Notice Number: NOT-OD-16-119
Key Dates
Release Date: July 5, 2016
Application Period: Annually from September 1 through November 15, at 8:00 PM EST
Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Purpose
This Notice replaces NOT-OD-15-125 and provides program specific information for Extramural Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (LRP-IDB). The NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) are a set of programs established by Congress and designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. Additional detailed information about each LRP is provided at www.lrp.nih.gov/about_the_programs/index.aspx and www.lrp.nih.gov/apply.
The NIH invites qualified health professionals who contractually agree to engage in NIH mission-relevant research for at least two years initially, and who agree to engage in such research for an average of at least 20 hours per week based on a 40-hour work week, to apply for an award in the Extramural LRPs. The Extramural LRPs repay up to $35,000 annually of a researcher's qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research at a domestic, nonprofit, or government entity. Research funding from NIH is not required to participate in the Extramural LRPs. LRP awards are based on an applicant's potential to build and sustain a research career.
Extramural LRP applications are accepted annually from September 1 through November 15, 8:00 p.m. EST. All LRP applications must be submitted electronically using the NIH LRP Website, www.lrp.nih.gov.
LRP-IDB Objective
The objective of the LRP-IDB is to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds into 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.
NIH defines Clinical Research as patient-oriented 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 or health services research, or developing new technologies, therapeutic interventions, or clinical trials.
An individual from a disadvantaged background is defined as an individual who comes from (1) an environment that inhibited the individual from obtaining the knowledge, sill, and ability required to enroll in and graduate from a health professions school; or (2) 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 changes in the Consumer Price Index, and adjusted by the Secretary for use in all health professions programs. The secretary periodically publishes these income levels in the Federal Register. An applicant must demonstrate his/her disadvantaged background 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.
Changes in LRP Application
The following items are new for the application period that begins on September 1, 2016.
Eligible Applicants
No applicant will be excluded from consideration on the basis of age, race, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or other non-merit factors.
Eligibility criteria to participate in the Extramural LRPs include the following:
The following individuals are ineligible for participation in the Extramural LRPs:
Funds Available
The NIH intends to commit approximately $1.3 million annually to fund LRP-IDB awards.
Where to Obtain Additional Information: Please visit the LRP website at www.lrp.nih.gov, send an email to lrp@nih.gov, or call the Division of Loan Repayment Information Center toll free at (866) 849-4047. Applicants are strongly encouraged to pay attention to Institute or Center (IC) specific funding priorities, and also to discuss their career interests with an IC scientific liaison: www.lrp.nih.gov/contact-engage#ContactEngageContactListsTile.
Annual Receipt, Peer Review, and Review Schedule: Upon receipt, applications for both new and renewal awards will be reviewed for eligibility and completeness. Incomplete or ineligible applications will not be considered. Applications that are complete and eligible will be forwarded for peer review.
Applicants electronically transmit the following to the NIH Division of Loan Repayment:
Research supervisors or mentors electronically transmit the following to the NIH Division of Loan Repayment:
Referees/Recommenders electronically transmit reference letters to the NIH Division of Loan Repayment.
Information is obtained from individuals, including the applicants' research supervisor or most recent mentor, who can comment on the research skills and the abilities of the applicant. Reference letters are expected to include the following information about the applicant:
Institutional Business Officials electronically transmit a certification to the NIH Division of Loan Repayment that:
Renewal Award Applications
Loan repayment awardees who wish to extend their loan repayment should apply for a renewal award no earlier than the year before their current award ends. LRP renewal awards are available for one- or two-year periods and are based upon the same criteria applied to an application for a new award plus two additional criteria an assessment of research accomplishments and development of the applicant as an independent investigator. An explanation of research accomplishments during the most recent award period is required. Progress toward development as an independent investigator is a major factor in granting a renewal award. NIH policy allows a thirty-seven month period (starting the day after the last day of the most recent LRP award) for a renewal award application. After thirty-seven months, NIH views a submission of any application as an application for a new award, regardless of whether an unsuccessful application was submitted during the thirty-seven month period. Renewal awards are competitive and submission of an application for a renewal award does not assure the applicant of a renewal award.
