The purpose of the NIMH Administrative Supplement Program to Enable Continuity of Research Experiences of MD/PhDs during Clinical Training is to support advanced research opportunities for exceptional individuals holding the MD/PhD degree who are early in their research careers and thereby help these individuals transition efficiently and effectively from the period of clinical training to the next stage of their research careers. This administrative supplement program will provide focused, protected research time for eligible individuals during residency and/or clinical fellowship. The proposed research experience must have the potential to contribute significantly to the candidate's research career.

Background

Physician-scientists are believed to bring a unique perspective to research through the blend of clinical and research experiences they acquire during graduate and medical education, residency, and fellowship. Over the past three decades, there has been a steady decline in the number of physician-scientists actively pursuing research careers . In psychiatry, the decline has been more striking than in other clinical specialties .

At the time they enter residency training, MD/PhDs have already received substantial research training while conducting dissertation research and have demonstrated a strong interest in and commitment to research. During clinical training, limited opportunities exist for these individuals to continue to develop research expertise, document their research productivity, and gain exposure to the rapidly evolving scientific landscape. The limited availability of options to support research effort during clinical training is a significant barrier to increasing the pipeline of outstanding MD/PhDs prepared to conduct innovative, NIMH-funded research. The 2008 National Advisory Mental Health Council Workgroup on Research Training recommended that the NIMH expand efforts to support research opportunities for MD/PhDs during residency and ensure flexibility of these opportunities so that MD/PhDs who are committed to research careers as physician-scientists may continue research during residency and transition efficiently and effectively to research independence.

Program Details

The goal of this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) is to help MD/PhDs move more efficiently and effectively from the period of clinical training to the next stage of their research careers by supporting focused, protected research time during residency and/or clinical fellowship. The proposed research experience must be an integral part of the approved, ongoing research of the parent grant and must have the potential to contribute significantly to the candidate's research career. To ensure flexibility of research opportunities, the specific plan and scope of the research experience may vary depending on such factors as the year in residency, the nature of the parent grant, the candidate's technical skill set and goals, and the candidate's available effort.

Plans that primarily involve clinical interviewing and/or conducting laboratory sessions with research participants would be considered a low priority for this NIMH administrative supplement program.

An application is expected to reflect the individual needs of the candidate who is being nominated for support and will document:

• the quality of the proposed research plan and its appropriateness for the candidate's current career stage;
• the candidate's qualifications and potential as a physician-scientist conducting independent, mental health-related research;
• the alignment of the proposed research plan with the mission and strategic research priorities of the NIMH or, for AIDS-related applications, as exemplified in the research priorities of the most recent, annual Trans-NIH Plan for HIV-Related Research and the priorities of the NIMH Division of AIDS Research; and
• the commitment of the Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) and other faculty (if applicable) to provide appropriate guidance and supervision of the candidate's research experience and facilitate his/her successful transition to the next career stage.

Administrative supplements must support work within the scope of the original project. All applicants are encouraged to discuss potential requests with the NIMH prior to submission (see Section VII. Agency Contacts).

Description of circumstances for which administrative supplements are available.

Application and Submission Information

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

• PA-18-591 - 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-18-591 must be followed, with the following additions:

• Application Due Date(s) April 1, 2021, April 1, 2022, April 1, 2023, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.
• For funding consideration, applicants must include NOT-MH-20-040 (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.
• Requests may be for one year of support only.
• The Research Strategy section of the application is limited to 6 pages.
• Administrative supplement applications to PA-18-591 must use the application form package with the Competition ID that contains FORMS-F-ADMINSUPP . In addition, the process for Streamlined Submissions using the eRA Commons cannot be used for this initiative.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the program contact at the Institute supporting the parent award that a request has been submitted in response to this FOA in order to facilitate efficient processing of the request.