NIH AIDS RESEARCH LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM 

NIH GUIDE, Volume 21, Number 14, April 10, 1992

 

P.T. 23



Keywords:

  Biomedical Research Training 

  Grants Administration/Policy+ 

 

National Institutes of Health

 

Application Receipt Dates:  April 27, 1992,  August 1, 1992

 

PURPOSE

 

This notice is a republication, with minor modifications, of a

December 13, 1991 (Vol. 20, No. 46), issuance on this subject.  It is

being reissued to emphasize its availability.

 

On November 4, 1988, the United States Congress enacted Public Law

100-607, directing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to

establish an educational loan repayment program to attract

investigators into Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

research.  The NIH AIDS Research Loan Repayment Program (LRP), in

order to increase the number of investigators conducting AIDS

research at the NIH, invites interested health professionals to apply

for LRP participation.

 

The LRP may pay a maximum of $20,000 a year directly to a

participant's lenders for qualifying educational debt during an

initial, minimum two-year service period.  The actual loan repayment

is based, in part, on the availability of funding and the proportion

of the participant's qualifying debt relative to the NIH basic pay or

stipend received. Since such payments to lenders are considered

income for the participant and increases his/her Federal tax

liability, the LRP also makes payments, equal to 39 percent of the

total loan repayments, directly towards the participant's Internal

Revenue Service (IRS) account.  The LRP may make additional tax

reimbursements to those participants who show an increase in State

and/or local tax liability.  Benefits are paid in addition to a

participant's annual NIH basic pay or stipend.

 

HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000

 

The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health

promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000,"

a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas.  This program

announcement, NIH AIDS Research Loan Repayment Program, is related to

the priority area of HIV infection.  Potential applicants may obtain

a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full Report:  Stock No. 017

001-00474-0) or "Healthy People 2000" (Summary Report: Stock No.

017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government

Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 9325 (telephone 202-783-3238).

 

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

 

An applicant becomes eligible for LRP participation when his/her

qualified AIDS research assignment is approved by the AIDS Research

Loan Repayment Advisory Committee (LRAC) and his/her contract is

executed.  Specific LRP applicant and participant eligibility

criteria also include the following:

 

(1) Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United

States;

 

(2) Applicants must have a Ph.D., M.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.V.M.,

or equivalent degree;

 

(3) Applicants must have qualified educational debt in excess of 20

percent of their annual NIH basic pay or stipend on the date of

program eligibility resulting from governmental or commercial loans

obtained to support their undergraduate and/or graduate education;

 

(4) Individuals who are not NIH employees, such as Visiting Fellows,

Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) recipients, National

Research Service Award (NRSA) recipients, Guest Researchers and

Special Volunteers, NIH, National Research Council (NRC)

Biotechnology Research Associates Program participants, and

Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) participants, may NOT

participate in the LRP;

 

(5) Individuals employed by the NIH during the period of November 4,

1987, through November 3, 1988, are INELIGIBLE;

 

(6) Applicants may be appointed under a temporary or permanent

employment mechanism, if the employment has the potential to last a

minimum of two years;

 

(7) Individuals with existing service obligations to Federal, State,

or other entities will NOT be considered for the LRP unless deferrals

are granted for the length of their LRP service obligation; and

 

(8) Applicants will NOT be excluded from consideration under the LRP

on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sex, handicap, age,

national origin, or political affiliation.

 

In addition, in order to qualify for repayment, LRP applicants' debts

are subject to the following limitations and restrictions:

 

The LRP will repay lenders for the principal, interest, and related

expenses (such as the required insurance premiums on the unpaid

balances of some loans) of qualified Government (Federal, State, and

local) and commercial educational loans obtained by participants for

the following:  (1) undergraduate, graduate, and health professional

school tuition expenses; (2) other reasonable educational expenses

required by the school(s) attended, including fees, books, supplies,

educational equipment and materials, and laboratory expenses; and (3)

reasonable living expenses, including the cost of room and board,

transportation and commuting costs, and other reasonable living

expenses as determined by the LRP.

 

The following loans are NOT repayable under the LRP:  (1) loans not

obtained from a Government entity or commercial lending institution,

such as loans from friends, relatives, or other private individuals;

(2) loans for which contemporaneous documentation is not available;

(3) loans or portions of loans obtained for educational or living

expenses that exceed the "reasonable" level as determined by the

standard school budget for the year in which the loan was made, and

are determined by the LRP to be unreasonable based on additional

documentation provided by the applicant; and (4) loans, financial

debts, or service obligations incurred under the Physicians Shortage

Area Scholarship Program, NRSA Program, Public Health and National

Health Service Corps Scholarship Training Program, National Health

Service Corps Scholarship Program, Armed Forces (Army, Navy, or Air

Force) Health Professions Scholarship Program, and Indian Health

Service Scholarship Program.

 

Loans in default, or loans not current in payment schedule, will not

be considered as qualifying for repayment. Repayments will only be

made for loans with current payment status.  During lapses in loan

repayments, due either to program administrative complications or a

break in service, participants are wholly responsible for making

payments or any other arrangements that maintain loans in a current

payment status.  Penalties assessed to participants as a result of

LRP administrative failures to maintain current payment status may be

considered for reimbursement.

 

Payments will NOT be made under the LRP for loans that participants

have paid prior to the program eligibility date.

