National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
U24 Resource-Related Research Projects Cooperative Agreements
- November 29, 2023 - This RFA has been reissued as RFA-AG-25-006
- October 11, 2023 - Notice of Change to NOT-AG-23-036, "Notice of Intent to Publish the Reissuance of RFA-AG-23-003". See Notice NOT-AG-23-055
- July 5, 2023 - Notice of Intent to Publish the Reissuance of RFA-AG-23-003, "Resources to Promote Coordination and Collaboration across Deeply Phenotyped Longitudinal Behavioral and Social Studies of Aging (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)". See Notice NOT-AG-23-036
- January 20, 2022 - Notice of Change to Key Dates for RFA-AG-23-003 "Resources to Promote Coordination and Collaboration across Deeply Phenotyped Longitudinal Behavioral and Social Studies of Aging (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)". See Notice NOT-AG-22-010
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications to establish a Resource Development Network focused on the infrastructure needed to promote and support coordination, collaboration, and innovation across deeply phenotyped longitudinal behavioral and social studies of aging that are rich in psychological, behavioral, and biobehavioral content.
This FOA calls for investigator teams to design an innovative network that will serve the field at large and advance collaboration and coordination among studies. Network activities are expected to include:
- Outreach to investigators and support for meetings that will stimulate innovation and collaboration.
- Creation of a publicly available meta-data catalogue on a web-based platform that will identify and describe existing deeply phenotyped behavioral and social datasets characterized by rich psychological, behavioral, and biobehavioral content; identify studies with overlapping measures or compatible designs; and support cross-project co-analysis.
- Methodological consultation services for investigators.
- Pilot support for collaborative teams to leverage existing deeply phenotyped longitudinal studies to answer new questions of relevance to aging and the adult lifespan, including the influence of social and behavioral factors on healthspan and biological aging; address replication and generalizability issues; and provide educational opportunities for the next generation of investigators.
June 1, 2022
| Application Due Dates | Review and Award Cycles | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Renewal / Resubmission / Revision (as allowed) | AIDS | Scientific Merit Review | Advisory Council Review | Earliest Start Date |
| July 1, 2022 | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | October 2022 | January 2023 | April 2023 |
All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of non-AIDS applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on the listed date(s).
Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.
No late applications will be accepted for this Funding Opportunity Announcement.
Not Applicable
It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Research (R) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide,except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts ).
Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions.
Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.
Purpose
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications to establish a Resource Development Network focused on the infrastructure needed to promote and support coordination, collaboration, and innovation across deeply phenotyped longitudinal behavioral and social studies of aging that are rich in psychological, behavioral, and biobehavioral content. This FOA calls for investigator teams to design an innovative network that will serve the field at large and advance collaboration and coordination among studies.
Background
NIA’s Division of Behavioral and Social Research (BSR) supports a number of nationally representative, population-based longitudinal studies, such as the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and its international partners, the Mid-Life in the United States (MIDUS) study, and the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), which share key features that allow maximal utility for investigators and return on investment. These projects have centralized organizational structures, publicly available information about data collection methodology, and shared repositories for data sharing. NIA has successfully invested in research infrastructure that encourages coordination and collaboration among these population-based studies.
Meanwhile, NIA also supports many deeply phenotyped, psychologically rich, small- to mid-size longitudinal studies that, collectively, span the full life course and are designed to investigate the direct factors and mediators affecting health and well-being in later life. These studies have amassed rich and wide-ranging data on behavioral and psychological processes related to personality, stress, emotion, social relationships, self-regulation, decision-making, and health behaviors. Many of these studies also include detailed cognitive assessments. They often incorporate real-time experience sampling or daily diary protocols, and frequently include biomarker and neuroimaging assessments. These approaches allow collection of precise and detailed data for hypothesis generation and provide opportunities for fine-grained mapping of individual differences in health and lifespan trajectories of aging.
These deeply phenotyped longitudinal studies have been developed by independent investigators, utilize unique designs, and have been funded as stand-alone research programs. The wealth of psychosocial, behavioral, and biomarker data available from these generally more modest-sized studies has yet to be fully exploited. Together, they represent an under-utilized resource. Establishing links across individual studies could address replication questions, allow findings to be extended to new contexts, and offer greater potential to identify important factors that moderate healthspan and lifespan. This potential has been outlined in reports from workshops in 2019 and 2021.
Scope of Network Activities
This FOA aims to develop resources to substantially impact the progress and quality of longitudinal behavioral and social research on aging and the life course. Proposed networks should promote and sustain productive collaborations across multiple NIA-funded small- to- mid-size longitudinal studies that have the potential to contribute to this agenda and allow for future incorporation of other datasets nationally and internationally. Resources developed should include the capacity to support: coordinated and/or parallel analyses of different datasets; innovation in cross-study data collection and analysis to inform research on the role of behavioral and social factors in biological aging; replication of patterns of results across different populations, historical periods, and experimental designs; and implementation of advanced statistical models across studies. Dissemination of network resources must be designed to be user-friendly, discoverable by the research community, and easy to access by analysts at all career stages.
