Key Dates

Related Announcements

PA-18-935 - Urgent Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Urgent Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional)

Issued by

National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)

Purpose

NIGMS is issuing this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) to highlight the urgent need for modeling research on SARS-CoV-2 and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Background

There is an urgent public health need to better understand SARS-CoV-2, particularly to improve the predictive quality of existing models of spread, diagnostics for measurement of transmission, susceptibility and recovery, efficacy and economic impact of mitigations and vaccination strategies, and differences in transmission and natural history among different SARS-CoV-2 variant strains.

Research Objectives

NIGMS will accept the submission of applications for Competitive Revisions to all active NIGMS grants to address only the following research area:

• Incorporation of data related to SARS-CoV-2 into ongoing research efforts to develop predictive computational models for the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other related infectious agents. Efforts may include, for example, models for vaccination or other mitigation strategies, potential economic impacts and other topics related to transmission of SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Applications that are not responsive to the above research area will be withdrawn without review.

Application and Submission Information

Applications in response to this NOSI must be submitted to PA-18-935 "Urgent Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Urgent Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional)", which is intended to provide funds for NIH grantees applying to expand the scope of their active grant. The activity code will be the same as that of the parent award.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis from March 15, 2021 to December 15, 2021 by 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization. This NOSI expires on December 16, 2021. An application submitted in response to this NOSI that is received on/after the expiration date will be withdrawn.

When developing applications in response to this NOSI, all instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and PA-18-935 must be followed, with the following additions:

• For funding consideration, all applicants must designate NOT-GM-21-019 (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.
• The Research Strategy section of the application is limited to 6 pages.
• The award project period of the urgent competitive revision must not exceed one year.
• The urgent competitive revision budget is limited to no more than the amount of the current parent award and must reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. The cumulative total of the urgent competitive revision budget and parent grant may exceed the original dollar limit, if any, of the parent award FOA.
• The parent award must be active when the application is submitted (e.g. within the originally reviewed and approved project period), regardless of the time remaining on the current project.
• For urgent competitive revisions to parent awards that include multiple PD/PIs, the supplement must align with the PD/PIs on the parent award. Recipients may add members to the leadership team outside of the named PD/PIs, to provide expertise needed for the supplemental activities, but the contact PD/PI and Multi-PD/PIs may not differ from the parent award. Any changes to the PD/PIs must be submitted by recipients as a prior approval request, along with an updated leadership plan for the award.
• Only electronic submissions will be accepted for this funding opportunity. Use one of the methods described in PA-18-935. Paper submissions and applications submitted as email attachments will be rejected without review

Review Process

Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by an appropriate internal review panel convened by NIGMS staff, in accordance with the review criteria specified in the FOA as well as these additional review criteria:

• Significance of research: How will successful completion of the aims contribute to our understanding of the spread or control of SARS-CoV-2 and/or related pathogenic processes?
• Feasibility of research: Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project? Is the urgent time frame feasible for the proposed research? Are the PD/PIs, collaborators, and other researchers well suited and appropriate to carry out the project? Are the required data available to the researchers?

Although NIGMS is not listed as a Participating Organization in all the FOAs listed above, applications for this initiative will be accepted.

Applications nonresponsive to terms of this NOSI will be withdrawn from consideration for this initiative.

Inquiries

Investigators planning to submit an application in response to this NOSI are strongly encouraged to contact the program officer listed below to discuss the proposed project in the context of the parent award.

Michael Sakalian, Ph.D.
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Email: michael.sakalian@nih.gov