Key Dates

Related Announcements

PA-20-272 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)

Issued by

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Purpose

This Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) describes an opportunity for supplemental funding to current grantees for studies that include sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations in cancer control research to enhance or accelerate the understanding of cancer-related health behaviors, care delivery, or health outcomes specific to the SGM population. The goal of this initiative is to supplement existing awards to collect new data and/or analyze existing data through inclusion of and/or outreach to SGM individuals.

Background

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) people (including but not limited to, lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual transgender, intersex, and non-binary people) are an underserved, understudied population. SGM populations have unique social, behavioral, and healthcare concerns that put them at greater risk of poor health outcomes, particularly with respect to cancer. For example, avoidance of medical care due to medical mistrust and experiences of discrimination in healthcare settings leads to reduced uptake of cancer screening, particularly among transgender individuals. SGM individuals diagnosed with cancer may be less likely to adhere to treatment regimens for the same reason. Interventions to address modifiable cancer risk factors such as poor diet, insufficient physical activity, and tobacco and alcohol use are rarely designed to meet the needs of various SGM sub-groups. Inadequate sample sizes create a major barrier to better understanding and addressing challenges faced by SGM people relative to cancer risks and outcomes. 

Research Objectives

The research objective of this NOSI is to promote the inclusion of SGM individuals in cancer control research, to enhance or accelerate understanding of cancer-related health behaviors, care delivery, or health outcomes of that result in poor cancer outcomes in the SGM populations. Studies are expected to expand participation through SGM-specific outreach or the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) measurement, and/or to add SGM-relevant analyses that complement existing aims. 

Specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• pilot testing (for “proof of principle”) of enhanced recruitment methods for SGM individuals; 
• testing mechanisms for SOGI measurement in the research context (e.g., item wording, item order, psychometric evaluation, examination of different assessment modes such as electronic vs. paper collection);
• capturing SOGI data collection measures in large cohort studies (n > 1000) to support adequately powered analyses of SGM sub-groups and allow for studies examining intersectionality of multiple identities (e.g., SOGI, race, ethnicity, etc.)
• exploration of innovative/emerging methods for conducting rigorous studies in the context of small population numbers.

Proposals must include sustainability plans to ensure the continued use of SOGI measures and SGM recruitment strategies in current and future work, as well as dissemination plans to allow sharing of best practices with the cancer research community. The long-term goal is to support the foundation for the development of interventions to reduce cancer disparities in SGM populations. 

Application and Submission Information

Applications for this initiative must be submitted using the following opportunity or its subsequent reissued equivalent.

• PA-20-272 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and PA-20-272 must be followed, with the following additions:

• Application Due Date: Submissions must be received by April 21, 2023, at 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization for FY 2023 funding. This NOSI expires on April 22, 2023.
• For funding consideration, applicants must include “NOT-CA-23-032” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4B) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4B will not be considered for this initiative.
• Applicants should begin the supplement application abstract by stating “This application is being submitted in response to the Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) identified as “NOT-CA-23-032”.

Eligibility and Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal Investigator)

• Administrative supplement applications are limited to currently funded R01, R37, P01, U01, UM1, UG1, UG3, UH3, U19 projects supported by NCI. Requests for no-cost extensions on the parent grant to accommodate a supplement will not be permitted.
• PDs/PIs must hold an active award supported through NCI with sufficient time (minimum 1 year) left to complete the study proposed after the supplement has been awarded within the existing project period.
• The proposed project for supplemental funding is required to be within the scope of the parent award and be a logical extension of the original aims.
• For supplements to parent awards that include multiple PDs/PIs, the supplement may be requested by any or all of the PDs/PIs (in accordance with the existing leadership plan) and submitted by the awardee institution of the parent award.
• Application Due Date: All requests, regardless of the parent award funding mechanism, must be received by 5:00 PM local time on April 21, 2023, for possible funding in FY 2023. This NOSI will expire on April 22, 2023.

Budget

• The budget should not exceed $100,000 in total costs.
• At least one full year on the parent grant must remain at the time of funding (September 2023). The application budget is limited to 1 year only.
• If an applicant anticipates a balance of 50% or more of the current total costs for the parent grant, please contact the scientific research contact prior to submitting an application.
• Only one supplement application per grant will be accepted for consideration through this NOSI.
• Requests must reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. Administrative supplements can be used to cover cost increases that are associated with achieving certain new research objective as long as the research objectives are within the original scope of the peer-reviewed and approved project (i.e., award), or the cost increases are for unanticipated expenses within the original scope of the project.

Requests

• Permitted for 1 year of support only; the earliest anticipated start date is September 1, 2023.
• For administrative supplements to grants and cooperative agreements, supplement requests must be submitted electronically in accordance with the parent program announcement, PA-20-272. NOTE: Administrative supplement requests (application) for support of clinical trials will not be accepted and/or considered in response to this NOSI.
• Applicants should begin the supplement application abstract by stating “This application is being submitted in response to the Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) identified as NOT-CA-23-032.”
• For funding consideration, applicants must include “NOT-CA-23-032” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (box 4b) of the SF424 R&R form. Applications without this information in box 4b will not be considered for this initiative.
• In order to facilitate efficient processing of the request applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the assigned NCI Program Official for the parent award that a request has been submitted in response to this NOSI.

Page limits – these sections have the following limits:

• Project Summary/Abstract: 30 lines of text
• Project Narrative: 3 sentences
• Research Strategy: 5 pages
• Biographical Sketch: for Senior/Key Personnel and Significant Contributors only

Review and Selection Process

NCI Program staff will evaluate applications, taking into consideration the following factors:

• Does the administrative supplement reasonably allow for the proposed project to be completed, given the time and budget requested?
• Does the proposed project for supplemental funding fill an identified gap in the scientific literature that advances cancer research?
• Are the proposed activities relevant to the parent grant and original work scope?
• Does the applicant demonstrate satisfactory progress towards achieving the aims of the parent grant, as appropriate to the current stage of the project?

Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their application with the scientific/research contact listed below prior to submission to ensure responsiveness and facilitate processing of the application.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Scientific/Research Contact(s)

Chipper Dean, PhD
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-7803
Email: chipper.dean@nih.gov

Financial/Grants Management Contact(s)

Dawn Mitchum
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-5699
Email: dawn.mitchum@nih.gov