The proposed network structure proposed can be flexible, but must include the following four components:
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Outreach to investigators, including those who conduct or use data from relevant longitudinal studies. Outreach activities should include, but are not limited to: establishing a website for dissemination of information; meetings to stimulate innovation and collaborative work; educational activities such as intensive workshops, pre-conferences, summer institutes, or visiting scholar programs; opportunities to engage and provide mentorship to next generation scientists; strategies to build workforce diversity (see https://diversity.nih.gov/; https://www.nigms.nih.gov/training/dpc).
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Creation of a publicly available meta-data catalogue accessible via a web-based platform. This catalogue should initially incorporate data from multiple NIA-funded relevant small- to- mid-size longitudinal studies. It should be flexible and interoperable enough to incorporate additional variables and data sets in the future. It should utilize a relational database with an accessible interface allowing users to: identify and describe experimental designs used, constructs assessed, and data fields (variables) available in individual deeply phenotyped behavioral and social longitudinal studies; find variables available for possible coordinated analyses across studies; and assemble data sets including data from multiple studies, either directly or through links to data stored elsewhere. To the extent possible, the proposed catalogue and platform should leverage existing NIH-supported resources, and support the access of data using open source software. The database and catalogue must adhere to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles and the NIH Strategic Plan for DataScience.
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Methodological support through activities including, but not limited to: consultation services for individual investigators; development of on-line 'how-to' webinars; advanced seminars on methodology.
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Pilot support for collaborative teams to leverage a set of existing relevant deeply phenotyped longitudinal studies to: answer new questions of relevance to aging and the adult lifespan, including the influence of social and behavioral factors on healthspan and biological aging; address replication and generalizability issues; and provide educational opportunities for the next generation of investigators. Network pilot projects may include the planning and development activities necessary to add or modify measures to future waves of ongoing studies in order to extend the field’s capacity to explore important biological, psychological, and social factors. Pilot studies are expected to be large enough (~$100K each) to result in a cross-study coordinated data analysis publication or to generate sufficient pilot data to support a future collaborative data collection effort that will enable replication and test generalizability of results across studies. Pilot projects may be either network-generated and/or solicited from outside investigators. Applications should articulate plans for solicitation and review of pilot project proposals. Themes of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Impact of lifecourse adversity and other social determinants of health on trajectories of biological, psychological, and functional aging and later life health;
- Examination of within-family, inter-generational experiences and their effects on adult health and well-being and aging trajectories;
- Causal insights from historical 'natural' experiments and instrumental variables;
- Increased rigor and reproducibility to strengthen evidence for causality, explore test-retest reliability and methodology, determine bounds of generalizability, identify sources of heterogeneity, and/or improve out-of-sample predictions;
- Differentiation of age, period, and cohort effects;
- Comparisons of data from prospective and retrospective designs;
- Studies of interactions among psychological, cognitive, social, and environmental factors and biological aging;
- Research to elucidate the environmental, social, behavioral, and psychological mechanisms that impact minority health and account for health disparities;
- Identification of sensitive or optimal periods and targets for interventions to prevent adverse exposures, compensate or remediate their impacts on health and aging, and/or promote positive health and resilience.
Network Components and Personnel
This FOA is designed to create opportunities to shape the direction of an emerging field by addressing network and infrastructure development. In many instances, the researchers who can support a successful network in an emerging area span multiple disciplines and are not located at a single institution. For network activities that span multiple institutions, applicants must propose how those activities will be coordinated across institutions, and how the proposed activities will effectively engage with other relevant activities at participating institutions.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to limit the number of key personnel with substantial roles in the project to avoid establishing conflicts of interest throughout the emerging field. Participation in network activities, including presenting at workshops, serving as faculty on summer institutes, or receiving pilot funding will not constitute formal collaboration from the perspective of NIH, with the exception of those key personnel listed on the application. An important consideration in developing a network is the potential to grow the field substantially through recruitment of new investigators rather than sustaining only the original team.
NIA expects network applicants to support activities that will foster diversity of the scientific workforce. Applications should include plans that articulate outreach to underrepresented groups, such as racial and ethnic groups and individuals with disabilities, to potentially participate in the project (see: NOT-OD-20-031 and NOT-OD-22-019, https://diversity.nih.gov/, and https://www.nigms.nih.gov/training/dpc).
Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Scientific/Research staff listed in Section VII to discuss potential network development programs prior to submission of an application.
Non-Responsiveness Criteria
Applications will be considered non-responsive unless they include all of the following components:
- Focus on deeply phenotyped, psychologically rich, small- to mid-size longitudinal studies designed to investigate the direct factors and mediators affecting health and well-being in later life.
- Propose networks including all four types of activities described above: outreach; creation of a meta-data catalogue on a web-based platform; methodological support; and pilot projects.
