Notice Number: NOT-TW-15-005

Key Dates
Release Date: September 14, 2015

Issued by
Fogarty International Center (FIC)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)

Purpose

This Notice updates and supersedes the previous Guide Notice, NOT-TW-14-009, published in the NIH Guide, August 19, 2014.

The Fogarty International Center (FIC), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have identified ecological and evolutionary sciences, including field biology and mathematical modeling, and socio-ecology, as essential disciplines to understand and predict transmission of zoonotic and other infectious diseases that involve biotic or abiotic vectors, including diseases of humans, other animals, and plants. FIC, NIGMS, NIAID, NSF and USDA will continue this multi-year collaboration to advance our ability to address the environmental and public health components of disease control. As described in the NSF Program Solicitation (NSF-14-592), the purpose of the Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) Program is to support multidisciplinary teams in the development of predictive models that integrate ecology and evolution with the goal of discovering principles governing the transmission dynamics of infectious disease agents to humans and other hosts. Proposed projects should include research and associated expertise in diverse disciplines including, for example, modelers, bioinformaticians, genomics researchers, social scientists, economists, epidemiologists, entomologists, parasitologists, microbiologists, bacteriologists, virologists, pathologists or veterinarians, as relevant to understanding the disease transmission system proposed. The EEID program scope includes socio-ecology, pathogen evolution and translational research in the overall context of the ecology of disease transmission.

US institutions and foreign institutions are eligible to apply for NIH awards. FIC awards are limited to US institutions and institutions from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), as defined by the World Bank (http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications/country-and-lending-groups).

The FIC mission prioritizes collaborative projects with scientists in LMICs focused on significant health threats in their countries. The NIGMS mission prioritizes basic biomedical research that increases understanding of life processes and lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention. The NIAID conducts and supports basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases. Other NIH components have participated in the past and may do so again in the current cycle.

Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact NIH or NSF program officials prior to submitting an application. It is anticipated the EEID program will make seven to nine awards (through all partners combined) in fiscal year 2016 for projects to begin in the summer of 2016, subject to the availability of funds. The maximum total (for all years) award size is $2.5 million, including indirect costs, and the maximum award duration is five years. Awards made by components of the NIH may receive support of up to $350,000 in direct costs per year for up to five years.

Application submission is through the National Science Foundation. Following a jointly-conducted initial peer review of these applications, likely NIH awardees will be invited to reformat their application and resubmit their application for NIH processing. Subsequent submission and grant administration procedures will be in accordance with NIH policy.

The deadline for submission to NSF is November 18, 2015.
Detailed information about this program can be obtained on the NSF website at http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5269&org=DEB&from=home and on the NIH website at http://www.fic.nih.gov/programs/Pages/ecology-infectious-diseases.aspx.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Christine Jessup, Ph.D.
Fogarty International Center (FIC)
National Institutes of Health
Telephone: 301-496-1653
Email: Christine.Jessup@nih.gov

Daniel Janes, Ph.D.
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
National Institutes of Health
Telephone: 301-594-0943
Email: daniel.janes@nih.gov

Polly Sager, Ph.D.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
National Institutes of Health
Telephone: 301-496-1884
Email: PSAGER@niaid.nih.gov