INDO-US PROGRAM ON CONTRACEPTION AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RESEARCH 
 
RELEASE DATE:  April 22, 2003
 
NOTICE: NOT-HD-03-009 
 
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
 (http://www.nichd.nih.gov/) 
 
In November of 1997, the governments of India and the United States, 
the former represented by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), 
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Indian Council of Medical 
Research (ICMR), and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research 
(CSIR), the latter represented by the Department of Health and Human 
Services (DHHS) and the United States Agency for International 
Development (USAID), mutually agreed to support Indo-U.S. collaborative 
research and related activities on contraception and reproductive 
health research (CRHR).  
 
Program Structure  
 
The Indo-U.S. Program on Contraception and Reproductive Health Research 
(CRHR) is administered by a Secretariat consisting of staff from the 
U.S. and Indian nodal agencies. The nodal agencies for this program are 
the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 
(NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services, and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of 
the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology.  
 
In addition to the Secretariat, the overall scientific goals and 
procedures are overseen by a Joint Working Group (JWG) consisting of 
independent U.S. and Indian investigators and staff from participating 
agencies with expertise covering the range of topics to be addressed by 
the CRHR program.  
 
Scope of the Program  
 
The goal of the CRHR program is to "build upon previous research 
cooperation by drawing on the expertise of Indian and US scientists and 
institutions to promote and support collaborative research that will 
result in expanded contraceptive options and improved reproductive 
health." To address shared concerns in contraception and reproductive 
health, Indian and U.S. scientist will undertake a coordinated program 
that will involve participation in collaborative, peer-reviewed 
research projects, scientific workshops and conferences, research 
training, and technology transfer. This cooperation will be based on 
mutual benefit, trust, and a shared commitment to the advancement of 
scientific knowledge and its application to improve health.  
 
Specific areas to be addressed within this program include, but are not 
limited to:  
 
o New reversible contraceptive methods and companion diagnostics  
 
o Long-acting injectable contraceptives for women  
 
o Barrier methods for contraception and sexually-transmitted disease 
prevention  
 
o Emergency contraception  
 
o Microbicide and spermicide research  
 
o Immuno-contraception  
 
o Basic, applied, and clinical research, including the development and 
use of transgenic animal models for the study of reproductive health  
 
o Development of improved methods of surveillance and diagnosis of 
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and reproductive tract infections (RTIs)  
 
o Epidemiological studies, including studies on STDs and RTIs  
 
o Social, behavioral, and intervention research related to all of the above.  
 
Procedures  
 
The CRHR program will fund supplemental grants to existing NIH-funded 
projects. Priority will be given to investigative collaborations with 
U.S. investigators currently funded by NICHD. Awards to U.S. 
investigators will generally be limited to $50,000 per year in direct 
costs for up to three years. Applications with budget requests 
exceeding this amount will be reviewed by the U.S. Secretariat on a 
case-by-case basis for appropriateness. U.S. investigators interested 
in participation in the CRHR program should contact the US Secretariat 
at the address listed below and request submission materials.
 
Please note that applications from U.S. investigators for supplemental 
funding to existing grants must be submitted by the grantee institution 
on behalf of the grant's Principal Investigator.  
 
All materials regarding participation in the CRHR program must be 
submitted to both the U.S. and the Indian Secretariat. U.S. 
investigators must send inquiries to the U.S. Secretariat at the 
address listed below; the Indian collaborator(s) must submit identical 
materials to the Indian Secretariat at the address listed below. After 
the initial inquiry has been reviewed by both Secretariats and 
agreement reached on proposal responsiveness to program areas listed 
above, both U.S. and Indian investigators will be provided with 
instructions for submission of proposals that will be jointly reviewed 
via an ad hoc review conducted simultaneously by both U.S. and Indian 
Secretariats.  
 
The deadline for the submission of full proposals is July 15, 2003. 
DBT- and NICHD-constituted review panels will review all full proposals 
for scientific merit. Final decisions about funding under the CRHR 
program will be made by the JWG of the Indo-U.S. CRHR program.  
 
INQUIRIES  
 
For further information, contact:  
 
U.S. Secretariat CRHR  
 
Daniel J. Raiten, Ph.D.  
Office of Prevention Research and International Programs  
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development  
National Institutes of Health  
6100 Executive Boulevard, Room , MSC 7510  
Bethesda, MD 20892-7510  
Telephone: (301) 435-7568 
Email: raitend@mail.nih.gov  
 
Indian Secretariat CRHR  
 
B.M. Gandhi  
Adviser,  
Department of Biotechnology,  
Block-2, 7th Floor, CGO Complex,  
Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003,  
Telephone: 4360984  
Fax: 4380984, 4362884  
Email: Gandhi@dbt.nic.in

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