- Describe how the proposed activities will have the potential to grow the field substantially through recruitment of new investigators rather than sustaining only the original team. Applications that propose activities that only serve investigators at a single institution or a small number of institutions rather than the field at large will not be considered responsive. Applications that do not articulate a plan for outreach to scientists from underrepresented groups and engagement with scientists from diverse backgrounds will not be considered responsive.
- Include explicit plans to include data sets that will enhance the study of minority health and health disparities.
- Include a comprehensive Resource Sharing Plan for disseminating network resources, products, and opportunities with the field at large.
- Adhere to FAIR principles and the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science.
Non-responsive applications will be administratively withdrawn and not reviewed for this FOA.
Frequently Asked Questions
Responses to Frequently Asked Questions about this RFA will be posted here:?https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/dbsr/behavioral-and-social-research-funding-opportunities-and-applicant-resources.
Resources for Applicants
- Expert Meeting on the Harmonization and Coordinated Analysis of Behavioral and Psychological Phenotypes
- Deeply Phenotyped Longitudinal Studies of Aging: Opportunities for Coordination and Collaboration
- NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science
- NIA Guidance on Sharing Data and Other Resources
- NIH Workforce Diversity Office
- Enhancing the Diversity of the NIH-Funded Workforce
- NIA Health Disparities Framework
See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.
Cooperative Agreement: A support mechanism used when there will be substantial Federal scientific or programmatic involvement. Substantial involvement means that, after award, NIH scientific or program staff will assist, guide, coordinate, or participate in project activities. See Section VI.2 for additional information about the substantial involvement for this FOA.
The OER Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types. Only those application types listed here are allowed for this FOA.
Not Allowed: Only accepting applications that do not propose clinical trials.
Need help determining whether you are doing a clinical trial?
NIA intends to commit $1,600,000 in FY 2023 to fund 1 award.
Application budgets are limited to $1,600,000 in total costs and need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.
The scope of the proposed project should determine the project period. The maximum project period is 5 years.
NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made from this FOA.
1. Eligible Applicants
Higher Education Institutions
- Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
- Private Institutions of Higher Education
The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
- Hispanic-serving Institutions
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
- Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
- Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
- Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)
Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
For-Profit Organizations
- Small Businesses
- For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)
Local Governments
- State Governments
- County Governments
- City or Township Governments
- Special District Governments
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)
Federal Government
- Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government
- U.S. Territory or Possession
Other
- Independent School Districts
- Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities
- Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Faith-based or Community-based Organizations
- Regional Organizations
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.
Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.
Applicant organizations
Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.
- Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) - All registrations require that applicants be issued a DUNS number. After obtaining a DUNS number, applicants can begin both SAM and eRA Commons registrations. The same DUNS number must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application.
- System for Award Management (SAM) Applicants must complete and maintain an active registration, which requires renewal at least annually. The renewal process may require as much time as the initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not already been assigned a CAGE Code.
- NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code Foreign organizations must obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM.
- eRA Commons - Applicants must have an active DUNS number to register in eRA Commons. Organizations can register with the eRA Commons as they are working through their SAM or Grants.gov registration, but all registrations must be in place by time of submission. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.
- Grants.gov Applicants must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the Grants.gov registration.
Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s))
All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account. PD(s)/PI(s) should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate their existing account with the applicant organization in eRA Commons. If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.
Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. See, Notice of NIH's Encouragement of Applications Supporting Individuals from Underrepresented Ethnic and Racial Groups as well as Individuals with Disabilities, NOT-OD-22-019.
For institutions/organizations proposing multiple PDs/PIs, visit the Multiple Program Director/Principal Investigator Policy and submission details in the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Component of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
2. Cost Sharing
This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.
The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time, per 2.3.7.4 Submission of Resubmission Application. This means that the NIH will not accept:
- A new (A0) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of an overlapping new (A0) or resubmission (A1) application.
- A resubmission (A1) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of the previous new (A0) application.
- An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review (see 2.3.9.4 Similar, Essentially Identical, or Identical Applications)
1. Requesting an Application Package
The application forms package specific to this opportunity must be accessed through ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace or an institutional system-to-system solution. Links to apply using ASSIST or Grants.gov Workspace are available in Part 1 of this FOA. See your administrative office for instructions if you plan to use an institutional system-to-system solution.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission
It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Research (R) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced. Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.Letter of Intent
Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows IC staff to estimate the potential review workload and plan the review.
By the date listed in Part 1. Overview Information, prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information:
- Descriptive title of proposed activity
- Name(s), address(es), and telephone number(s) of the PD(s)/PI(s)
- Names of other key personnel
- Participating institution(s)
- Number and title of this funding opportunity
The letter of intent should be sent to:
Janine Simmons, M.D., Ph.D.
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Telephone: 301-529-7254
Email: janine.simmons@nih.gov
All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.
The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this FOA.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
The PD(s)/PI(s) should have appropriate experience and training, with demonstrated experience and an ongoing record of accomplishments in managing transdisciplinary behavioral and social research projects and coordinating collaborative research.
The team should include both established and emerging leaders in the scientific area of focus, expertise in the development, interoperability, and maintenance of relational databases, and experience in resource sharing through web-based platforms or other means.
