Notice Number: NOT-OD-08-087

Update: The following update relating to this announcement has been issued:

• June 18, 2009 - See Replacement Notice NOT-OD-09-111.

Key Dates
Release Date: July 2, 2008

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH) (www.nih.gov)
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (http://www.nichd.nih.gov)
Office of Extramural Programs, Division of Loan Repayment (www.lrp.nih.gov)

PURPOSE

This Notice replaces PA-07-438, and provides program specific information for Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Contraception and Infertility Researchers (LRP-CIR). Applicants must refer to the general LRP Notice providing information on the application period, general eligibility, annual receipt and review schedule, application material, evaluation criteria, and program administration details: NIH Extramural Loan Repayment Programs (LRP), NOT-OD-08-083. Through this Notice, the NIH and NICHD invite qualified health professionals to apply for participation in the LRP-CIR.

LRP-CIR PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

The objective of the LRP-CIR program is to recruit and retain highly qualified health and/or allied health professionals as contraception and/or infertility investigators.
NIH defines infertility research as research that has the long-range objective to evaluate, treat, or ameliorate conditions which result in the failure of couples to either conceive or bear young. Contraception research is defined as research that has the ultimate goal to provide new or improved methods of preventing pregnancy.

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

In addition to the eligibility criteria outlined in the general Notice (see: NIH Extramural Loan Repayment Programs, NOT-OD-08-083), applicants must be qualified health and/or allied health professionals including, but not limited to, physicians, Ph.D.-level scientists, nurses and physician assistants, as well as graduate students and postgraduate research fellows training in the health professions, who must be (a) engaged in employment/training at an NICHD extramural laboratory, or (b) engaged in qualifying research activities in a qualified domestic non-profit institution (tax exempt under 26 U.S.C. 501) or a Federal or domestic state or local government entity, and whose research is supported by a non-profit foundation, non-profit professional association or other non-profit entity, and devote at least 50 percent of their time (not less than 20 hours per week based upon a 40-hour work week) to contraception and/or infertility research.

FUNDS AVAILABLE

The NIH intends to commit approximately $1 million annually to fund LRP-CIR contracts.

CITATIONS OF FEDERAL AUTHORITY

Awards are made pursuant to the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-43), adding section 487B of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, Loan Repayment Program for Research with Respect to Contraception and Infertility, 42 U.S.C. 288-2. Subsequently, section 410 (b) of the Health Professions Education Partnership Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 105-392), amended 487B of the PHS Act to increase the maximum annual loan repayment from $20,000 to $35,000. The Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990, contained in Public Law 101-647, requires that an individual who has a judgment lien against his/her property for a debt to the United States shall not be eligible to receive funds directly from the Federal government in any program, except funds to which the debtor is entitled as a beneficiary, until the judgment is paid in full or otherwise satisfied (28 U.S.C. 3201). The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number for the LRP-CIR is 93.209.