Evaluation Criteria
Applications for the Extramural LRP are evaluated against the following criteria as related to the likelihood that the applicant will continue in a career focused on research in one of the following program areas:
Applicant's potential to pursue a career in research, including:
Quality of the overall environment to prepare the applicant for a research career, including:
For renewal award applications, progress under the previous project period is an additional evaluation criterion:
Program Administration Details
Under the LRP, the NIH will repay a portion of the extant qualified educational loan debt incurred to pay for the researcher's undergraduate, graduate, and/or health professional school educational expenses. Failure to fulfill the terms of the LRP contract will result in termination of the LRP award and could be considered a breach of contract. The penalty for a breach of contract is $7,500 for every month of unfulfilled service or $31,000, whichever is higher.
LRP service obligation and NRSA service payback cannot overlap, and permission to defer NRSA payback must be obtained prior to receipt of LRP funding.
The NIH will repay lenders for the extant principal, interest, and related expenses (such as the required insurance premiums on the unpaid balances of some loans) of educational loans from a U.S. government entity, academic institution, or a commercial or other chartered U.S. lending institution, such as banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, not-for-profit organizations, insurance companies, and other financial or credit institutions which are subject to examination and supervision in their capacity as lending institutions by an agency of the United States or of the State in which the lender has its principal place of business, obtained by applicants for the following:
Repayments are made directly to lenders, following receipt of (1) the Principal Investigator, Program Director, or Research Supervisor's verification of completion of the prior period of research, and (2) lender verification of the crediting of prior loan repayments, including the resulting account balances and current account status. The NIH will repay loans in the following order, unless the Secretary determines that significant savings would result from a different order of priority:
1. Loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:
2. Loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education:
3. Loans made or guaranteed by a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory or possession of the United States
4. Loans made by academic institutions
5. Private (Alternative) Educational Loans:
The following loans are NOT repayable under this program:
1. Loans not obtained from a U.S. or other government entity, academic institution, or a commercial or other chartered U.S. lending institution such as loans from friends, relatives, or other individuals, and non-educational loans (e.g., home equity loans).
2. Loans for which eligibility documentation (current account statement, and promissory note or lender disclosure statement) is not provided.
3. Consolidation loans that include a loan not eligible for repayment, such as: loans obtained from an unqualified lender, loans obtained by the applicant for an individual other than the applicant (e.g., spouse or child), loans obtained by an individual other than the applicant (e.g., spouse or parent), or non-educational loans (e.g., home equity loan).
4. Loans or portions of loans obtained for educational or living expenses which exceed a reasonable level as determined by the standard school budget for the year in which the loan was made.
5. Loans, financial debts, or service obligations incurred under a program where an incurred service obligation converts to a loan upon failure to satisfy the service obligation.
6. Loans that are delinquent, in default, or not current in their payment schedule.
7. Parent PLUS loans.
8. Loans that are paid-in-full.
9. Loans obtained after the start date of the first NIH Loan Repayment Program award (e.g., promissory note signed after the start date of an LRP award). This provision does not apply to qualifying loan consolidations.
Before the commencement of loan repayment, or during lapses in loan repayments, due to administrative complications, Leave Without Pay (LWOP), or a break in service, LRP awardees are wholly responsible for making payments or other arrangements that maintain loans current, such that increases in either principal or interest do not occur. Penalties and/or fees assessed to awardees failing to maintain current payment status may not be considered for reimbursement.
LRP payments are NOT retroactive. Loan repayment will commence after a loan repayment award begins, expected to be no earlier than July through September annually.
Required Federal Citations
Awards are made pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106-554), which amended Section 487E of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 288-5) to include extramural researchers by striking "as employees of the National Institutes of Health".
Inquiries
Additional detailed information about the NIH Loan Repayment Programs is provided at www.lrp.nih.gov/about_the_programs/index.aspx. Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their career interests with the NIMHD scientific liaison, whose contact information is provided on this web page: www.lrp.nih.gov/contact-engage#ContactEngageContactListsTile.