If the Network is multi-PD/PI, the investigators should have complementary and integrated expertise and skills, and plans should include an appropriate leadership approach, plans for conflict resolution, and organizational and governance structure.
The PD(s)/PI(s) should have experience overseeing selection and management of subawards.
R&R Budget
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
Research Strategy:
The application should describe how proposed activities will advance collaboration and coordination among deeply phenotyped longitudinal studies. The application should address how the proposed network will have a substantial impact on the progress and quality of behavioral and social research of relevance to health, well-being, aging, and lifespan trajectories. Applicants should describe how the network proposed will serve the broader community of behavioral and social researchers engaged in NIA-relevant research and should propose appropriate procedures for coordination and engagement with other relevant activities at participating institutions and across the field at large. The application should include proposed activities to grow the field substantially through recruitment of new investigators, rather than sustaining only the original team.
The application should include outreach plans designed to reach and include a broad swath of psychologically rich datasets, completed or ongoing, collected over a range of years, age groups, and priority populations, as defined by the NIA Health Disparities Framework. The application should include a plan for dissemination of network products to the field at large that will ensure that the network and its products will be appropriately targeted for the highest impact to potential participants and beneficiaries.
The application’s planned web-based meta-data catalogue should be designed to allow users to access information on experimental designs, constructs assessed, and data fields available for possible coordinated analyses, as well as direct or indirect access to datasets themselves. It should initially incorporate data from multiple NIA-funded relevant studies and be flexible and interoperable enough to incorporate additional variables and data sets in the future. Applicants must describe how the proposed catalogue and database design depends, where possible, on software with an open source license, promotes the availability of data consistent with FAIR guidelines, and adheres to the goals of the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science. Adherence to FAIR principles, the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science should be specifically articulated within the Resource Sharing Plan.
Applicants should ensure that methodological consultation services are comprehensive. Applicants should describe how their approach for soliciting and reviewing pilot projects will be aligned with the network’s goals, appropriately impartial and rigorous, and likely to advance progress in the field at large. The plans for pilot projects and programming should reach and include a broad range of investigators from diverse fields, backgrounds, and career stages.
Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
- All applications, regardless of the amount of direct costs requested for any one year, must address a Data Sharing Plan. The plans should provide details for what will be shared, how it will be organized to enhance the user experience, and any limitations/restrictions on access to resources and data produced by the project. Plans should adhere to NIA’s Guidance on Sharing Data and other Resources (https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/grants-funding/nia-specific-funding-policies#datasharing).
When involving human subjects research, clinical research, and/or NIH-defined clinical trials (and when applicable, clinical trials research experience) follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:
If you answered Yes to the question Are Human Subjects Involved? on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or Delayed Onset Study record.
Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Delayed Onset Study
Note: Delayed onset does NOT apply to a study that can be described but will not start immediately (i.e., delayed start).All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)
See Part 1. Section III.1 for information regarding the requirement for obtaining a unique entity identifier and for completing and maintaining active registrations in System for Award Management (SAM), NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code (if applicable), eRA Commons, and Grants.gov
Part I. Overview Information contains information about Key Dates and times. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission. When a submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.
Organizations must submit applications to Grants.gov (the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies). Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIH’s electronic system for grants administration. NIH and Grants.gov systems check the application against many of the application instructions upon submission. Errors must be corrected and a changed/corrected application must be submitted to Grants.gov on or before the application due date and time. If a Changed/Corrected application is submitted after the deadline, the application will be considered late. Applications that miss the due date and time are subjected to the NIH Policy on Late Application Submission.
Applicants are responsible for viewing their application before the due date in the eRA Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission.
Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time submission are provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
5. Intergovernmental Review (E.O. 12372)
This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.
All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Pre-award costs are allowable only as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. Paper applications will not be accepted.
Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III. Eligibility Information contains information about registration.
For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit How to Apply Application Guide. If you encounter a system issue beyond your control that threatens your ability to complete the submission process on-time, you must follow the Dealing with System Issues guidance. For assistance with application submission, contact the Application Submission Contacts in Section VII.
Important reminders:
All PD(s)/PI(s) must include their eRA Commons ID in the Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile Component of the SF424(R&R) Application Package. Failure to register in the Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application to NIH. See Section III of this FOA for information on registration requirements.
The applicant organization must ensure that the DUNS number it provides on the application is the same number used in the organization’s profile in the eRA Commons and for the System for Award Management. Additional information may be found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
See more tips for avoiding common errors.
Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness and compliance with application instructions by the Center for Scientific Review and responsiveness by components of participating organizations, NIH. Applications that are incomplete, non-compliant and/or nonresponsive will not be reviewed.
In order to expedite review, applicants are requested to notify the NIA Referral Office by email at ramesh.vemuri@nih.gov when the application has been submitted. Please include the FOA number and title, PD/PI name, and title of the application.
Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in the policy. Any instructions provided here are in addition to the instructions in the policy.
1. Criteria
Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process. Applications submitted to the NIH in support of the NIH mission are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.
Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the project to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in consideration of the following review criteria and additional review criteria (as applicable for the project proposed).
Scored Review Criteria
Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact. For example, a project that by its nature is not innovative may be essential to advance a field.
Significance
Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? Is the prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project rigorous? If the aims of the project are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?
For this particular announcement, note the following:
How well do the proposed activities advance collaboration and coordination among deeply phenotyped longitudinal studies? Does the application appropriately address how the proposed network will have a substantial impact on the progress and quality of behavioral and social research of relevance to health, well-being, aging, and lifespan trajectories? Will the resulting network and infrastructure promote and sustain productive collaborations across multiple, NIA-funded, relevant small- to- mid-size longitudinal studies and allow for future incorporation of other datasets nationally and internationally?
Investigator(s)
Are the PD(s)/PI(s), collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the project? If Early Stage Investigators or those in the early stages of independent careers, do they have appropriate experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD/PI, do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach, governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project?
For this particular announcement, note the following:
Do they have appropriate experience and training, and have they demonstrated experience and an ongoing record of accomplishments in managing transdisciplinary behavioral and social research projects and coordinating collaborative research? Does the team include both established and emerging leaders in the scientific area of focus? Does the team include expertise in the development, interoperability, and maintenance of relational databases, and experience in resource sharing through web-based platforms or other means? Does the applicant have experience overseeing selection and management of subawards?
Innovation
Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?
For this particular announcement, note the following:
Does the application propose novel approaches to advancing interdisciplinary research or develop innovative research resources in the defined high priority scientific area the network will serve? Does the application address how the proposed networking activities will advance one or more emerging fields of research relevant to health, well-being, aging, and lifespan trajectories?
Approach
Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project? Have the investigators included plans to address weaknesses in the rigor of prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project? Have the investigators presented strategies to ensure a robust and unbiased approach, as appropriate for the work proposed? Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success presented? If the project is in the early stages of development, will the strategy establish feasibility and will particularly risky aspects be managed? Have the investigators presented adequate plans to address relevant biological variables, such as sex, for studies in vertebrate animals or human subjects?
If the project involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, are the plans to address 1) the protection of human subjects from research risks, and 2) inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion or exclusion of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults), justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed?
For this particular announcement, note the following:
Are the proposed network activities likely to serve the broader community of behavioral and social researchers engaged in NIA-relevant research beyond a single institution or set of institutions? Are outreach plans designed to reach and include a broad swath of psychologically-rich datasets, completed or ongoing, collected over a range of years, age groups, and priority populations defined by the NIA Health Disparities Framework? Are appropriate procedures in place for coordination across institutions and for effectively engaging with other relevant activities at participating institutions and across the field at large?
Do the plans for network formation prioritize an inter-disciplinary perspective? To what extent does the planned web-based meta-data catalogue and relational database adhere to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) guidelines and the goals of the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science? How comprehensive are the methodological consultation services proposed? Are the plans for pilot projects and programming likely to reach and include a broad range of investigators from diverse fields, backgrounds, and career stages?
Is there an appropriate plan for dissemination of network products to the field at large that will ensure that the network and its products will be appropriately targeted for the highest impact to potential participants and beneficiaries? Does the application address how the proposed activities will have the potential to grow the field substantially through recruitment of new investigators rather than sustaining only the original team? Are the resource/data sharing plans sufficiently developed to ensure network products adhere to FAIR principles and the NIH Strategic Plan for Data Science? To foster extensibility and future sustainability, does the proposed database, metadata catalogue and web-based platform utilize software available under compatible open source licenses? Does the metadata catalogue support the ability to identify and specify specific data sets containing records and variables from multiple studies, accomplish coordinated analyses, and support the reproducible construction of analytic datasets?
Is the approach for soliciting and reviewing pilot projects appropriately aligned with networks goals, appropriately impartial and rigorous, and likely to advance progress in the field at large? Are the plans for pilot projects and programming likely to reach and include a broad range of investigators from diverse fields, backgrounds, and career stages?
Environment
Will the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Are the institutional support, equipment and other physical resources available to the investigators adequate for the project proposed? Will the project benefit from unique features of the scientific environment, subject populations, or collaborative arrangements?
For this particular announcement, note the following:
Are resources available within the participating scientific environment to support electronic information handling and development of web resources for dissemination of network products?
Additional Review Criteria
As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score, but will not give separate scores for these items.
Protections for Human Subjects
For research that involves human subjects but does not involve one of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate the justification for involvement of human subjects and the proposed protections from research risk relating to their participation according to the following five review criteria: 1) risk to subjects, 2) adequacy of protection against risks, 3) potential benefits to the subjects and others, 4) importance of the knowledge to be gained, and 5) data and safety monitoring for clinical trials.
For research that involves human subjects and meets the criteria for one or more of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate: 1) the justification for the exemption, 2) human subjects involvement and characteristics, and 3) sources of materials. For additional information on review of the Human Subjects section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Human Subjects.
Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Individuals Across the Lifespan
When the proposed project involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, the committee will evaluate the proposed plans for the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults) to determine if it is justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed. For additional information on review of the Inclusion section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Inclusion in Clinical Research.
Vertebrate Animals
The committee will evaluate the involvement of live vertebrate animals as part of the scientific assessment according to the following criteria: (1) description of proposed procedures involving animals, including species, strains, ages, sex, and total number to be used; (2) justifications for the use of animals versus alternative models and for the appropriateness of the species proposed; (3) interventions to minimize discomfort, distress, pain and injury; and (4) justification for euthanasia method if NOT consistent with the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. Reviewers will assess the use of chimpanzees as they would any other application proposing the use of vertebrate animals. For additional information on review of the Vertebrate Animals section, please refer to the Worksheet for Review of the Vertebrate Animal Section.
Biohazards
Reviewers will assess whether materials or procedures proposed are potentially hazardous to research personnel and/or the environment, and if needed, determine whether adequate protection is proposed.
Resubmissions
Not Applicable
Renewals
Not Applicable
Revisions
Not Applicable
As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will consider each of the following items, but will not give scores for these items, and should not consider them in providing an overall impact score.
Applications from Foreign Organizations
Not Applicable.
Select Agent Research
Reviewers will assess the information provided in this section of the application, including 1) the Select Agent(s) to be used in the proposed research, 2) the registration status of all entities where Select Agent(s) will be used, 3) the procedures that will be used to monitor possession use and transfer of Select Agent(s), and 4) plans for appropriate biosafety, biocontainment, and security of the Select Agent(s).
Resource Sharing Plans
Reviewers will comment on whether the following Resource Sharing Plans, or the rationale for not sharing the following types of resources, are reasonable: (1) Sharing Model Organisms and (2) Genomic Data Sharing Plan (GDS).
Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources:
For projects involving key biological and/or chemical resources, reviewers will comment on the brief plans proposed for identifying and ensuring the validity of those resources.
Budget and Period of Support
Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.
2. Review and Selection Process
Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s) convened by NIA, in accordance with NIH peer review policy and procedures, using the stated review criteria. Assignment to a Scientific Review Group will be shown in the eRA Commons.
As part of the scientific peer review, all applications will receive a written critique.
Applications may undergo a selection process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific and technical merit (generally the top half of applications under review) will be discussed and assigned an overall impact score.
Appeals of initial peer review will not be accepted for applications submitted in response to this FOA.
Applications will be assigned to the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. Applications will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications submitted in response to this FOA. Following initial peer review, recommended applications will receive a second level of review by the National Advisory Council on Aging. The following will be considered in making funding decisions:
- Scientific and technical merit of the proposed project as determined by scientific peer review.
- Availability of funds.
- Relevance of the proposed project to program priorities.
3. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates
After the peer review of the application is completed, the PD/PI will be able to access his or her Summary Statement (written critique) via the eRA Commons. Refer to Part 1 for dates for peer review, advisory council review, and earliest start date.
Information regarding the disposition of applications is available in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
1. Award Notices
If the application is under consideration for funding, NIH will request "just-in-time" information from the applicant as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided to the applicant organization for successful applications. The NoA signed by the grants management officer is the authorizing document and will be sent via email to the recipient's business official.
Recipients must comply with any funding restrictions described in Section IV.5. Funding Restrictions. Selection of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These costs may be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs.
Any application awarded in response to this FOA will be subject to terms and conditions found on the Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants website. This includes any recent legislation and policy applicable to awards that is highlighted on this website.
Institutional Review Board or Independent Ethics Committee Approval: Recipient institutions must ensure that protocols are reviewed by their IRB or IEC. To help ensure the safety of participants enrolled in NIH-funded studies, the recipient must provide NIH copies of documents related to all major changes in the status of ongoing protocols.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements
All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Recipients, and Activities, including of note, but not limited to:
- Federalwide Research Terms and Conditions
- Prohibition on Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment
- Acknowledgment of Federal Funding
If a recipient is successful and receives a Notice of Award, in accepting the award, the recipient agrees that any activities under the award are subject to all provisions currently in effect or implemented during the period of the award, other Department regulations and policies in effect at the time of the award, and applicable statutory provisions.
Recipients of federal financial assistance (FFA) from HHS must administer their programs in compliance with federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age and, in some circumstances, religion, conscience, and sex. This includes ensuring programs are accessible to persons with limited English proficiency. The HHS Office for Civil Rights provides guidance on complying with civil rights laws enforced by HHS. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/provider-obligations/index.html and http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/understanding/section1557/index.html.
HHS recognizes that research projects are often limited in scope for many reasons that are nondiscriminatory, such as the principal investigator’s scientific interest, funding limitations, recruitment requirements, and other considerations. Thus, criteria in research protocols that target or exclude certain populations are warranted where nondiscriminatory justifications establish that such criteria are appropriate with respect to the health or safety of the subjects, the scientific study design, or the purpose of the research. For additional guidance regarding how the provisions apply to NIH grant programs, please contact the Scientific/Research Contact that is identified in Section VII under Agency Contacts of this FOA.
