Full Text PA-97-010 NIAID/ASTP MINORITY FELLOWSHIPS IN TRANSPLANTATION NIH GUIDE, Volume 25, Number 39, November 15, 1996 PA NUMBER: PA-97-010 P.T. 22, FF Keywords: Transplantation Immunology Transplantation of Organs National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases The American Society of Transplant Physicians Application Receipt Dates: April 5, August 5, and December 5, 1997 PURPOSE The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American Society of Transplant Physicians (ASTP) invite applications for Individual Postdoctoral Fellowships from racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, and persons with disabilities for research on the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and/or treatment and prevention of transplant rejection. 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 (PA), "NIAID/ASTP MINORITY FELLOWSHIPS IN TRANSPLANTATION", is related to the priority area of immunization and infectious diseases. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full Report: Stock No. 017-001-00474-0 or Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-0325 (telephone 202-512-1800). ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Individuals must be, at time of application, citizens or noncitizen nationals of the United States, or have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence and have in their possession an Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-151 or I-551). Noncitizen nationals are persons who, although not citizens of the United States, owe permanent allegiance to the United States. They are generally persons born in lands that are not States, but are under United States sovereignty, jurisdiction, or administration (e.g., American Samoa). Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible. Individuals must have received, as of the beginning date of the National Research Service Award (NRSA) appointment, a Ph.D., M.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.V.M., O.D., D.P.M., Sc.D., Eng. D., Dr.P.H., or D.N.S., or equivalent degree from an accredited domestic or foreign institution. Certification by an authorized official of the degree granting institution that all degree requirements have been met is also acceptable. This PA is intended to support racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, and persons with disabilities. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT The mechanism of support will be the NRSA for individual postdoctoral fellows (F32). Individuals may receive up to three years of aggregate NRSA support at the postdoctoral level including any combination of support from institutional training grants and individual fellowship awards. FUNDS AVAILABLE In Fiscal Year 1997, the NIAID and the ASTP plan to jointly fund two F32 awards. This level of support is dependent on the receipt of a sufficient number of applications of high scientific merit. The usual PHS policies governing NRSA administration and management will apply. Although this program is provided for in the financial plans of the NIAID and the ASTP, awards pursuant to this program announcement are contingent upon the availability of funds for this purpose. Funding beyond the first and subsequent years of the grant will be contingent upon satisfactory progress during the preceding years and availability of funds. New applications submitted for the April 5, August 5, and December 5, 1997 receipt dates will be eligible for funding under this announcement. Competing continuation applications for already funded projects will NOT be eligible for award from NIAID and ASTP under this PA. Although NIAID has a continuing interest in the research areas of this PA, the latest anticipated award date under this PA is September 30, 1998. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Background Research on the immune system and methods to regulate it are part of the mission of the NIAID. Transplantation is a life-saving treatment for tens of thousands of patients and can also provide an extraordinary improvement in their quality of life. However, despite major improvements in surgical techniques, tissue preservation methods and immunosuppressive drugs, 10-50% of transplanted organs and tissues fail within the first year following transplantation. For organs where there is alternative therapy (e.g. kidney), one-year patient survival is 92%. However, for organs such as hearts, lungs and livers, patient survival is approximately the same as graft survival and is as low as 50%. Transplantation is being performed to replace damaged or non-functional organs and tissues, to supplement cells incapable of providing an adequate level of function, and to correct defective genes via gene therapy. Therapeutic transplantation in humans involves every major organ both singly and in combination. In addition, a variety of tissues and cells, including corneas, skin, fetal liver tissue, bone marrow, pancreatic islet cells, adrenal cells, hepatocytes, fetal brain cells and muscle cells have been transplanted. Also, in experimental animal models, promising results have been obtained with transplantation of a wide array of tissues and cells including heart muscle, neural tissue and nerve and bone cells. Graft rejection has replaced problems in organ and tissue preservation and surgical complications as the primary cause of graft loss. Additionally, in bone marrow transplantation and in transplantation of solid organs which have appreciable amounts of lymphoid tissue, graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD; attack of recipient tissues by immunocompetent cells of the donor) remains a significant risk. While powerful immunosuppressive drugs have greatly reduced graft loss due to rejection, these drugs are toxic to one or more organs and increase the risk of infection, the incidence and severity of malignancy, and the occurrence of atherosclerosis. To overcome these problems, it is desirable to eliminate immunosuppressive drug therapy by specifically regulating the immunologic processes involved in the rejection of transplanted tissues. This requires identification of the various antigens recognized on the graft, elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the response to these antigens, and determining the genetic control of these processes. This