator needs.
• Training: Expand the number and quality of research investigators who are successful in independently funded careers in self-management research to improve health outcomes. The advancement of science occurs when investigators have sustained research programs in a relevant and significant focused area of research and when they collaborate with scientists from other disciplines to bring a unique and novel perspective to the research. The CSCD trains a cadre of investigators with focused programs of research in self-management. These investigators advance the field by leading interdisciplinary research teams that use complexity theory and innovative strategies to examine complex interventions and to deal with the real world experiences of self-management of multiple complex comorbid conditions.