Notice Number: NOT-OD-09-112

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

• July 8, 2010 - See Notice NOT-OD-10-110 Extramural Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (LRP-IDB): Program Specific Information.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number
93.308

Key Dates
Release Date: June 18, 2009

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH) (www.nih.gov)
National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) (www.ncmhd.nih.gov)
Office of Extramural Programs, Division of Loan Repayment (www.lrp.nih.gov)

PURPOSE

This Notice replaces NOT-OD-08-089, and provides program specific information for Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (LRP-IDB). 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-09-107. Through this Notice, NIH and NCMHD invite qualified health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds to apply for participation in the LRP-IDB.

LRP-IDB PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

The objective of the LRP-IDB is the recruitment and retention of highly qualified health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds to clinical research careers. The emphasis on clinical research and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds highlights the need for the involvement of a cadre of competent health professionals in clinical research.
Clinical research is defined as patient-oriented clinical research conducted with human subjects, or research on the causes and consequences of disease in human populations involving material of human origin (such as tissue specimens and cognitive phenomena) for which an investigator or colleague directly interacts with human subjects in an outpatient or inpatient setting to clarify a problem in human physiology, pathophysiology or disease, or epidemiological or behavioral studies, outcomes research or health services research, or developing new technologies, therapeutic interventions, or clinical trials.

An individual from a disadvantaged background is defined as one who comes from a family with an annual income below a level based on low-income thresholds according to family size published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, adjusted annually for the changes in the Consumer Price Index, and adjusted by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Secretary) for use in all health professions programs. The Secretary periodically publishes these income levels in the Federal Register. An applicant must certify his/her disadvantaged status under the above definition by submitting: (a) a written statement from the individual’s former health professions school(s) that indicates that he/she qualified for Federal disadvantaged assistance during attendance; or (b) documentation that he/she received any of the following financial aid: Health Professions Student Loans (HPSL) or Loans for Disadvantaged Student Program; or (c) documentation that he/she received scholarships from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) under the Scholarship for Individuals with Exceptional Financial Need.

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

In addition to the eligibility criteria outlined in the general Notice (see: NIH Extramural Loan Repayment Programs, NOT-OD-09-107), applicants for LRP-IDB must have a Ph.D., M.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.P.M., Pharm.D., Psy.D., D.C., N.D., or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited institution, and must engage in qualified clinical research as defined above.

FUNDS AVAILABLE

The NCMHD intends to commit approximately $1.5 million annually to fund LRP-IDB contracts.

REQUIRED FEDERAL CITATIONS

Awards are made pursuant to the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-525) that added Section 485G of the Public Health Service Act (42 USC 287c-33). The Federal Debt Collections 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).