NOT-TW-10-291: Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity for a new Program Initiative entitled Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) (R24)

Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity for a new Program Initiative entitled Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) (R24)

Notice Number: NOT-TW-10-291

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

March 9, 2010 - See Notice NOT-NR-10-010 Participation of National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR).

Key Dates
Release Date: March 2, 2010

Issued by
John E. Fogarty International Center (FIC/NIH) (http://www.fic.nih.gov)

Participating Organizations
Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) (http://www.pepfar.gov)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) (http://www.nih.gov)
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) (http://www.hrsa.gov)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (http://cdc.gov/)
Department of Defense (DoD) HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nhrc/dhapp/Pages/default.aspx)

Components of Participating Organizations
NIH Common Fund/Office of the Director (OD/OSC/CF/NIH) (http://dpcpsi.nih.gov/osc/)
Office of AIDS Research, Office of the Director (OAR/NIH) (http://www.oar.nih.gov/)
Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH/NIH) (http://orwh.od.nih.gov/)
John E. Fogarty International Center (FIC/NIH) (http://www.fic.nih.gov)
National Cancer Institute (NCI/NIH) (http://www.cancer.gov/ )
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI/NIH) (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/)
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI/NIH) (http://www.genome.gov/)
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA/NIH) (http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID/NIH) (http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/ )
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB/NIH) (http://www.nibib1.nih.gov/)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD/NIH) (http://www.nichd.nih.gov/ )
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD/NIH) (http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/)
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR/NIH) (http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/)
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA/NIH) (http://www.nida.nih.gov/ )
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH/NIH) (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/index.shtml )
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR/NIH), (http://www.ninr.nih.gov)
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM/NIH) (http://nccam.nih.gov/)
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR/NIH) (http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/)
HIV/AIDS Bureau, Global HIV/AIDS Program (GHAP/HAB/HRSA) (http://hab.hrsa.gov/global)
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention,Global AIDS Program (GAP/NCHHSTP/CDC) (http://www.cdc.gov/globalaids/default.html)

Background

The John E. Fogarty International Center (FIC) intends to issue a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit applications for the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) (R24).

This notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive proposals. This FOA is expected to be published in early March 2010 with an anticipated receipt date of early May 2010. The FOA will utilize the NIH Resource-Related Research Project (R24) grant mechanism. Details of the planned FOA are provided below.

Purpose

Under this FOA, proposals will be requested from foreign Institutions in Sub-Saharan African countries which receive funds from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and their partners to develop or expand and enhance models of medical education in Sub-Saharan Africa. These models are intended to support PEPFAR’s goal of increasing the number of new health care workers by 140,000, strengthen medical education systems in the countries in which they exist, and build clinical and research capacity in Africa as part of a retention strategy for faculty of medical schools and clinical professors. These models will also contribute to the sustainability of the PEPFAR investments through the provision of excellence in clinical training and the capacity of medical students and faculty to participate in and carry out multidisciplinary locally driven research (e.g. implementation science and/or clinical, health services, and operations research) that responds to the health needs of their communities and country and improves health outcomes for men, women, and children. Linked awards that focus on diseases and priority health areas related to and beyond HIV/AIDS will also be available through the NIH Common Fund initiative.

Anticipated Number of Awards. Three award types will be made to facilitate the objectives of MEPI:

Awards focused on PEPFAR priority areas (Programmatic awards)

5-9 Awards to African institutions with project periods up to 5 years

Linked programmatic awards that support non-communicable diseases and priority health areas related to and beyond HIV/AIDS (Linked awards)
- 6 Awards to African institutions with project periods up to 5 years
Coordinating Center
- 1 Award to a U.S. institution with a project period of 5 years

APPLICATIONS ARE NOT BEING SOLICITED AT THIS TIME.

Inquiries

Interested parties may contact:

Letitia B. Robinson, PhD, RN
CDR, USPHS
Program Officer for Sub-Saharan Africa
Division of International Relations
Fogarty International Center
National Institutes of Health
31 Center Dr., Bldg. 31, Room B2C11
Bethesda, MD 20892-2220
Tel: 301-402-0152
Fax: 301-480-3414
Email: RobinsonLB@mail.nih.gov