and Human Services (HHS)
EXPIRED
Department
of Health and Human Services
Participating Organizations
National
Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov)
Components of
Participating Organizations
National
Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), (http://www.genome.gov)
Title: Technology
Development for the Comprehensive Determination of Functional Elements in
Eukaryotic Genomes (R21)
Announcement Type
This
is a reissuance of RFA-HG-04-001, which was
previously released January 6, 2004, and is now being issued as two RFAs, this
one for the R21 grant mechanism and a second one for the R01 grant mechanism (RFA-HG-07-029).
NOTICE: Applications submitted in response to this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for Federal assistance must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov) using the SF424 Research and Related (R&R) forms and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
APPLICATIONS MAY NOT BE SUBMITTED IN PAPER FORMAT.
This FOA must be read in conjunction with the application guidelines included with this announcement in Grants.gov/Apply for Grants (hereafter called Grants.gov/Apply).
A registration process is necessary before submission and applicants are highly encouraged to start the process at least four weeks prior to the grant submission date. See Section IV.
Request For Applications (RFA) Number: RFA-HG-07-028
Catalog of Federal
Domestic Assistance Number(s)
93.172
Key Dates
Release/Posted Date: August 4, 2006
Opening Date: October 30, 2006 (Earliest date an application may be
submitted to Grants.gov)
Letters
of Intent Receipt Date(s): October 30, 2006
NOTE: On time submission requires that applications be successfully
submitted to Grants.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. local time (of the applicant
institution/organization).
Application Submission/Receipt
Date(s): November 28, 2006
AIDS Application Submission/Receipt Date(s): Not
Applicable
Peer Review Date(s): March 2007
Council Review Date(s): May 21-22, 2007
Earliest Anticipated Start Date(s): June 1, 2007
Additional Information To
Be Available Date (Activation Date): Not Applicable
Expiration Date: November 29, 2006
Due Dates for E.O. 12372
Not
Applicable
Additional
Overview Content
Executive Summary
Table of Contents
Part I Overview Information
Part II Full Text of Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity
Description
1. Research Objectives
Section II. Award Information
1. Mechanism of Support
2. Funds Available
Section III. Eligibility
Information
1. Eligible Applicants
A. Eligible Institutions
B. Eligible Individuals
2. Cost Sharing or Matching
3. Other - Special Eligibility Criteria
Section IV. Application and
Submission Information
1. Request Application Information
2. Content and Form of Application Submission
3. Submission Dates and Times
A. Submission, Review, and
Anticipated Start Dates
1. Letter of Intent
B. Submitting an Application Electronically
to the NIH
C. Application Processing
4. Intergovernmental Review
5. Funding Restrictions
6. Other Submission Requirements
Section V. Application Review
Information
1. Criteria
2. Review and Selection Process
A. Additional Review Criteria
B. Additional Review Considerations
C. Sharing Research Data
D. Sharing Research Resources
3. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates
Section VI. Award Administration
Information
1. Award Notices
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements
3. Reporting
Section VII. Agency Contact(s)
1. Scientific/Research Contact(s)
2. Peer Review Contact(s)
3. Financial/Grants Management Contact(s)
Section VIII. Other Information
- Required Federal Citations
Part II
- Full Text of Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
1. Research Objectives
Purpose
The purpose of this FOA is to solicit applications to develop new and improved technologies for the efficient, comprehensive and high-throughput identification and validation of all types of sequence-based functional elements in eukaryotic genomes. This FOA will use the R21 (Exploratory/Developmental) grant mechanism and is being issued in conjunction with an FOA of identical scientific scope, RFA-HG-07-029, that solicits applications under the R01 grant mechanism. The R21 mechanism is intended to encourage new exploratory/developmental research projects by providing for support for the early stages of their development. R21 projects are funded to demonstrate feasibility of a subsequent project and to obtain preliminary data testing innovative ideas. This technology development effort is a continuing component of the ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) Project, which has the long-term goal of identifying all of the functional elements in the human genome (http://www.genome.gov/ENCODE).
Background
In April 2003, the sequence of the human genome was essentially completed. For the scientific community to make the best use of that fundamental information resource, the identity and precise location of all sequence-based functional elements in the genome must be determined. While many of the protein-coding sequences are already known, many others remain to be identified. Beyond open reading frames, most other sequence-based functional elements, such as non-protein-coding genes, transcriptional regulatory elements and determinants of chromosome structure and function, remain largely unknown. A comprehensive encyclopedia of all of these features is needed to fully utilize the sequence of the human genome to better understand human biology, to predict potential disease risks, and to stimulate the development of new therapies and other interventions for preventing and treating disease.
