Key Dates

Related Announcements

PA-20-272 - Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)

Issued by

Fogarty International Center (FIC)

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)

National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)

National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)

National Library of Medicine (NLM)

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

All applications to this funding opportunity announcement should fall within the mission of the Institutes/Centers. The following NIH Offices may co-fund applications assigned to those Institutes/Centers.

Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR)

Purpose

With support from the NIH Office of the Director, the participating Institutes and Centers (ICs) invite applications to supplement active NIH awards to seed new activities and partnerships in climate change and health (CCH) research and research training. We particularly invite applications for supplements to grants that are not currently focused on CCH but wish to include CCH measures and outcomes within the scope of their current research and training specific aims, for example by extending CCH metrics to existing cohorts and studies or by supporting additional CCH areas within broadly defined Center or Hub grants. We will also accept supplement applications to grants already focused on CCH, for example to expand their activities to new populations, modeling activities, exposure measurements, and health outcomes. As administrative supplements, the activities proposed must be within the scope of the parent grant specific aims, even from non-CCH-focused-grant research programs. Applicants are encouraged to bring in new partners, as needed, to provide climate science and related expertise and begin to build multidisciplinary teams for future research in this area.

The over-arching intent of this solicitation is to (1) enrich and expand the research community in CCH to include new researchers from multiple disciplines, both in the US and in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) globally; and (2) conduct research and that will create new knowledge to reduce or mitigate health threats attributable to climate change across the lifespan, especially among vulnerable populations at increased risk from the impacts of climate change. This supplement opportunity is part of a larger NIH CCH initiative that seeks to build a global community of practice that will work towards multidisciplinary solutions-driven science to address the serious impacts of climate change on health.

Investigators who are uncertain whether the proposed project qualifies as CCH as defined by NIH, or whether the proposed activities fall within the scope of the parent grant, are encouraged to contact the relevant Point of Contact from the IC supporting the parent award, listed below.

Background, Definitions, and Areas of Interest

For some time, international scientific consensus has been that climate change poses an existential threat to human beings. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nation’s body for assessing the science related to climate change, concluded in a recent report: Any increase in global warming is projected to affect human health, with primarily negative consequences (high confidence). (IPCC 2018a: https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/). The report further concludes that, Compared to current conditions, 1.5 C of global warming would nonetheless pose heightened risks to eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities and ensuring human and ecosystem well- being (medium evidence, high agreement). (IPPC 2018b: https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/chapter-5/).

The complexity of climate change impacts on health are enormous. Climate drivers affect health outcomes directly through weather events such as extreme heat, wildfires, droughts, storm surges, and floods, but also indirectly through a series of exposure pathways such as air and water quality, food quality, infectious diseases, and massive population displacement events. These pathways are themselves influenced by environmental contexts related to land use, geography, infrastructure, and agriculture, as well as social, behavioral, and economic contexts that create vulnerabilities associated with life stage, gender, poverty, discrimination, and access to care.

Climate change greatly elevates threats to human health across a wide range of illnesses and injuries, including asthma, respiratory allergies and airway diseases, cancers, cardiovascular disease and stroke, foodborne diseases and decreased nutrition, heat-related illness and deaths, reproductive, birth outcome, and developmental effects, mental health and neurological disorders, vector-borne and zoonotic diseases, waterborne diseases, and extreme weather- related morbidity and mortality. All scientific areas supported by NIH are relevant to CCH. Administrative supplements are therefore invited across a spectrum of research, fellowship, and training grants (see allowable mechanisms, below), and research in all domains (from basic to applied areas of interest) are invited.

Core Pillars of CCH Initiative:

The NIH initiative in CCH identifies four core pillars and diverse areas of science. Responsive projects may be in any of these areas. Projects are encouraged to employ multidisciplinary approaches and the engagement of communities, policy makers, the private sector, and other stakeholders, as appropriate. Investigators are expected to assemble appropriate teams to carry out the research and training proposed, including reaching out to new partners not participating in the parent grant. For more details on the core pillars and areas of science, see the NIH CCH Initiative Strategic Framework (https://www.nih.gov/climateandhealth).

Health Effects Research: Scientific investigation of the influences of climate change on health outcomes, including spatial and temporal scales, pathways, and mechanisms, and risks at specific times of vulnerability across the lifespan, including children, older adults, pregnant women, and others, as well as to special populations including women, ethnic and racial minority groups, differently abled persons, and rural populations in the US and globally.

Health Equity: Emphasis and integration throughout the Initiative on recognizing and responding to the needs of populations most at risk of climate change impacts to their health. Health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This requires removing obstacles to health such as understanding and addressing the barriers posed by social and environmental determinants of health in the context of climate change.

Intervention Research: Science that provides the evidence base for development and implementation of timely, effective strategies to prevent disease and disability and promote health. Intervention research uses experimental, modeling, and evaluative methods to study and design interventions to improve health, including individual interventions, community-level interventions, policy interventions, engineered solutions, institutional and infrastructure changes, and clinical, social, behavioral, and communication tools that influence beneficial decision making.

