The mission of the NIH is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. The NIH is committed to supporting research that will increase scientific understanding of the health and wellbeing of various population and subpopulation groups and that will help to establish the effectiveness of evidence-based health interventions and services for individuals within these groups. NIH places high priority on research with populations that appear to have distinctive health risk profiles and who have also received insufficient attention from investigators. To this end, this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) announces the availability of administrative supplements to provide funding for the expansion of existing research projects to incorporate sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations, which include, but are not limited to, those populations described in Notice NOT-OD-19-139. Basic, social, behavioral, clinical, translational, and health services research relevant to the missions of the sponsoring NIH Institutes or Centers (ICs) may be proposed in response to this solicitation. Potential applicants are also encouraged to review the FY 2017 Portfolio Analysis of NIH-funded SGM research to identify potential research gaps that may be relevant to this NOSI.

Background

Although the collective knowledge base on SGM health has grown substantially since the release of the 2011 Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) report on the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, a continually growing body of evidence indicates that SGM individuals still suffer disproportionately from numerous conditions, diseases, and health issues compared to the general population. In October 2016, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, in collaboration with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, announced that SGMs had been officially designated a health disparity population. This designation has facilitated the creation of tailored research projects, programs, activities, and funding opportunities to tackle the unique health-related issues encountered by SGM individuals. In addition, ascertainment of SGM status in ongoing and planned population studies has been enhanced. However, SGM-specific health disparities persist today, and there is still an urgent need for novel strategies to understand, measure, address, and prevent them.

As of August 28, 2019, the NIH definition of "sexual and gender minorities" includes, but is not limited to, individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, transgender, two-spirit, queer, and/or intersex. Individuals with same-sex or -gender attractions or behaviors and those with a difference in sex development are also included. These populations also encompass those who do not self-identify with one of these terms but whose sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or reproductive development is characterized by non-binary constructs of sexual orientation, gender, and/or sex. Applicants to this administrative supplement may propose to study relevant SGM subpopulations not explicitly identified in this definition and/or adopt other classification frameworks and terminologies as appropriate.

Specific Areas of Research Interest

This NOSI calls for research that will enrich scientific understanding of how sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or being born with disorders/differences in sex development or intersex conditions relate to health outcomes, health risks, health behaviors, perceptions and expectations about health, and access to health-related services or associated barriers.

Appropriate topics or studies for these supplements may include, but are not limited to, those listed below:

• Addition of SGM participants to an ongoing study which either did not originally include them or has not enrolled enough SGM participants to make meaningful comparisons between groups; proposed studies must be sufficiently powered to allow for meaningful comparisons
• Expansion of an ongoing study focused on one SGM group to add another; proposed studies must be sufficiently powered to allow for meaningful comparisons
• Expansion of surveys or questionnaires to add items related to sexual attraction, sexual behavior, sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, and/or non-binary sex when relevant and appropriate
• Assessment of reliability and/or validity of measures relevant to sexual attraction, sexual behavior, sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, and/or non-binary sex
• Methodological and strategic innovations to improve the recruitment and retention of SGM individuals in any research activity
• Ethical, legal, or social science research on the implications of data collection and/or research findings on SGM populations

Scope of Support

Administrative supplements can be used to meet increased costs that are within the scope of the approved parent award, but that were unforeseen when the new or renewal application or grant progress report for non-competing continuation support was submitted. Applicants to this NOSI should propose research that, if successful, would contribute to a greater understanding of the health and wellbeing of SGM communities. Clinical trials cannot be proposed to be added to grants that do not include a clinical trial since that would constitute a change in scope.

IC-Specific Considerations

All applications submitted in response to this NOSI should fall within the mission of the IC of the awarded parent grant. Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their proposed supplement project with the IC Program Officer of the funded parent award prior to submission of a supplement application in order to ensure that the proposed activity aligns with the scientific priorities of the IC and is within the scope of the parent award. Scientific inquiries may also be addressed to the contacts listed in the Inquiries section below.

Other Information

Recently issued trans-NIH policy notices may affect your application submission. A full list of policy notices published by NIH is provided in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Authority and Regulations

Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 45 CFR Part 75.

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 Dates January 31, 2020 for FY 2020, January 25, 2021 for FY 2021, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.
• The expiration date is January 26, 2021.
• The project and budget periods must be within the currently approved project period for the existing parent award.
• For funding consideration, applicants must include NOT-OD-20-032 (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 project budget cannot exceed $100,000 in total costs.
• The Research Strategy section of the application is limited to 6 pages.
• The process for Streamlined Submissions using the eRA Commons cannot be used for this initiative.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the Program Officer at the IC supporting the parent award that a request has been submitted in response to this NOSI in order to facilitate efficient processing of the application.

Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.