Among the primary reasons for the success of the Human Genome Project have been the development and use of high-throughput strategies for data generation along with the placement of the data immediately in the public domain. Most of the sequence data, the underlying maps and the sequence assemblies were generated through the use of large-scale automated processes. Over the past few years, methods such as sequence analysis of whole genomes, DNA microarray technology and mass spectrometry have been used as high-throughput approaches for additional types of genomic analyses, such as determining the parameters of gene expression and of the location of gene products by the thousands at a time instead of individually. High-throughput methods to determine the location of cis-regulatory elements and, to a lesser extent, other sequence elements, have more recently been developed. However, at present, there is no single approach or compilation of approaches that can accurately and efficiently identify every sequence feature in genomic DNA.
To address this need, in 2003 the NHGRI initiated the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project, the goal of which is to comprehensively identify sequence-based functional elements in the human genome sequence. The ENCODE Project started with two components. The first was a pilot in which available methods for the identification of functional sequence elements were to be tested and compared in a defined one percent (30 Mb) of human genomic DNA. The projects that composed this pilot have used established technologies for the comprehensive identification of coding sequences, transcriptional units, transcriptional control elements, chromatin modifications and certain chromosomal features such as origins of replication and DNase hypersensitive sites. The second component of the ENCODE Project addressed the need for new or better technologies to identify these and other sequence-encoded functional elements on a genome-wide scale. (For a list of current participants in ENCODE, see http://www.genome.gov/12513391)
The pilot project has been successful in bringing together disparate groups to work together in a highly collaborative and synergistic consortium. The ENCODE Consortium participants have developed and agreed to abide by a common data release policy that requires rapid data release, and they are developing common quantitative data standards for each technology being employed in the pilot project. Consortium members are generating data using common cell lines, and where relevant, using a common set of DNA binding factors, and all data are being made available in appropriate public databases (http://www.genome.gov/encode/#4). Five analysis groups within the Consortium have focused on different aspects of the project to assemble and analyze data that have been generated. These analyses, which will be published within the next year, are revealing interesting scientific discoveries as well as enabling NHGRI to identify strengths and gaps in our knowledge about how these approaches could be scaled to analyze the complete human genome.
These accomplishments have let NHGRI to continue to pursue the goal of the ENCODE Project to interpret genomic sequence information. As the initial phase of the ENCODE Project will be completed in September 2007, a new FOA will be issued to solicit applications for research projects to continue the ENCODE-based analysis of the human genome sequence. The continuation will include efforts that propose to scale, to the entire human genome, those methods that have been demonstrated to identify sequence-based functional elements efficiently, comprehensively, cost-effectively, and in a reasonable time frame, as well as efforts that propose to continue to analyze the current ENCODE target regions in new and interesting ways. In parallel, NHGRI is also implementing an ENCODE-based analysis of the genome sequences of selected model organisms. This effort is termed modENCODE, and it will be funded in Spring 2007 through grants submitted in response to RFA-HG-06-006. The modENCODE Project will exploit the experimental advantages of working with the genome(s) of one (or more) well-studied model organism(s) both to identify sequence-based functional elements and to promote an understanding of the functional elements on the basis of experiments that might not be possible to do for those working with the human genome.
The second component of the ENCODE Project, which has supported the development of new or improved methods for finding sequence-based functional elements, has also progressed well. New and improved methods are being developed to more precisely define gene structures, including their boundaries, to map DNA-binding sites, to localize sites of DNA methylation, to identify areas of chromatin that are accessible to chemical cleavage and to map chromosomal regions that interact in vivo. Some of these have been developed to the point where they are now being applied to the full set of ENCODE regions.
Despite this progress, NHGRI recognizes the continued need for novel, efficient and cost-effective ways to discover and verify functional elements on a genomic scale. This FOA (RFA-HG-07-028), which will support R21 Exploratory/Developmental research, as well as its companion FOA (RFA-HG-07-029) which will support R01 grants, are reissuances of the two previous technology development FOAs (RFA-HG-03-004 and RFA-HG-04-001), which addressed the development of technologies to identify poorly characterized or previously unknown elements. In addition to continued interest in such technologies, NHGRI is also interested in the development of methods to identify functional elements in repetitive sequences, and to validate the identity of functional elements using methods that are independent of the primary mode of detection. The goal of these FOAs is to develop a new generation of methods to define functional elements in genomes of both human and model organisms. Thus, NHGRI will support the development of new approaches to identify sequence-based functional elements in the genomes of model organisms even if such methods are not directly applicable to identifying features in the human genome.
Research Scope
At full scale, the ENCODE Project will apply a set of high-throughput assays to scan the entire human genome for all types of sequence-encoded functional elements. However, many types of functional elements cannot currently be studied at such large scale, or even at smaller scale, because of the lack of effective, practical high-throughput methods. The purpose of this FOA is to continue to stimulate the development of novel technologies and expand the available tool box of methods that will comprehensively identify sequence-based functional elements in eukaryotic genomes in a high-throughput manner. The FOA seeks applications for research projects to develop efficient technologies (both experimental and computational) for, but not limited to, the following areas:
To address the challenge of developing a comprehensive catalog of functional elements, which will include those active in different cell types, methods that use a small sample size, enabling work on individual cell types, will also be needed. In addition, new, high-throughput methods are needed to validate, through the use of completely independent means of data ascertainment, the functional elements being identified by existing high-throughput methods.