 

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

 

The LRP is designed to attract additional investigators into AIDS

research.  The LRP intends to fund individuals conducting AIDS

research as described in the following paragraphs that contain the

"Activities Constituting AIDS Research" criteria as adopted by the

LRAC on September 20, 1991:

 

"The following parameters define whether or not a proposed research

assignment meets the criteria for coverage under the NIH AIDS

Research Loan Repayment Program - that is, whether or not the

incumbent will be "primarily" engaged in AIDS research. "Primarily"

engaged in AIDS research is defined as AIDS research activities that

constitute at least 80 percent of a researcher's time.  Clinical

Associates whose intent is to primarily engage in AIDS research must

engage in qualified AIDS research for at least three months in the

first year of their program, with a total of fifteen months of

qualified AIDS research during their two year contract.

 

"AIDS research includes studies of the human immunodeficiency virus

(HIV), the pathophysiology of HIV infection, the development of

models of HIV infection and its sequelae, cofactors predisposing to

HIV infection and AIDS, or its sequelae, and the development of

vaccines and therapeutics.  More specifically, the following research

activities are included:  (1) studies of HIV and related

retroviruses; (2) studies of the mechanism(s) by which HIV and

related retroviruses establish infection and infect host cells; (3)

studies of the mechanism(s) by which HIV and related retroviruses

cause disease, including studies of the immune deficiency induced by

HIV and related retroviruses; (4) studies of the pathophysiology of

host response to HIV infection; (5) studies of in vivo or in vitro

models of human HIV infection and its sequelae; (6) epidemiologic

studies of HIV and related retrovirus infection; (7) clinical trials

involving prophylaxis or therapy for HIV infection or its sequelae;

(8) preclinical studies aimed at the development of therapy for or

prevention of HIV infection and the immunodeficiency caused by HIV

infection and its sequelae; (9) cofactors predisposing to acquiring

HIV infection; (10) basic studies and clinical trials involving

vaccines, or other immunological or chemotherapeutic interventions

for the prevention of HIV infection and its sequelae; and (11) basic

studies into the transmission of HIV involving high risk behaviors

and research concerning the interruption of transmission by

behavioral change and pharmacologic intervention.

 

"AIDS researchers include scientists who are intellectually engaged

in the process of providing scientific direction and guidance in

programs of original AIDS research, specifically epidemiologists,

statisticians, and others who are involved in the design and conduct

of research studies.  The duties of such scientists may include the

generation and design of studies and the collation and analysis of

data; and/or the preparation and publication, as author or co-author,

of studies in peer-reviewed journals.  AIDS researchers also include

physicians who are providing care for HIV-infected individuals who

are subjects of HIV-related research."

 

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

 

Individuals wishing to apply to the LRP must first obtain a firm

employment commitment from an Institute, Center, or Division (ICD)

Personnel Department.  An initiating official, which may be a

laboratory or branch chief, must recommend an individual for

application to the LRP, and the ICD Scientific Program Director and

ICD Director must concur.  LRP participation is contingent, in part,

upon employment with the NIH, and candidates may not be recommended

for loan repayment by an ICD until a firm employment commitment has

been made by the ICD Personnel Department.

 

Applicants must submit a signed contract, along with their completed

LRP application package, to be considered for participation in the

program.

 

At the conclusion of the initial contract, participants may reapply

and be considered for subsequent, one-year continuation contracts.

Continuation contracts are based upon the same review criteria as the

initial contract, in addition to a submission that describes AIDS

research accomplishments made during the initial contract.  These

continuation contracts are approved on a year-to-year basis and

contingent upon the appropriation and availability of funds.

 

REVIEW PROCEDURES

 

Completed applications to the LRP are reviewed by the LRAC. The LRAC,

which is composed of intramural and extramural scientific staff,

reviews, ranks, and approves or disapproves applicants.  LRAC

approval, in part, is based on the appropriateness of the applicant's

research assignment to AIDS research and the scientific merit of the

research. In addition, the credentials provided in the application

are reviewed and ranked to assess the applicant's potential to

conduct qualified AIDS research.

 

AWARD CRITERIA

 

The award of funds for approved applications is contingent, in part,

upon the availability of funds appropriated by the Congress of the

United States for the NIH.  Funds will not be awarded to disapproved

applicants.  In return for the repayment of educational loans,

participants must agree (1) to be "primarily" engaged in qualified

AIDS research, which is described above in the "Activities

Constituting AIDS Research" criteria, as NIH employees for a minimum

period of two years; (2) make payments to lenders on their own behalf

for periods of Leave Without Pay (LWOP); (3) pay monetary damages as

required in cases where the initial contract is breached; and (4) all

other provisions agreed upon in the contracts.  Substantial monetary

penalties will be imposed for breach of contract.

 

INQUIRIES

 

Written and telephone inquiries are encouraged.  The opportunity to

clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome.

Information regarding the LRP may be obtained by calling or writing

to:

 

Mr. Marc S. Horowitz, J.D.

Director, NIH AIDS Research Loan Repayment Program

Office of AIDS Research

National Institutes of Health

Building 31, Room 5C12

Bethesda, MD  20892

Telephone:  (301) 402-0192

 

AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS

 

The LRP is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

No. 93.936.  Awards are made under authorization of section 487A of

the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 288-1), as amended by section 634 of the

Health Omnibus Programs Extension of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-607).  This

program is not subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12372,

Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs, and was granted

clearance from the Office of Management and Budget (0925-0361), under

the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, on June 15,

1990.

 

.


Return to 1992 Index

Return to NIH Guide Main Index


Office of Extramural Research (OER) - Home Page Office of Extramural
Research (OER)
  National Institutes of Health (NIH) - Home Page National Institutes of Health (NIH)
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892
  Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) - Home Page Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS)
  USA.gov - Government Made Easy


Note: For help accessing PDF, RTF, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Audio or Video files, see Help Downloading Files.