Notice Number: NOT-HL-15-267

Key Dates
Release Date: August 6, 2015
Estimated Publication Date of Announcement: Fall 2015
First Estimated Application Due Date: Spring 2016
Earliest Estimated Award Date: July 2016
Earliest Estimated Start Date: July 2016

Issued by
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Purpose

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute intends to publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit applications for skills development, needs assessments and capacity building for T4 translation research (T4TR) in low income countries as defined by the 2016 Country and Lending Groups categories from The World Bank. The main goal of the program will be to support capacity building in T4TR to address chronic non-communicable heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders (HLBS) in low income countries. For purposes of this FOA, T4TR is defined as strategies to enhance sustainable uptake of proven-effective interventions into routine clinical practice and community-based settings in order to maximize population health impact. The program will 1) support the creation of a transdisciplinary collaborative team that will undertake skills development for T4TR, 2) support systematic local assessment of needs, infrastructure, and capacity for T4TR and 3) local needs assessment for chronic non-communicable diseases for HLBS in low income countries. Applications for infectious diseases (e.g., HIV, tuberculosis and malaria) will not be considered responsive to this FOA.

This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects. 

The FOA is expected to be published in Fall 2015 with an expected application due date in Spring 2016.

This FOA will utilize the U24 activity code. Details of the planned FOA are provided below.

Research Initiative Details

For this initiative (TREIN), applications from low income countries will need to demonstrate capacity to deliver T4TR skills development, undertake needs assessment, and initiate an implementation focused pilot study.
The key aims will include:

• Developing formal T4 research collaborations across low income countries (horizontal collaborations) as well as with high income countries (vertical collaborations) both required as part of this effort;
• Forming in-country strategic T4 research collaborations among major in-country academic health centers, public health agencies, Ministries of Health and other local and regional governmental and non-governmental organizations, and community organizations;
• Developingcountry- and region-based cadres of skilled T4 researchers capable of conducting quantitative and qualitative research of local needs and capacity assessments that directly address country-identified HLB health priorities;
• Identifying and prioritizing interventions for at least three of the HLBS health conditions identified as country or regional priorities;
• Disseminating the results of the skills development program, needs assessments, and small scale pilot study.
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• Foreign institutions within low income countries (as defined by The World Bank) will be permitted to submit applications for the FOA.

Program Technical Assistance

To support the programmatic goals of this FOA, the NHLBI will hold two teleconferences to which all prospective applicants are invited. The first teleconference will be held on Monday, October 19, 2015 from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. (ET) and the second teleconference will be held on Monday, November 16, 2015 from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. (ET) for investigators who are interested in information about the topics of interest or programmatic requirements of the FOA. Participating in the teleconferences is neither required nor necessary for a successful application. The teleconferences are intended to be an opportunity to clarify questions that prospective applicants may have about the FOA objectives and the technicalities of submitting an application online. Potential applicants are encouraged to submit their questions or comments to NHLBI_GlobalHealthIS@mail.nih.gov in advance of both calls. A set of questions and answers from the teleconference will be posted after the session to https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/research/funding/faqs-rfa-hl-16-023.

APPLICATIONS ARE NOT BEING SOLICITED AT THIS TIME.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Emmanuel Peprah, Ph.D.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Email: epeprah@mail.nih.gov

Michael Engelgau, M.D.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Email: mengelgau@mail.nih.gov

George Mensah, M.D.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Email: gmensah@mail.nih.gov