These few examples are illustrative and should not be considered to be limiting in any way. Novel and innovative technologies to achieve high-throughput, large-scale analyses (i.e., applicable to an entire genome) of any type of sequence-encoded functional elements or to increase throughput of validation assays are sought.
The "process" of technology development can be considered to span a spectrum of stages. Initially, it involves the development of an entirely new methodology (or the significant improvement of an existing methodology) to the point of proof of principle. The method must then be reduced to practice. For such a new method to have a significant impact for genomic studies, it also must be shown that it can be used efficiently on a large-scale, or genomic, basis, which may require a further round of technology development effort. This FOA is intended to solicit applications that address any of these phases of technology development, with an emphasis on the development of completely novel techniques for identifying sequence-based functional elements, especially heretofore uncharacterized elements, rather than on the incremental improvement of existing methods.
Although the long-term goal of the ENCODE Project is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the human genome sequence, and the long-term goal of the modENCODE Project is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the genomic sequence of one or more selected model organisms, this FOA is open to projects that employ any eukaryotic organism. Technology development in other organisms can aid in the identification of functional elements in two ways. The technologies may be applicable to the human, or another, genome, or may provide biological insights into functional elements that could not be determined from experiments in the human. The applicability of the proposed technology to an organism other than the one that is the focus of the research proposal is not a requirement of this FOA. However, applicants should address the issue of the generality of application of the technology, if appropriate.
An important feature of any newly-developed technology will be the ease with which it can be exported into other laboratories, or in other ways made readily accessible to investigators. The issue of access, or technology transfer, should be specifically discussed in the grant application.
The development of computational methods for the study of genomic function is encouraged under this solicitation. However, computational methods that incrementally improve on current technologies are not being sought. Any software developed under this FOA should be freely available to other biomedical researchers in the non-profit sector.
Since the technologies to be developed under this FOA are specifically intended for whole genome analysis, applications proposing to analyze a particular gene, gene product or non-coding functional element will not be considered to be responsive.
As the work funded under this FOA progresses, the principal investigators will be encouraged to interact with other participants in the other components of the ENCODE or modENCODE Projects. If work supported under this FOA results in the generation of data pertaining to the complete set of target regions of the ENCODE or modENCODE Projects, the principal investigator may be invited to join the ENCODE or modENCODE Consortiums (see http://www.genome.gov/10005107 for a description of the ENCODE Consortium). Among other requirements, this would involve sharing of the data with the members of the relevant Consortium, as participation involves concurrence with a specific data release policy (see http://www.genome.gov/12513440 for a detailed description of that policy). Applicants to RFA-HG-07-028 may wish to address their approach to data release in their proposal.
See Section VIII, Other Information - Required Federal
Citations, for policies related to this announcement.
Section
II. Award Information
1. Mechanism of Support
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)
will use the NIH Exploratory/Developmental
Research Grant (R21) award mechanism. The applicant will be solely responsible for planning,
directing, and executing the proposed project.
This FOA uses Just-in-Time information concepts. It also uses the modular budget formats (see the Modular Applications and Awards section of the NIH Grants Policy Statement. Specifically, if you are submitting an application with direct costs in each year of $250,000 or less (excluding consortium Facilities and Administrative [F&A] costs), use the PHS398 Modular Budget component provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Package and SF424 (R&R) Application Guide (see specifically Section 5.4, Modular Budget Component, of the Application Guide).
R21 grants are not renewable. Continuation of projects developed under this FOA will be through the regular research project grant mechanism (e.g., R01). At this time, it is not known if this FOA will be reissued.
2. Funds Available
Because the nature and scope of the proposed research will vary from
application to application, it is anticipated that the size and duration of
each award will also vary. Although the financial plans of the Institutes and
Centers (ICs) provide support for this program, awards pursuant to this funding
opportunity are contingent upon the availability of funds and the submission of
a sufficient number of meritorious applications.
The NHGRI intends to commit approximately $2 million dollars in FY2007 to fund 6-10 new and/or competing continuation grants in response to this RFA (HG-07-028) and its companion RFA HG-07-029. The total project period for an applications submitted in response to this funding opportunity may not exceed 2 years. Although the size of award may vary with the scope of research proposed, it is expected that applications will stay within the NHGRI budgetary guidelines for an exploratory/developmental project. Direct costs are limited to $200,000 over a two-year period, with no more than $100,000 in direct costs allowed in any single year. The earliest anticipated start date for awards is June 1, 2007.
NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made in response to this FOA.
Facilities
and Administrative (F&A) costs
requested by consortium participants are not included in the direct cost
limitation. See NOT-OD-05-004,
November 2, 2004.
Section
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants
1.A. Eligible Institutions
You may submit an application(s) if your organization
has any of the following characteristics:
1.B. Eligible Individuals
Any individual with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) 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.