- Recipients of FFA must ensure that their programs are accessible to persons with limited English proficiency. HHS provides guidance to recipients of FFA on meeting their legal obligation to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to their programs by persons with limited English proficiency. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/limited-english-proficiency/fact-sheet-guidance/index.html and https://www.lep.gov. For further guidance on providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services, recipients should review the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care at https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlid=53.
- Recipients of FFA also have specific legal obligations for serving qualified individuals with disabilities. Please see http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/understanding/disability/index.html.
- HHS funded health and education programs must be administered in an environment free of sexual harassment. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/sex-discrimination/index.html; https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/shguide.html; and https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/upload/fs-sex.pdf. For information about NIH's commitment to supporting a safe and respectful work environment, who to contact with questions or concerns, and what NIH's expectations are for institutions and the individuals supported on NIH-funded awards, please see https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/harassment.htm.
- Recipients of FFA must also administer their programs in compliance with applicable federal religious nondiscrimination laws and applicable federal conscience protection and associated anti-discrimination laws. Collectively, these laws prohibit exclusion, adverse treatment, coercion, or other discrimination against persons or entities on the basis of their consciences, religious beliefs, or moral convictions. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/conscience/conscience-protections/index.html and https://www.hhs.gov/conscience/religious-freedom/index.html.
Please contact the HHS Office for Civil Rights for more information about obligations and prohibitions under federal civil rights laws at https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/about-us/contact-us/index.html or call 1-800-368-1019 or TDD 1-800-537-7697.
In accordance with the statutory provisions contained in Section 872 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-417), NIH awards will be subject to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) requirements. FAPIIS requires Federal award making officials to review and consider information about an applicant in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS) prior to making an award. An applicant, at its option, may review information in the designated integrity and performance systems accessible through FAPIIS and comment on any information about itself that a Federal agency previously entered and is currently in FAPIIS. The Federal awarding agency will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to other information in FAPIIS, in making a judgement about the applicant’s integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in 45 CFR Part 75.205 and 2 CFR Part 200.206 Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants. This provision will apply to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements except fellowships.
The following special terms of award are in addition to, and not in lieu of, otherwise applicable U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) administrative guidelines, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) grant administration regulations at 45 CFR Part 75, 2 CFR 200, and other HHS, PHS, and NIH grant administration policies.
The administrative and funding instrument used for this program will be the cooperative agreement, an "assistance" mechanism (rather than an "acquisition" mechanism), in which substantial NIH programmatic involvement with the recipients is anticipated during the performance of the activities. Under the cooperative agreement, the NIH's purpose is to support and stimulate the recipients' activities by involvement in and otherwise working jointly with the award recipients in a partnership role; it is not to assume direction, prime responsibility, or a dominant role in the activities. Consistent with this concept, the dominant role and prime responsibility resides with the recipients for the project as a whole, although specific tasks and activities may be shared among the awardees and the NIH as defined below.
The PD(s)/PI(s) will have the primary responsibility for:
- Developing objectives, approaches, and goals for network infrastructure development, including all 4 required components.
- Designating investigators to serve as members on a Network Steering Committee and other subcommittees with NIH staff, as appropriate.
- Complying with Federal regulatory requirements, including, but not limited to, those relating to human subjects protections.
- Attending quarterly (or as needed) virtual Network Steering Committee meetings.
- Accepting the participatory and cooperative nature of the collaborative research process and complying with policies and practices of NIH. Agreeing to accept close coordination, cooperation, and management of the project with NIA Staff. The PD/PI(s) will be expected to maintain close communications with the NIA Project Scientist(s) and, where appropriate, the Program Officer. The Project Scientist(s) will have substantial scientific involvement that is above and beyond the normal stewardship role in awards.
- Cooperating in the reporting of the study progress and findings. Where warranted by appropriate participation, plans for joint publication with NIA of the results and conclusions are to be developed by the Principal Investigator or Steering Committee, as applicable. NIH policies governing possible co-authorship of publications with NIH staff will apply in all cases. In general, to warrant co-authorship, NIH staff must have contributed to the following areas: (a) design of the concepts or experiments being tested; (b) performance of significant portions of the activity; and (c) preparation and authorship of pertinent manuscripts.
- Overseeing the overall budget, activities, and performance of the cooperative agreement.
- Sharing data, resources, and software as appropriate and consistent with achieving the goals of the program and the approved sharing policies for NIH.
- Recipients will retain custody of and have primary rights to the data and software developed under these awards, subject to Government rights of access consistent with current DHHS, PHS, and NIH policies.
NIH staff have substantial programmatic involvement that is above and beyond the normal stewardship role in awards, as described below:
NIA Project Scientist
- The NIA Project Scientist will participate as a member of the resource development network and assist the PD/PI(s) in the identification of relevant NIA/NIH-funded researchers and longitudinal studies for potential involvement in Network activities. The NIA Project Scientist will serve as liaison to other NIA components to promote collaborations. The NIA project scientist will also facilitate the involvement of representatives from other NIH institutes, as appropriate, in Network activities.
