Update: The following update relating to this announcement has been issued:
Release
Date: December 15, 2011
Receipt
Date: March 15, 2012
Earliest
Anticipated Start Date: July 1, 2012
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is developed as a Common Fund initiative (http://commonfund.nih.gov/) through the NIH Office of the NIH Director, Office of Strategic Coordination (http://dpcpsi.nih.gov/osc/). The FOA will be administered by the National Cancer Institute (NCI/NIH), (http://www.nci.nih.gov) on behalf of the NIH)
This initiative is funded through the NIH Common Fund, which supports cross-cutting programs that are expected to have exceptionally high impact. All Common Fund initiatives invite investigators to develop bold, innovative, and often risky approaches to address problems that may seem intractable or to seize new opportunities that offer the potential for rapid progress
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits administrative supplement applications to provide funds to current NIH-funded research projects for new collaborations between basic or clinical researchers and metabolomics experts to pursue biomedical studies requiring a metabolomics approach that are within the scope of the peer-reviewed and approved project.
The purpose of this program is to support collaborative, multi-disciplinary basic and clinical research using metabolomics and help expand the cadre of investigators experienced in metabolomics study design, analytical methodology, and data interpretation. This funding opportunity is part of the Common Fund program Increasing Metabolomics Research Capacity . The overall goal of this Common Fund Program is to increase and improve the nation’s ability to undertake metabolomics analyses in translational and clinical research.
Metabolomics is the study of low molecular weight molecules or metabolites found within cells and biological systems and the metabolome is a measure of the functional output of biological pathways. Metabolites are conserved across various animal species, facilitating the extrapolation of research findings in laboratory animals to humans and thus clinical and translational research. Common technologies for measuring the metabolome include mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), which can measure hundreds to thousands of unique chemical entities (UCE). Metabolomic profiling in basic, epidemiological, clinical and translational studies has revealed potential new biomarkers of disease and therapeutic outcome and led to novel mechanistic understanding of pathogenesis. These include the recent biomarkers of diabetes risk (Nat.Med.17:448-453. 2011), novel metabolites associated with cancer (Nature 462:739-44. 2009), and the discovery of over 500 unique lipids in plasma (J. Lipid Res. 51: 3299-3305. 2010).
Comprehensive, high quality metabolomics investigations require access to specialized equipment and highly trained personnel with expertise in bioinformatics, biochemistry, physiology, and spectrometry. Proper metabolomics study design, particularly for studies involving clinical samples, is critical for translationally relevant outcomes and interpretation of metabolomics results requires an in-depth understanding metabolism and physiology. Few institutions are equipped to handle the volume of analyses required to undertake comprehensive studies and fewer still have personnel with metabolomics expertise. An investment in training investigators in the disciplines required to undertake metabolomics analyses is expected to help increase the capacity to apply this powerful approach to translational questions. This initiative will support new collaborations that exploit metabolomics approaches to move basic and clinical research towards translational goals and will increase the number of investigators cross-trained in metabolomics methodology, bioinformatics analysis, biochemistry and physiology.
The total amount of funds available for these awards is approximately $2 million for FY2012, contingent upon receiving scientifically meritorious proposals. 12-14 awards are anticipated from this solicitation.
A maximum budget of $100,000 direct costs for one year may
be requested for this supplement program.
This announcement is for supplements to Research Project Grants (R00/R01/R37/U01/P01).
To be eligible:
IMPORTANT: The research proposed by the NIH grantee in the supplement application
must be within the original scope of the NIH-supported grant project. The
funding mechanism being used to support this program, administrative
supplements, can be used to cover cost increases that are associated with
achieving certain new research objectives as long as they are within the
original scope of the project. Any cost increases need to result from making
modifications to the project in order to take advantage of opportunities that
would increase the value of the project consistent with its originally approved
objectives and purposes.
To be considered for an administrative supplement, the
request must be signed by the Authorized Organizational Representative/Signing
Official (AOR/SO), and must describe the need for additional funding and the
categorical costs.
Submit one original, hard copy of the request packet (with original signatures
of the authorized business official) to the address listed below:
Bryan Baker
Office of Grant Administration
National Cancer Institute
6130Executive Blvd, Suite T44
Rockville MD 20852
E-mail: bb117a@nih.gov
In addition, applicants are encouraged to send an electronic
copy of the submitted supplement request as an e-mail attachment in PDF format
to the email listed above
Requests should be submitted on the PHS398
Application Guide forms (font size and other formatting rules apply as
designated in the instructions), as indicated below. Include only the following
elements:
Cover Letter which cites this Notice, and the following information:
PHS 398 Form Page 1 (Face page)
PHS 398 Form Page 2
A brief proposal describing the project, including:
Resource Sharing Plan
Administrative supplement requests will be reviewed administratively by NIH Staff. Selection factors will include the following:
Program Inquiries:
Inquiries and discussion of plans for responding to this
Notice are strongly encouraged. Interested applicants can contact the Program
Officer for the parent research grant or the Common Fund Working Group representative
for this FOA listed below for questions relevant to the scientific scope of the
request.
Barbara Spalholz, Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute
Telephone: 301-496-7028
E-mail: spalholb@mail.nih.gov
Grants Management Contact:
For administrative inquiries, please contact the NIH grants administrative representative listed below.
Crystal Wolfrey
Office of Grants Administration
National Cancer Institute
Telephone: 301-496-8634
E-mail: wolfreyc@mail.nih.gov