2.
Cost Sharing or Matching
This program does not require cost sharing as defined in the current NIH
Grants Policy Statement.
3. Other-Special
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants may submit more than
one application, provided each application is scientifically distinct.
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
To download a SF424 (R&R) Application Package and
SF424 (R&R) Application Guide for completing the SF424 (R&R) forms for
this FOA, link to http://www.grants.gov/Apply/ and follow the directions provided on that Web site.
A one-time registration is required for institutions/organizations at both:
PDs/PIs should work with their institutions/organizations to make sure they are registered in the eRA Commons.
Several additional separate actions are required before an applicant institution/organization can submit an electronic application, as follows:
1) Organizational/Institutional Registration in Grants.gov/Get Started
2) Organizational/Institutional Registration in the eRA Commons
3) Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) Registration in the NIH eRA Commons: Refer to the NIH eRA Commons System (COM) Users Guide.
Note that if a PD/PI is also an NIH peer-reviewer with an Individual DUNS and CCR registration, that particular DUNS number and CCR registration are for the individual reviewer only. These are different than any DUNS number and CCR registration used by an applicant organization. Individual DUNS and CCR registration should be used only for the purposes of personal reimbursement and should not be used on any grant applications submitted to the Federal Government.
Several of the steps of the registration process could take four weeks or more. Therefore, applicants should immediately check with their business official to determine whether their organization/institution is already registered in both Grants.gov and the Commons. The NIH will accept electronic applications only from organizations that have completed all necessary registrations.
1. Request Application Information
Applicants must download the SF424 (R&R)
application forms and SF424 (R&R) Application Guide for this FOA through Grants.gov/Apply.
Note: Only the forms package
directly attached to a specific FOA can be used. You will not be able to use
any other SF424 (R&R) forms (e.g., sample forms, forms from another FOA),
although some of the "Attachment" files may be useable for more than
one FOA.
For further assistance, contact GrantsInfo: Telephone
301-710-0267, Email: [email protected].
Telecommunications for the hearing impaired: TTY
301-451-5936.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission
Prepare all applications using the SF424 (R&R) application forms and in accordance with the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide (MS Word or PDF).
The SF424 (R&R) Application Guide is critical to submitting a complete and accurate application to NIH. There are fields within the SF424 (R&R) application components that, although not marked as mandatory, are required by NIH (e.g., the Credential log-in field of the Research & Related Senior/Key Person Profile component must contain the PD/PI’s assigned eRA Commons User ID). Agency-specific instructions for such fields are clearly identified in the Application Guide. For additional information, see Frequently Asked Questions Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications.
The SF424 (R&R) application is comprised of data arranged in separate components. Some components are required, others are optional. The forms package associated with this FOA in Grants.gov/APPLY will include all applicable components, required and optional. A completed application in response to this FOA will include the following components:
Required Components:
SF424 (R&R) (Cover component)
Research & Related Project/Performance Site
Locations
Research & Related Other Project Information
Research & Related Senior/Key Person
PHS398 Cover Page Supplement
PHS398 Research Plan
PHS398 Checklist
PHS398 Modular Budget
Optional
Components:
PHS398 Cover Letter File
Research & Related Subaward Budget Attachment(s)
Form
Note: While both budget components are included in the SF424 (R&R) forms package, the NIH R21 uses ONLY the PHS398 Modular Budget. (Do not use the detailed Research & Related Budget.)
Foreign Organizations
Several special provisions apply to applications
submitted by foreign organizations:
Proposed research should provide special opportunities for furthering research programs through the use of unusual talent, resources, populations, or environmental conditions in other countries that are not readily available in the United States or that augment existing U.S. resources.
3.
Submission Dates and Times
See Section IV.3.A for
details.
3.A.
Submission, Review, and Anticipated Start Dates
Opening Date: October 30, 2006 (Earliest date an application may be submitted
to Grants.gov).
Letters
of Intent Receipt Date(s): October 30, 2006
Application
Submission/Receipt Date(s): November 28, 2006
Peer Review
Date(s): March 2007
Council Review
Date(s): May 21-22, 2007
Earliest
Anticipated Start Date(s): June 1, 2007
3.A.1. Letter of Intent
Prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information:
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.
The letter of intent is to be sent by the date listed
in Section IV.3.A.
The letter of intent should be sent to:
Elise
Feingold, PhD
Program
Director, Genome Analysis
Division of
Extramural Research
National
Human Genome Research Institute
5635 Fishers Lane,
Suite 4076,
MSC 9305
Bethesda, MD 20892-9305 (U.S Postal Service Express or
regular mail)
Rockville, MD 20852 (for express/courier service;
non-USPS service)
Telephone:
(301) 496-7531
FAX: (301)
480-2770
Email: [email protected]
3.B.