- The NIA Project Scientist(s) will work with the PD(s)/Pl(s) and participate in the Network Steering Committee to ensure the objectives of the program are being met. The primary responsibility for the program resides with the recipient, although specific tasks and activities will be shared among the awardee and the NIH Project Scientist(s).
- NIA will assign a Program Officer(s) who will be responsible for retaining overall programmatic responsibility for the award and will clearly specify to the recipient the name(s) and role(s) of any additional individuals with substantial involvement in the project and the lines of reporting authority.
- NIA may designate additional staff to provide advice to the recipient on specific scientific and/or administrative issues to optimize the conduct of network activities.
- NIA will serve as a resource with respect to other ongoing NIH activities that may be relevant to the protocol to facilitate compatibility and avoid unnecessary duplication of effort.
- NIA staff will interact with the PD(s)/Pl(s) on a regular basis to monitor progress. Monitoring may include regular communication with the PD(s)/Pl(s) and his/her staff.
- NIA staff (Project Scientist(s)) will provide input, expert advice, and suggestions in the design, development, and coordination, and implementation of the network objectives.
NIA Program Official
- An NIA program official will be responsible for the normal scientific and programmatic stewardship of the award and will be named in the award notice. The NIA Program Officer will make recommendations for continued funding based on: a) overall networks progress; b) cooperation in carrying out the research; and/or c) maintenance of high quality of research in alignment with the goals of this RFA.
Areas of joint responsibility include:
- The primary responsibility for the program resides with the recipient, although specific tasks and activities will be shared among the recipient and the NIH Project Scientist(s).
Dispute Resolution
Any disagreements that may arise in scientific or programmatic matters (within the scope of the award) between recipients and the NIH may be brought to Dispute Resolution. A Dispute Resolution Panel composed of three members will be convened. It will have three members: a designee of the Steering Committee chosen without NIH staff voting, one NIH designee, and a third designee with expertise in the relevant area who is chosen by the other two; in the case of individual disagreement, the first member may be chosen by the individual recipient. This special dispute resolution procedure does not alter the recipient's right to appeal an adverse action that is otherwise appealable in accordance with PHS regulation 42 CFR Part 50, Subpart D and DHHS regulation 45 CFR Part 16.
3. Reporting
When multiple years are involved, recipients will be required to submit the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) annually and financial statements as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
A final RPPR, invention statement, and the expenditure data portion of the Federal Financial Report are required for closeout of an award, as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. NIH FOAs outline intended research goals and objectives. Post award, NIH will review and measure performance based on the details and outcomes that are shared within the RPPR, as described at 45 CFR Part 75.301 and 2 CFR Part 200.301.
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act), includes a requirement for recipients of Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY2011 or later. All recipients of applicable NIH grants and cooperative agreements are required to report to the Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.fsrs.gov on all subawards over $25,000. See the NIH Grants Policy Statement for additional information on this reporting requirement.
In accordance with the regulatory requirements provided at 45 CFR 75.113 and Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75, recipients that have currently active Federal grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies with a cumulative total value greater than $10,000,000 for any period of time during the period of performance of a Federal award, must report and maintain the currency of information reported in the System for Award Management (SAM) about civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings in connection with the award or performance of a Federal award that reached final disposition within the most recent five-year period. The recipient must also make semiannual disclosures regarding such proceedings. Proceedings information will be made publicly available in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS). This is a statutory requirement under section 872 of Public Law 110-417, as amended (41 U.S.C. 2313). As required by section 3010 of Public Law 111-212, all information posted in the designated integrity and performance system on or after April 15, 2011, except past performance reviews required for Federal procurement contracts, will be publicly available. Full reporting requirements and procedures are found in Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75 Award Term and Conditions for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters.
We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants.
eRA Service Desk (Questions regarding ASSIST, eRA Commons, application errors and warnings, documenting system problems that threaten submission by the due date, and post-submission issues)
Finding Help Online: http://grants.nih.gov/support/ (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-402-7469 or 866-504-9552 (Toll Free)
General Grants Information (Questions regarding application instructions, application processes, and NIH grant resources)
Email: GrantsInfo@nih.gov (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-945-7573
Grants.gov Customer Support (Questions regarding Grants.gov registration and Workspace)
Contact Center Telephone: 800-518-4726
Email: support@grants.gov
Janine Simmons, M.D., Ph.D.
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Telephone: 301-529-7254
Email: janine.simmons@nih.gov
Ramesh Vemuri, Ph.D.
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Telephone: 301-402-7700
Email: ramesh.vemuri@nih.gov
Terry Pham
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Telephone: 301-402-6982
Email: terry.pham@nih.gov
Recently issued trans-NIH policy notices may affect your application submission. A full list of policy notices published by NIH is provided in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52, 2 CFR Part 200, and 45 CFR Part 75.
and Human Services (HHS)
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