The purpose of this NOSI is to encourage eligible grantees to apply for this administrative supplement aimed at fostering diversity in the child health research workforce within the ECHO Program.

The ECHO Program’s mission is to enhance the health of children for generations to come. Understanding the effects of environmental exposures on child health and development is a priority for the NIH.

As stated in the Notice of NIH’s Interest in Diversity, NOT-OD-20-031, “the NIH’s ability to help ensure that the nation remains a global leader in scientific discovery and innovation is dependent upon a pool of highly talented scientists from diverse backgrounds.” Programs such as these “foster diversity by addressing underrepresentation in the scientific research workforce, which is a key component of the NIH strategy to identify, develop, support and maintain the quality of our scientific human capital.”

Inclusion of diverse perspectives can help ECHO better address children’s health. The ECHO Program is committed to fostering a diverse workforce, including individuals from groups identified as underrepresented, and is well-poised to support talented individuals from diverse backgrounds.

As such, the ECHO Program Office is pleased to offer diversity supplements for Graduate (Predoctoral) and Health Professional Students and Individuals in Postdoctoral Training. Please see the Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity for definitions of underrepresented populations in the US research enterprise. You would apply under the stipulations in PA 20-166 Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Admin Supp - Clinical Trial Not Allowed). . The proposed research experience must be an integral part of the approved, ongoing research of the parent award, and it must have the potential to contribute significantly to the research career development of the candidate. Supplements are for a two-year time period.

Research Topics:Applications must: 1) address the mission of ECHO, 2) contribute to at least one of the ECHO Program’s five key pediatric outcomes: pre-, peri-, and postnatal, upper and lower airway, obesity, neurodevelopment, and positive health, and 3) contribute to ECHO-wide Cohort science.

Eligibility: Candidates must be enrolled in a doctoral degree program toward completion of a terminal scientific degree (e.g., Ph.D., Sc.D., M.D.) or in Postdoctoral Training. Please note that faculty members are not eligible.

ECHO Cohorts, Cores, and Centers can apply, through the parent grant, under the stipulations in PA 20-166 Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Admin Supp - Clinical Trial Not Allowed. We will allow one application per award. , ECHO Institutional Development Awards (IDeA) States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network are not eligible.

Review Criteria: The ECHO Program Office will determine the merit of applications based on evaluation of the following components:

• Candidate
• Mentoring & Training Plan
• Research Proposal

Application and Submission Information

Application Due Date: June 1, 2020.

Please submit all applications electronically using the following funding opportunity announcement (FOA) or their reissued equivalents:

• PA 20-166 Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Admin Supp - Clinical Trial Not Allowed

All instructions for the FOA must be followed.

For funding consideration, applicants must include NOT-OD-20-098 in the Agency Routing Identifier field (Box 4.b) of the SF 424 (R&R) Form.

The ECHO Program Office will not consider applications that fail to meet the terms of this Notice.

To facilitate efficient processing of the request, the ECHO Program Office strongly encourages applicants to notify the contact listed below when they have submitted a response to this NOSI.