Submitting an Application Electronically to the NIH
To submit an application in response to this FOA, applicants should access this
FOA via http://www.grants.gov/Apply and follow steps 1-4. Note: Applications must only be submitted
electronically. PAPER APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
3.C.
Application Processing
Applications may be submitted on or after
the opening date and must be successfully received by Grants.gov no later
than 5:00 p.m. local time (of the
applicant institution/organization) on the
application submission/receipt date(s). (See Section IV.3.A. for all dates.) If an application is not submitted by the receipt
date(s) and time, the application may be delayed in the review process or not
reviewed.
Once an application package has been successfully submitted through Grants.gov, any errors have been addressed, and the assembled application has been created in the eRA Commons, the PD/PI and the Authorized Organization Representative/Signing Official (AOR/SO) have two business days to view the application image.
Upon receipt, applications will
be evaluated for completeness by the Center for Scientific Review, NIH.
Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
There will be an acknowledgement of receipt of
applications from Grants.gov and the Commons. Information related to the assignment
of an application to a Scientific Review Group is also in the Commons.
The NIH will not accept any application in response to this funding opportunity that is essentially the same as one currently pending initial review, unless the applicant withdraws the pending application. However, when a previously unfunded application, originally submitted as an investigator-initiated application, is to be submitted in response to a funding opportunity, it is to be prepared as a NEW application. That is, the application for the funding opportunity must not include an Introduction describing the changes and improvements made, and the text must not be marked to indicate the changes from the previous unfunded version of the application.
4. Intergovernmental Review
This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental
review.
5.
Funding Restrictions
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. A grantee may, at
its own risk and without NIH prior approval, incur obligations and expenditures
to cover costs up to 90 days before the beginning date of the initial budget
period of a new award if such costs: are necessary to conduct the project, and
would be allowable under the grant, if awarded, without NIH prior approval. If
specific expenditures would otherwise require prior approval, the grantee must
obtain NIH approval before incurring the cost. NIH prior approval is required
for any costs to be incurred more than 90 days before the beginning date of the
initial budget period of a new award.
The incurrence of pre-award costs in anticipation of a
competing or non-competing award imposes no obligation on NIH either to make
the award or to increase the amount of the approved budget if an award is made
for less than the amount anticipated and is inadequate to cover the pre-award
costs incurred. NIH expects the grantee to be fully aware that pre-award costs
result in borrowing against future support and that such borrowing must not
impair the grantee's ability to accomplish the project objectives in the
approved time frame or in any way adversely affect the conduct of the project.
See the NIH Grants
Policy Statement.
6. Other Submission Requirements
The NIH requires the PD/PI to fill in his/her Commons User ID in the PROFILE Project Director/Principal Investigator section, Credential
log-in field of the Research & Related Senior/Key Person Profile
component. The applicant organization must include its DUNS number in its
Organization Profile in the eRA Commons. This DUNS number must match the DUNS
number provided at CCR registration with Grants.gov. For additional
information, see Registration FAQs Important Tips -- Electronic Submission
of Grant Applications.
Research Plan Component Sections
While each section of the Research Plan component needs to be uploaded separately as a PDF attachment, applicants are encouraged to construct the Research Plan component as a single document, separating sections into distinct PDF attachments just before uploading the files. This approach will enable applicants to better monitor formatting requirements such as page limits. All attachments must be provided to NIH in PDF format, filenames must be included with no spaces or special characters, and a .pdf extension must be used.
Appendix Materials
The following materials may be included in the Appendix:
Plan for Sharing Research Data
The precise content of the data-sharing plan will vary, depending on the data
being collected and how the investigator is planning to share the data.
Applicants who are planning to share data may wish to describe briefly the
expected schedule for data sharing, the format of the final dataset, the
documentation to be provided, whether or not any analytic tools also will be
provided, whether or not a data-sharing agreement will be required and, if so,
a brief description of such an agreement (including the criteria for deciding
who can receive the data and whether or not any conditions will be placed on
their use), and the mode of data sharing (e.g., under their own auspices by
mailing a disk or posting data on their institutional or personal website,
through a data archive or enclave). Investigators choosing to share under their
own auspices may wish to enter into a data-sharing agreement. References to
data sharing may also be appropriate in other sections of the application.
The reasonableness of the data sharing plan or the rationale for not sharing
research data may be assessed by the reviewers. However, reviewers will not
factor the proposed data sharing plan into the determination of scientific
merit or the priority score.
Sharing Research Resources
NIH
policy requires that grant awardee recipients make unique research resources
readily available for research purposes to qualified individuals within the
scientific community after publication (See the NIH Grants Policy Statement http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps_2003/NIHGPS_Part7.htm#_Toc54600131).
Investigators responding to this funding opportunity should include a sharing
research resources plan addressing how unique research resources will be shared
or explain why sharing is not possible.
The adequacy of the resources sharing plan and any
related data sharing plans will be considered by Program staff of the funding
organization when making recommendations about funding applications. The
effectiveness of the resource sharing will be evaluated as part of the
administrative review of each Non-Competing Grant
Progress Report (PHS 2590). See Section VI.3.,
Reporting.
