Key Dates

Related Announcements

PA-20-272 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)

PA-18-591 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)

Issued by

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Purpose

The NIH Helping to End Addiction Long Term^SM (HEAL) Initiative NIH aims to improve our understanding, management, and treatment of pain by funding high quality scientific research in this relatively understudied area of medicine. For the HEAL Initiative and NIH to meet their long-term goals of providing effective non-opioid options for the treatment of pain conditions and innovative approaches for treating opioid use disorders, it will be necessary to train a new generation of clinical pain researchers. Leveraging HEAL Initiative clinical research programs to train novice researchers and investigators new to pain research in the mechanics, techniques, and best practices of clinical pain research will maximize the impact of HEAL funding for both current and future research endeavors. Increasing the number of individuals trained in high quality clinical pain research is a critical step toward ensuring the highest impact of HEAL, with studies that encompass a broad range of pain conditions and have the potential to include, address the needs of, and positively impact diverse and traditionally under-served patient populations.

This supplement to existing HEAL clinical research awards is intended to allow exceptional graduate, post-doctoral (e.g., MD, DO, DDS, PhD), or early career individuals (hereafter candidates ) to expand their clinical pain research experience and gain access to the tools and skills needed to prepare them for a career in clinical pain research.

Application and Submission Information

Applications for this initiative must be submitted using the following opportunity or its subsequent reissued equivalent.

• PA-20-272 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and PA-20-272 must be followed, with the following additions:

• Application Due Date June 1, 2021 by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.
• For funding consideration, applicants must include NOT-NS-21-048 (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4B will not be considered for this initiative.
• Requests may be for one or two years of support only. Length of requested support should be justified in the Research Strategy.
• Only existing awardees of active HEAL Initiative Clinical Research in Pain Management awards (including the EPPIC-Net, BACPAC, ERN, PRISM, and HOPE programs) and the HEAL associated Common Fund A2CPS program are eligible to apply. Applications must be to supplement parent grants at sites performing clinical studies or otherwise directly engaged with pain patients. Priority will be given to applications in which the candidate will have the opportunity to interface directly with study participants.
• The project and budget periods for this supplement must be within the currently approved project period for the parent award (the parent award must be active and not in a no cost extension for the entire extent of a supplement).
• The process for Streamlined Submissions using the eRA Commons cannot be used for this initiative.
• The Research Strategy section of the application is limited to 5 pages. Two additional sections/attachments, a PD/PI statement and a candidate statement, are required (see descriptions below).

Research Strategy (Research Experience Plan; 5 pages)

Describe the plan for the candidate’s research under the supplement that is within the scope of the funded parent HEAL Initiative research project. Identify which research-related experiences will be new to the candidate and how these experiences will contribute to the candidate’s development as a clinical pain researcher and enhance their ability to contribute in a meaningful way to both the current and future clinical pain research projects. Describe the candidate's goals that will be achieved during the supplement award period and the ways in which achieving these goals will not only contribute to the aims of the parent award but also advance the candidate's career. Examples of goals include gaining experience in new methodologies, the assessment of pain management or pain management techniques in the research setting, recruiting study participants, acquiring and/or analyzing data, preparing manuscripts for publication, and applying for independent research funding.

As the first sentence of the Research Strategy, applicants are requested to state that the parent grant was awarded as a HEAL Initiative award and to identify the specific FOA of the parent grant (e.g., RFA-NS-19-016) to facilitate processing of the supplement application.

Two additional sections/attachments are required and should be attached as PDF documents in the Other Attachments field.

• PD/PI Statement (1 page)

Describe the qualifications and track record of the PD/PI of the parent grant (and supporting co-investigators, if applicable) in mentoring graduate or post-doctoral trainees in clinical pain research. In addition, describe specific plans for mentorship of this candidate during their proposed research experience.

• Candidate Statement (3 pages)

The candidate should describe their prior research experience and accomplishments, as well as any clinical experience in the assessment, management, or treatment of pain. The candidate should also describe their short- and long-term research-related goals and the ways in which the additional research experiences outlined in this supplemental application will help them to achieve these goals.

Award Budget

Application budgets are limited to no more than the amount of the current parent award and must reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. Direct costs may vary depending on the career level of the candidate and may not exceed $50,000 per year. Candidates may request support for a maximum of 2 years. Awards should be used to provide salary support for the candidate. Individuals supported by HEAL training supplements are strongly encouraged to participate in the annual HEAL Initiative PD/PI meetings and other professional development activities; all requests for additional funds related to these activities should be reasonable and well justified in the application. Tuition expenses are not covered by this supplement. The administrative supplement funding mechanism being used to support this program can be used to cover cost increases that are associated with achieving certain new research objectives, as long as the research objectives are within the original scope of the peer-reviewed and approved project, or the cost increases are for unanticipated expenses within the original scope of the project. Any cost increases need to result from making modifications to the project that would increase or preserve the overall impact of the project consistent with its originally approved objectives and purposes. The number of awards made will depend on the number of meritorious applications received and funds available

Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the program contact at the Institute supporting the parent award that a request will be submitted in response to this FOA in order to facilitate efficient processing of the request.

Applications non-responsive to terms of this NOSI will be not be considered for the NOSI initiative.

Inquiries

Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Program Official for the qualifying HEAL award as well as:

Rebecca Hommer, MD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke
Telephone: 301-827-2257
Email: [email protected]