information can then be used to avoid mismatches of antigens when possible or to prevent the recognition of, or render the recipient non-responsive to, these specific antigens. Research Objectives and Scope The objective of this PA is to encourage postdoctoral training of individuals in state-of-the-art research that focuses on the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and/or treatment and prevention of rejection of transplanted organs or tissues. INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS It is the policy of the NIH that women and members of minority groups and their sub-populations must be included in all NIH supported biomedical and behavioral research projects involving human subjects, unless a clear and compelling rationale and justification is provided that inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of the research. This new policy results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law 103-43) and supersedes and strengthens the previous policies (Concerning the Inclusion of Women in Study Populations, and Concerning the Inclusion of Minorities in Study Populations), which have been in effect since 1990. The new policy contains some provisions that are substantially different from the 1990 policies. All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the "NIH Guidelines For Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research," which have been published in the Federal Register of March 28, 1994 (FR 59 14508-14513) and printed in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Volume 23, Number 11, March 18, 1994. Investigators also may obtain copies of the policy from the program staff listed under INQUIRIES. Program staff may also provide additional relevant information concerning the policy. APPLICATION PROCEDURES Applications must be submitted on the application for Public Health Service Individual Research Service Award PHS 416-1 (rev. 8/95). Applications may be submitted for the following receipt dates only: April 5, August 5, and December 5, 1997. Applications kits are available at most institutional offices of sponsored research and may be obtained from the Grants Information Office, Office of Extramural Outreach and Information Resources, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7910, Bethesda, MD 20892-7910, telephone 301/710-0267, email: ASKNIH@odrockm1.od.nih.gov. The completed original and two legible, single-sided copies of the application must be sent or delivered to: Division of Research Grants National Institutes of Health 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 1040 MSC 7710 Bethesda, MD 20892-7710 Bethesda, MD 20817 (for express/courier service) NRSA (F32) applications must include at least three sealed letters of reference attached to the face page of the original application. F32 applications submitted without the required number of reference letters will be considered incomplete and will be returned without review. Applicants from institutions that have a General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) funded by the NIH National Center for Research Resources may wish to identify the Center as a resource for conducting the proposed research. If so, a letter of agreement from the GCRC Program Director must be included in the application material. REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS Applications will be assigned on the basis of established PHS referral guidelines. Applications that are complete and responsive to the Program Announcement will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by an appropriate peer review group convened in accordance with the standard NIH peer review procedures. Review Criteria The review criteria focus for individual fellowship applications on three main components: o the applicant; o the research proposed (both its scientific merit and training potential); and o the training resources and environment, including the sponsor. It is important to remember that the F32 program is a training mechanism and not a research mechanism. Major considerations in the review are the applicant's potential for a productive scientific career, the applicant's need for the proposed training, and the degree to which the research training proposal, the sponsor, and the environment will meet the needed training. For more details, see Review Criteria on page 4 of the instructions for application form PHS 416-1. AWARD CRITERIA Applications assigned to the NIAID will compete for available funds with all other favorably recommended applications. The following will be considered when making funding decisions: o quality of the proposed project as determined by peer review, o program balance among research areas of the announcement, o availability of funds, and o whether the applicant is a racial/ethnic minority, a woman, or disabled. INQUIRIES Written and telephone inquiries are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome. Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to: Stephen M. Rose, Ph.D. Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Solar Building, Room 4A14 Bethesda, MD 20892-7640 Telephone: (301) 496-5598 FAX: (301) 402-2571 Email: sr8j@nih.gov Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to: Leslie Boggs Division of Extramural Activities National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Solar Building, Room 4B28 Bethesda, MD 20892-7610 Telephone: (301) 496-7075 FAX: (301) 480-3780 Email: lb114t@nih.gov AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93.855 - Immunology, Allergy and Transplantation Research. Awards are made under authorization of the Public Health Service Act, Title IV, Part A (Public Law 78-410, as amended by Public Law 99-158, 42 USC 241 and 285) and administered under PHS grants policies and Federal Regulations 42 CFR 52 and 45 CFR Part 74. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review. The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products. In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any portion of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library, day care, health care or early childhood development services are provided to children. This is consistent with the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American people. .
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