Any software developed under this RFA should be freely available to other biomedical researchers in the non-profit sector.
Section V. Application Review Information
1. Criteria
Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process.
2.
Review and Selection Process
Applications that are complete and responsive to the FOA will be
evaluated for scientific and technical merit by an appropriate peer review
group convened by NHGRI in accordance with the
review criteria stated below.
As part of the initial
merit review, all applications will:
Applications submitted in response to this funding opportunity will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications. The following will be considered in making funding decisions:
The goals of NIH supported research are to advance our understanding of biological systems, to improve the control of disease, and to enhance health. In their written critiques, reviewers will be asked to comment on each of the following criteria in order to judge the likelihood that the proposed research will have a substantial impact on the pursuit of these goals. Each of these criteria will be addressed and considered in assigning the overall score, weighting them as appropriate for each application.
Note that an application does not
need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major
scientific impact and thus deserve a high priority score. For example, an
investigator may propose to carry out important work that by its nature is not
innovative but is essential to move a field forward.
Significance: Does this study address an important scientific health problem? If the aims of
the application are achieved, how will scientific knowledge or clinical
practice be advanced? What will be the effect of these studies on the concepts,
methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that
drive this field? Does the
application address the goals and objectives outlined in the RFA?
Approach: Are the conceptual or clinical framework, design, methods,
and analyses adequately developed, well integrated, well reasoned, and
appropriate to the aims of the project? Does the applicant acknowledge
potential problem areas and consider alternative tactics? Does the technical approach have the potential to be
applied efficiently and cost-effectively at large scale?
Innovation: Is the project original and innovative? For example: Does
the project challenge existing paradigms or clinical practice; address an
innovative hypothesis or critical barrier to progress in the field? Does the
project develop or employ novel concepts, approaches, methodologies, tools, or
technologies for this area? Does the
project develop new methods or technologies to reduce costs or increase quality
or throughput?
Investigators: Are the investigators appropriately trained and well suited
to carry out this work? Is the work proposed appropriate to the experience
level of the PD/PI and other researchers? Does the investigative team bring
complementary and integrated expertise to the project (if applicable)?
Environment: Does the scientific environment in which the work will be
done contribute to the probability of success? Do the proposed studies benefit
from unique features of the scientific environment, or subject populations, or
employ useful collaborative arrangements? Is there evidence of institutional
support?
2.A.
Additional Review Criteria:
In addition to the above criteria, the following items
will continue to be considered in the determination of scientific merit and the
priority score:
Protection of Human Subjects from
Research Risk: The involvement of
human subjects and protections from research risk relating to their
participation in the proposed research will be assessed. See item 6 of the
Research Plan component of the SF424 (R&R).
Care and Use of Vertebrate Animals in
Research: If vertebrate animals
are to be used in the project, the five items described under item 11 of the
Research Plan component of the SF424 (R&R) will be assessed.
Biohazards: If materials or procedures are proposed that are
potentially hazardous to research personnel and/or the environment, determine
if the proposed protection is adequate.
2.B.
Additional Review Considerations
Budget and Period of Support: The reasonableness of the proposed budget
and the appropriateness of the requested period of support in relation to the
proposed research may be assessed by the reviewers. Is the number of person
months listed for the effort of the PD/PI appropriate for the work proposed? Is
each budget category realistic and justified in terms of the aims and methods?
2.C.
Sharing Research Data
The reasonableness of the data sharing plan or the
rationale for not sharing research data may be assessed by the reviewers.
However, reviewers will not factor the proposed data sharing plan into the
determination of scientific merit or the priority score. The funding organization
will be responsible for monitoring the data sharing policy (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing).
2.D.
Sharing Research Resources
NIH policy requires
that grant awardee recipients make unique research resources readily available
for research purposes to qualified individuals within the scientific community
after publication (See the NIH Grants Policy Statement http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps_2003/NIHGPS_Part7.htm#_Toc54600131).
Investigators responding to this funding opportunity should include a sharing
research resources plan addressing how unique research resources will be shared
or explain why sharing is not possible.
Program staff will be responsible for the
administrative review of the plan for sharing research resources.
The adequacy of the resources
sharing plan and any related data sharing plans will be considered by Program
staff of the funding organization when making recommendations about funding
applications. The effectiveness of the resource sharing will be evaluated as
part of the administrative review of each Non-Competing Grant
Progress Report (PHS 2590), See Section VI.3.,
Reporting.
Model Organism Sharing Plan: Reviewers are asked to assess the sharing plan in an administrative note. The sharing plan itself should be discussed after the application is scored. Whether a sharing plan is reasonable can be determined by the reviewers on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the organism, the timeline, the applicant's decision to distribute the resource or deposit it in a repository, and other relevant considerations
3.
Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates
Not
Applicable
Section
VI. Award Administration Information
1.
