GERIATRIC ACADEMIC PROGRAM

NIH GUIDE, Volume 22, Number 33, September 17, 1993



PAR NUMBER:  PAR-93-113



P.T. 34



Keywords:

  Aging/Gerontology 

  Biomedical Research, Multidiscipl 

  Clinical Medicine, General 



National Institute on Aging



PURPOSE



The National Institute on Aging (NIA) solicits applications for the

support of academic career development programs for junior faculty in

geriatrics.  This is a modification of an ongoing program.  New

"alternative track" eligibility criteria for junior faculty are

added.



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, Geriatric Academic Program, is related to the priority

area preserving independence in people aged 65 and older.  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



Applicant institutions must have a geriatric fellowship program and a

strong base of research and clinical activities in geriatrics.

Programs may be conducted at two or more institutions.  Eligibility

criteria for junior faculty are described under RESEARCH OBJECTIVES.



MECHANISM OF SUPPORT



The mechanism of support will be the institutional research career

award (K12).



RESEARCH OBJECTIVES



There is increased recognition of the growing need for trained

personnel in geriatrics.  A committee sponsored by the National

Academy of Sciences (J. Am. Geriatrics Soc. 35:773-91 (1987))

emphasized that filling this need will require enough academic

leaders in geriatrics to train the needed number of geriatricians.

The committee emphasized that high-quality training in research,

teaching, and clinical practice were all necessary for the

development of such leaders, and that this could best be done in an

environment where there were enough geriatric researchers, teachers,

and practitioners to provide thorough experience for future academic

leaders.



Developing academic leadership requires a continuum of support from

the fellowship to the senior faculty level.  Support for geriatric

fellowships is available through several programs, including NIA

Geriatric Research Institutional Training (GRIT) award, the Health

Resources and Services Administration's Faculty Training Projects in

Geriatric Medicine and Dentistry, Veterans Administration

fellowships, and other sources.  However, stable career development

support at the junior faculty level is also extremely important in

establishing academic careers.



Career development support for individual junior faculty in

geriatrics is provided by NIA's Academic Award (NIH Guide for Grants

and Contracts, Vol. 10, No. 5, March 27, 1981), and by its Clinical

Investigator Award (NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Vol. 13, No.

8, June 29, 1984).  The NIA continues to encourage applications for

these awards for suitable candidates and institutions.  This

announcement describes an institutional form of the Academic Award,

the Geriatric Academic Program (GAP) Award.  This award is

appropriate for institutions having sufficient faculty with a stable

base of ongoing research in geriatrics and related disciplines to

serve as mentors for several junior faculty over an extended period.



Since strengthening the science base of geriatrics and gerontology is

a goal of this award, collaboration among clinical, basic,

epidemiologic, behavioral, and social researchers in support of

career development activities is particularly encouraged.

Collaboration with basic science researchers in gerontology is

particularly desirable.



Junior Faculty Eligibility



Junior faculty to be supported by the program must have a health

professional degree in the clinical sciences (M.D., D.O., or D.D.S,

or equivalent) and must have either completed at least one year of

fellowship training in geriatrics or geropsychiatry or obtained

certification of Added Qualifications in Geriatric Medicine from the

American Board of Internal Medicine/American Board of Family

Practice.  It is not necessary for the fellowship training to have

been at the applicant institution.



ALTERNATIVE TRACK:  Exceptional candidates who have received at least

two years of fellowship training and Board Certification or

Eligibility in a medical subspecialty with major relevance to aging

disorders or geropsychiatry, and who propose to embark on a training

program to enter the field of geriatrics/gerontology, may qualify by

an alternative track.  Criteria for alternative track qualification

include:  (1) a clear relevance of the trainee's interests and

proposed training program to the field of geriatrics/gerontology; (2)

evidence of the trainee's long-term commitment to

geriatrics/gerontology; (3) a firm agreement by both the candidate

and the institution that prior to the completion of the trainee's

program, he/she will have obtained sufficient clinical training in

geriatric medicine to qualify him/her for American Board of Internal

Medicine/American Board of Family Practice Certificate of Added

Qualifications in Geriatric Medicine; and (4) a firm commitment that

the trainee will take the examination for Added Qualifications in

Geriatric Medicine no later than five years after embarking on

his/her training program.



The junior faculty will be selected for sponsorship by the program

locally, which must develop a plan for recruitment and selection of

junior faculty.



The program must include a plan for providing research, teaching, and

clinical activities for developing academic leaders in geriatrics,

including formal didactic training, if appropriate.  It is expected

that the plan will be carried out mainly at the sponsoring

institution, although short periods of training elsewhere may be

included.  Although no exact division of time among clinical,

teaching, and research activities is required, at least 75 percent of

time spent on program activities must be spent in research.  The

total program should be well-balanced and no one type of activity

should be followed to the exclusion of others.



The program director should possess the scientific expertise,

leadership, and administrative abilities to coordinate and supervise

a development program of this scope.  Faculty sponsors should be

established researchers with a stable base of current research

support.



The program must also include a plan for external review of the

selection and progress of sponsored individuals and the overall

conduct of the program.  This review should be conducted once yearly,

and written reports are to be submitted to the NIA with the awardee's

annual progress reports.



Allowable costs



The award will support a program providing up to five years of salary

support and a limited amount for research expenses for junior

faculty, under the leadership of a program director, who will oversee

the program, and faculty sponsors who will serve as mentors for

individual junior faculty to oversee their academic development and

to arrange appropriate activities needed for further development.

