NIH EXTRAMURAL LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM REGARDING CLINICAL RESEARCHERS

Release Date:  January 8, 2002

NOTICE:  NOT-OD-02-024

National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces the availability of 
educational loan repayment under the NIH Extramural Loan Repayment Program 
for Clinical Researchers (LRP-CR).  The LRP-CR provides for the repayment of 
the educational loan debt of qualified health professionals who agree to 
conduct clinical research.  The program provides for the repayment of up to 
$35,000 of the principal and interest of the educational loans of extramural 
grantees or awardees for each year of obligated service.  Also, NIH covers 
the Federal taxes on the loan repayments, which are considered taxable income 
to program participants.

The purpose of the Program is the recruitment and retention of highly 
qualified health professionals as clinical investigators.  Through this 
notice, the NIH invites qualified health professionals who contractually 
agree to engage in clinical research as extramural grantees or awardees for 
at least two years, to apply for participation in the NIH Loan Repayment 
Program for Clinical Researchers.

ELIGIBILITY.  Specific eligibility criteria for the LRP for Clinical Researchers 
include the following:

o Participants must be United States citizens, nationals, or 
permanent residents;
 
o Participants must have a M.D., Ph.D., Pharm.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., 
D.P.M., D.C., N.D., or equivalent degree;
 
o Participants must be affiliated with the NIH in one of the following ways:
 
a) a recipient of postdoctoral National Research Service Award support on an 
individual postdoctoral fellowship (F32) or an institutional research 
training grant (T32).  NRSA recipients will only be eligible for loan 
repayment during the first and third year of NRSA support.  The second 
year of postdoctoral NRSA involves repayment of a service obligation 
incurred during the first year of NRSA support which eliminates the 
possibility of concurrent participation in the loan repayment program.
 
b) a recipient of support under an individual or institutional research 
career development award including the following mechanisms:
K01, the Mentored Research Scientist Development Award,
K07, the Academic Clinical Scientist Development Award,
K08, the Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award,
K12, Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Program Award,
K22, the Career Transition Award with an extramural phase,
K23, the Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award, or
K25, the Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award.
 
c) a first-time recipient of NIH grant support as the principal investigator 
of an:
R01, a research project grant consisting of one research project,
R03, a small research grant,
R21, an exploratory/developmental grant,
U01, a cooperative agreement consisting of one research project.
 
d) a first-time director of subprojects on multicomponent center grants (P 
series grants, program project grants (P01)), or multicomponent cooperative 
agreements (U series) or

e) a recipient of a minority supplement to one of the qualifying grants above.
 
o Participants must have qualifying educational debt equal to or in excess of 
20 percent of their annual income or compensation, as applicable, at their 
expected date of program eligibility.  The expected date of program 
eligibility is the date the NIH executes an LRP contract.  Contracts are not 
effective retroactive to the award date of the qualifying grant.
 
o Participants must engage in clinical research, as defined by Section 206 of 
Public Law 106-505, the Public Health Improvement Act, which states:  "The 
term clinical research means patient-oriented clinical research conducted 
with human subjects, or research on the causes and consequences of disease in 
human populations involving material of human origin (such as tissue 
specimens and cognitive phenomena) for which an investigator or colleague 
directly interacts with human subjects in an outpatient or inpatient setting 
to clarify a problem in human physiology, pathophysiology or disease, or 
epidemiologic or behavioral studies, outcomes research or health services 
research, or developing new technologies, therapeutic interventions, or 
clinical trials."
	
o Individuals with existing service obligations to Federal, State, or other 
entities will not be considered for the Program unless and until the existing 
service obligation is discharged or deferred for the length of Program 
participation.  Further, any individual who has a Federal judgment lien 
against his/her property arising from a Federal debt is barred from receiving 
Federal funds, until the judgment is paid in full or satisfied.
 
o Applicants will not be excluded from consideration under the Program on the 
basis of age, race, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, 
disability, or other non-merit factors.

o Applicants must have at least two years of funding support remaining on 
their qualifying grant or award at the time the LRP contract is awarded.  
Applicants with less than 2 years of funding support remaining on their 
qualifying grant or award as of the time the LRP contract is awarded must 
have a statement from the institution, where they are engaged in research, 
that provides assurance of support to conduct research for the balance of 
time required to comprise two years.

o Applicants with a pending NIH grant application may be considered if the 
application will be acted upon no later than the May 2002 or June 2002 
meeting of the Institute or Center National Advisory Council. The grant must 
be funded before the end of the fiscal year (September 30, 2002).
 
INQUIRIES AND APPLICATIONS

Information regarding the eligibility requirements and benefits for the 
program may be obtained via the LRP website http://www.lrp.nih.gov.  
Applications are collected electronically, and must be submitted via the LRP 
website http://www.lrp.nih.gov.


DEADLINE DATE

Completed applications must be received no later than February 28, 2002, 5 PM 
EST to be considered for funding in FY 2002 (ending September 30, 2002).

G. Stephane Philogene, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Policy
Office of Loan Repayment
Office of the Director
National Institutes of Health
Website:  http://www.lrp.nih.gov
E-mail:  [email protected]

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