Award Notices
After the peer review of the application is completed, the PD/PI will be able
to access his/her Summary Statement (written critique) via the NIH eRA Commons.
If the application is under
consideration for funding, NIH will request "just-in-time"
information from the applicant. For details, applicants may refer to the NIH
Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards,
Subpart A: General.
A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award
(NoA) will be provided to the applicant organization. The NoA signed by the
grants management officer is the authorizing document. Once all administrative
and programmatic issues have been resolved, the NoA will be generated via email
notification from the awarding component to the grantee business official.
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. See Section
IV.5., Funding Restrictions.
2.
Administrative and National Policy Requirements
There
will be terms and conditions on awards pertaining to
data and resources release policies (where applicable) that have been agreed
upon by the applicants and the program staff.
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, Grantees, and Activities.
3.
Reporting
When multiple years are involved, awardees will be
required to submit the Non-Competing Grant
Progress Report (PHS 2590) annually and financial statements as required in
the NIH
Grants Policy Statement.
Section
VII. Agency Contacts
We encourage your inquiries concerning this funding
opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential
applicants. Inquiries may fall into three areas: scientific/research, peer
review, and financial or grants management issues:
1. Scientific/Research
Contacts:
Elise
Feingold, PhD or Peter Good, PhD
Program
Directors
Division of
Extramural Research
National
Human Genome Research Institute
5635 Fishers Lane,
Ste. 4076, MSC 9305
Bethesda, MD 20892-9305 (U.S Postal Service Express or
regular mail)
Rockville, MD 20852 (for express/courier service;
non-USPS service)
Telephone:
(301) 496-7531
FAX: (301)
480-2770
Email:
[email protected] or [email protected]
2. Peer Review Contacts:
Rudy
Pozzatti, PhD
Scientific
Review Administrator
Scientific
Review Branch
National
Human Genome Research Institute
5635 Fishers Lane,
Ste. 4076,
MSC 9306
Bethesda, MD 20892-9305 (U.S Postal Service Express or
regular mail)
Rockville, MD 20852 (for express/courier service;
non-USPS service)
Telephone:
(301) 402-0838
FAX: (301)
435-1580
Email:
[email protected]
3. Financial or Grants
Management Contacts:
Cheryl
Chick
Grants
Management Officer
Division of
Extramural Research
National
Human Genome Research Institute
5635 Fishers Lane,
Ste. 4076,
MSC 9306
Bethesda, MD 20892-9305 (U.S Postal Service Express or
regular mail)
Rockville, MD 20852 (for express/courier service;
non-USPS service)
Telephone:
(301) 435-7858
FAX: (301) 402-1951
Email:
[email protected]
Section
VIII. Other Information
Required Federal Citations
Use of Animals in Research:
Recipients of PHS support for activities involving
live, vertebrate animals must comply with PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of
Laboratory Animals (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/references/PHSPolicyLabAnimals.pdf)
as mandated by the Health Research Extension Act of 1985 (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/references/hrea1985.htm),
and the USDA Animal Welfare Regulations (http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/legislat/usdaleg1.htm)
as applicable.
Human Subjects Protection:
Federal regulations (45 CFR 46) require that
applications and proposals involving human subjects must be evaluated with
reference to the risks to the subjects, the adequacy of protection against
these risks, the potential benefits of the research to the subjects and others,
and the importance of the knowledge gained or to be gained (http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.htm).
Sharing Research
Data:
Investigators submitting an NIH application seeking
$500,000 or more in direct costs in any single year are expected to include a
plan for data sharing or state why this is not possible (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing).
Investigators should seek guidance from their
institutions, on issues related to institutional policies and local IRB rules,
as well as local, State and Federal laws and regulations, including the Privacy
Rule. Reviewers will consider the data sharing plan but will not factor the
plan into the determination of the scientific merit or the priority score.
Access to Research Data through
the Freedom of Information Act:
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular
A-110 has been revised to provide access to research data through the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) under some circumstances. Data that are (1) first
produced in a project that is supported in whole or in part with Federal funds
and (2) cited publicly and officially by a Federal agency in support of an
action that has the force and effect of law (i.e., a regulation) may be
accessed through FOIA. It is important for applicants to understand the basic
scope of this amendment. NIH has provided guidance at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/a110/a110_guidance_dec1999.htm.
Applicants may wish to place data collected under this funding opportunity in a
public archive, which can provide protections for the data and manage the
distribution for an indefinite period of time. If so, the application should
include a description of the archiving plan in the study design and include
information about this in the budget justification section of the application.
In addition, applicants should think about how to structure informed consent
statements and other human subjects procedures given the potential for wider
use of data collected under this award.
Sharing of Model Organisms:
NIH is committed to support efforts that encourage
sharing of important research resources including the sharing of model
organisms for biomedical research (see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/model_organism/index.htm).