For each junior faculty member so sponsored, the award will also

provide up to ten percent of each sponsor's salary and fringe

benefits for the first three years of sponsorship.  The award will

also support a limited amount of core resources needed for sponsored

individuals' career development (e.g., key clinical research center

personnel or animal facilities) if central administration improves

their effectiveness.



Up to five years of renewable support may be requested by the grantee

institution.  Individual junior faculty sponsored by the program may

be supported for three to five years.  No more than three persons at

an awardee institution may begin their sponsored activities in any

yearly budget period of this award, and one may begin sponsored

activities in the fourth and fifth years.  The total number of

sponsored individuals may increase to eight in the third year of the

award and remain constant or diminish thereafter.  Salary --

Compensation for sponsored individuals based on the institution's

salary scale for faculty at an equivalent experience level, but not

to exceed $50,000 per year per individual, plus commensurate fringe

benefits for essentially full-time (75-100%) effort.  NIH policy

encourages supplementation from non-government sources.



Support for up to ten percent of the program director's time may be

requested for administrative and other activities relating to the

award.  If the program director is a sponsor, he/she may receive an

additional ten percent of salary.



Sponsor's Support -- For each sponsored junior faculty, up to ten

percent of each sponsor's salary or $10,000, whichever is less, and

commensurate fringe benefits.



Research and Development Support -- Applicants may request a maximum

of $10,000 per year during the first two years of support for each

sponsored junior faculty for research project requirements and

related support, e.g., technical personnel costs, supplies,

equipment, travel, tuition for necessary courses, and medical

insurance premiums.  Each awardee institution's Continuation

Application for the third year of support, and for each subsequent

year, should include a request for funds to cover the cost of an

expanded research program for any sponsored individuals who will

begin their third year of support during that budget period.  This

request should be written by the sponsored individuals who will begin

their third year of support during that budget period.  This request

should be written by the sponsored individuals and include a budget

for their remaining period of support.  An amount up to $20,000 per

year for research support may be requested for this period.  The

request should contain evidence of progress during the first two

years, plans for an expanded research program, and a detailed budget

with justification for use of the increased funding.  Funds will be

awarded contingent upon their availability and favorable program

review.



Consultant costs -- Funds for travel and other expenses associated

with annual external review of the program (see above) should be

requested.



Indirect costs -- Reimbursement of actual indirect costs at a rate of

up to but not exceeding eight percent of total direct costs of each

award, exclusive of tuition, fees, and expenditures for equipment.



APPLICATION PROCEDURES



Applications are to be prepared on form PHS 398 (rev. 9/91).

Applicants must follow the supplemental instructions for applications

for this award, available from the Geriatrics Program, NIA.  The PHS

398 application form is available at most institutional offices of

sponsored research and from the Office of Grants Information,

Division of Research Grants, National Institutes of Health, Westwood

Building, Room 449, Bethesda, MD 20892, telephone 301/496-7248.  On

item 2a enter: NIA Geriatric Academic Program Award.



A letter of intent is not a prerequisite for applying; however,

prospective applicants are encouraged to send a letter briefly

describing scientific goals, and resources of the proposed project.

This letter is to be sent to the NIA contact listed under INQUIRIES,

at least three months before the submission deadline.



A completed original application and three copies must be sent to:



Division of Research Grants

National Institutes of Health

Westwood Building, Room 240

Bethesda, MD  20892**



The NIA contact office listed under INQUIRIES also must receive two

copies of the application at the time of submission.



The application should identify:



A program director who will assume overall responsibility for

management of the program.  The application should describe plans for

recruitment and selection of junior faculty to be sponsored, quality

control of the program, and maximizing commitment of sponsored

individuals to aging research after the completion of support.



Faculty sponsors.  The sponsors' past and present research, clinical

and teaching activities should be described, as well as their

previous experience in training fellows and junior faculty, and the

current status of all fellows and other individuals whom they have

previously trained.



The faculty and institution's plans for providing research, clinical

and teaching experience for sponsored individuals, including examples

of the types of research projects to be undertaken, provision of

experience in other laboratories to learn pertinent techniques,

needed didactic training in gerontology, other basic sciences,

research methodology, statistics, and clinical and teach

responsibilities.



Plans for efforts to recruit minority trainees where applicable,

consistent with NIH's policy of encouraging such recruitment.  Such

plans are a required component of applications for NIH research

training programs.  Additional information on NIH's minority

recruitment policy may be found in the NIH Guide for Grants and

Contracts, Vol. 15, No. 4, March 28, 1986.



REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS



Applications will be received by the NIH Division of Research Grants

and will be assigned to the NIA.  Responsive applications will be

assigned to an appropriate review group convened by the NIA.



Following initial review group review, the applications will be

evaluated by the National Advisory Council on Aging.



REVIEW CRITERIA



Applications will be judged on:



o  The research capabilities of faculty sponsors in areas related to

geriatrics.



o  The abilities and record of faculty sponsors in developing junior

faculty in geriatrics.



o  The institution's plans and commitment to the development of

junior faculty's abilities in geriatrics.



Renewal applications will also be judged on the career development of

individuals sponsored by the program date.  Funded GAP projects will

be periodically reviewed to evaluate progress, as a basis for

decisions on continued funding or phase-out.



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:



James K. Cooper, M.D.

Geriatric Research and Training Program

National Institute on Aging

Gateway Building, Room 3E327

7201 Wisconsin Avenue

Bethesda, MD  20892

Telephone:  (301) 496-6761



AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS



This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance No. 93.866.  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.



.

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