At the same time the NIH recognizes the rights of grantees and contractors to
elect and retain title to subject inventions developed with Federal funding
pursuant to the Bayh Dole Act (see the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Beginning October 1, 2004, all investigators submitting an NIH application or
contract proposal are expected to include in the application/proposal a
description of a specific plan for sharing and distributing unique model
organism research resources generated using NIH funding or state why such
sharing is restricted or not possible. This will permit other researchers to
benefit from the resources developed with public funding. The inclusion of a
model organism sharing plan is not subject to a cost threshold in any year and
is expected to be included in all applications where the development of model
organisms is anticipated.
Required Education on the Protection of Human
Subject Participants:
NIH policy requires education on the protection of
human subject participants for all investigators submitting NIH applications
for research involving human subjects and individuals designated as key
personnel. The policy is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-00-039.html.
Human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESC):
Criteria for federal funding of research on hESCs can
be found at http://stemcells.nih.gov/index.asp and at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-02-005.html.
Only research using hESC lines that are registered in the NIH Human Embryonic
Stem Cell Registry will be eligible for Federal funding (http://escr.nih.gov).
It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide in the project description
and elsewhere in the application as appropriate, the official NIH identifier(s)
for the hESC line(s) to be used in the proposed research. Applications that do
not provide this information will be returned without review.
NIH Public Access Policy:
NIH-funded investigators are requested to submit to
the NIH manuscript submission (NIHMS) system (http://www.nihms.nih.gov) at
PubMed Central (PMC) an electronic version of the author's final manuscript
upon acceptance for publication, resulting from research supported in whole or
in part with direct costs from NIH. The author's final manuscript is defined as
the final version accepted for journal publication, and includes all
modifications from the publishing peer review process.
NIH is requesting that authors submit manuscripts
resulting from 1) currently funded NIH research projects or 2) previously
supported NIH research projects if they are accepted for publication on or
after May 2, 2005. The NIH Public Access Policy applies to all research grant
and career development award mechanisms, cooperative agreements, contracts,
Institutional and Individual Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards,
as well as NIH intramural research studies. The Policy applies to
peer-reviewed, original research publications that have been supported in whole
or in part with direct costs from NIH, but it does not apply to book chapters,
editorials, reviews, or conference proceedings. Publications resulting from
non-NIH-supported research projects should not be submitted.
For more information about the Policy or the
submission process, please visit the NIH Public Access Policy Web site at http://publicaccess.nih.gov/
and view the Policy or other Resources and Tools, including the Authors' Manual.
Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable
Health Information:
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
issued final modification to the "Standards for Privacy of Individually
Identifiable Health Information", the "Privacy Rule", on August 14, 2002. The Privacy Rule is a federal regulation under the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 that governs the protection
of individually identifiable health information, and is administered and
enforced by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
Decisions about applicability and implementation of
the Privacy Rule reside with the researcher and his/her institution. The OCR
website (http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/)
provides information on the Privacy Rule, including a complete Regulation Text
and a set of decision tools on "Am I a covered entity?" Information
on the impact of the HIPAA Privacy Rule on NIH processes involving the review,
funding, and progress monitoring of grants, cooperative agreements, and
research contracts can be found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-03-025.html.
URLs in NIH Grant Applications or Appendices:
All applications and proposals for NIH funding
must be self-contained within specified page limitations. For publications
listed in the appendix and/or Progress report, internet addresses (URLs) must be used for publicly accessible on-line journal articles. Unless
otherwise specified in this solicitation, Internet addresses (URLs)
should not be used to provide any other information necessary for
the review because reviewers are under no obligation to view the Internet
sites. Furthermore, we caution reviewers that their anonymity may be
compromised when they directly access an Internet site.
Healthy People
2010:
The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to
achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of
"Healthy People 2010," a PHS-led national activity for setting
priority areas. This FOA is related to one or more of the priority areas.
Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2010" at http://www.health.gov/healthypeople.
Authority and Regulations:
This
program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance at http://www.cfda.gov/ and is not
subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372
or Health Systems Agency review. 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 and 45 CFR Parts 74 and 92. All awards are subject to the terms and
conditions, cost principles, and other considerations
described in the NIH
Grants Policy Statement.
The PHS strongly encourages all grant recipients to
provide a smoke-free workplace and discourage the 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.
Loan Repayment Programs:
NIH encourages applications for educational loan
repayment from qualified health professionals who have made a commitment to
pursue a research career involving clinical, pediatric, contraception,
infertility, and health disparities related areas. The LRP is an important
component of NIH's efforts to recruit and retain the next generation of
researchers by providing the means for developing a research career unfettered
by the burden of student loan debt. Note that an NIH grant is not required for
eligibility and concurrent career award and LRP applications are encouraged. The
periods of career award and LRP award may overlap providing the LRP recipient
with the required commitment of time and effort, as LRP awardees must commit at
least 50% of their time (at least 20 hours per week based on a 40 hour week)
for two years to the research. For further information, please see: http://www.lrp.nih.gov.
Weekly TOC for this Announcement
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices
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