Training and Capacity Building: Transmission of the fundamental knowledge and skills to conduct multidisciplinary climate and health science, develop innovative supporting technologies, and translate findings to facilitate understanding of and adaptation to the growing threat of climate change on health.

Within the four Core Pillars of the CCH initiative, priority areas of science include:

• Basic and mechanistic research
• Behavioral and social science research
• Data integration
• Disaster research response
• Dissemination and implementation science
• Epidemiology and predictive modeling
• Exposure and risk assessment
• Systems science
• Adaptation research

Examples of responsive projects include but are not limited to the following:

• Addition of climate and meteorological data to existing populations studies to analyze impacts of climate trends.
• Conduct exposure characterization for climate factors in community study of heat impacts at a local level
• Enhancing multi-scale data on health systems to assess climate resilience of a community.
• Introducing biomarkers of climate-induced stress in studies of high-risk pregnancies.
• Understanding the social determinants of health and access to mental health services in global communities who are at high risk of extreme weather events.
• Determining the feasibility of early preparedness interventions in regions experiencing wildfires.
• Enhancing data science and methodological applications of climate variations on vulnerable populations

Aspects of more comprehensive studies, such as the following, might also be addressed in a supplement:

• Identifying the most effective ways to protect inner-city, pregnant women and elderly from the impacts of extreme temperatures, especially heat
• Determining how best to test and adapt protocols for delivery of mental health services to communities during hurricanes, wildfires, and other extreme weather events
• Assessing what kinds of behavior change strategies might provide health co-benefits during climate mitigation
• Learning how population-based studies and implementation research might influence uptake and scale-up of clean fuels in global energy replacement programs
• Applying modeling originally developed to assess health effects of air pollution to climate-sensitive diseases such as asthma, as it relates to climate change impact especially within health disparity populations
• Modeling the likely effects of climate adaptations in infrastructure on water borne and vector-borne disease incidence
• Identifying aspects of food production and distribution that can reduce risk of contamination, maintain nutrient levels, and ensure sustainable access in the context of climate change
• Understanding the effects of climate change-induced stress on reproduction and development, including in global climate refugee populations
• Understanding how climate change might alter social and economic determinants of mental health and community well-being
• Pilot intervention studies involving individual, community or multilevel strategies to reduce, adapt to, mitigate, or increase resilience to adverse health effects directly or indirectly caused by climate change especially in vulnerable populations.
• Initiating or expanding community engaged research focused on CCH topics. This type of research involves a process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest or similar situations to conduct research that addresses CCH topics. It may involve partnerships and coalitions and may include organized groups, agencies, institutions, or individuals.
• Identify effective methods of dissemination of biomedical and health information related to climate effects on vulnerable populations
• Examining the impacts of and interventions for food insecurity and malnutrition due to climate on health
• Research to examine the direct and/or indirect impact of climate change on disparities and inequities of dental, oral, and craniofacial (DOC) diseases, conditions, and care access or strategies to enhance resilience of communities and/or populations disproportionately affected by DOC health disparities and inequities at the time of climate-induced public health emergencies.

Individual NIH Institutes and Centers have indicated the following specific areas of research interest:

NIMHD

The mission of the NIMHD is to lead scientific research to improve minority health and reduce health disparities. NIMHD focuses on all aspects of health and health care for racial and ethnic minority populations in the U.S. and the full continuum of health disparity causes as well as the interrelation of these causes. NIMHD projects must include a focus on one or more of the following populations that NIH-designates as experiencing health disparities in the United States and its territories: African Americans, Latinos/Hispanics, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, less privileged socioeconomic groups, underserved rural populations, and sexual and gender minorities. Comparison groups/populations may also be included as appropriate for the research questions posed. NIMHD encourages projects that use approaches encompassing multiple domains of influence (e.g., biological, behavioral, sociocultural, environmental, physical environment, health system) and multiple levels of influence (e.g., individual, interpersonal, family, peer group, community, societal) to understand and address health disparities (see the NIMHD Research Framework, https://www.nimhd.nih.gov/about/overview/research-framework.html, for more information). Studies using animal models or studies based outside the U.S. or its territories will not be supported by NIMHD under this NOSI. NIMHD will accept supplement requests for studies related to climate change from the currently active awardees of the following grant mechanisms: R01, R15, U24, U54, and P50.

NIDCR

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) supports multidisciplinary research to understand the direct and/or indirect impact of climate change (i.e. climate-induced changes on human health and/or supplies of food, water, housing, and health care) on disparities and inequities of dental, oral, and craniofacial diseases, conditions, and care access. In addition, NIDCR has interests in research that examines strategies to enhance resilience of communities and/or populations disproportionately affected by dental, oral and craniofacial health disparities and inequities at the time of climate-induced public health emergencies. NIDCR will accept supplement requests for studies related to climate change from the current awardees of the following grant mechanisms: R01, R21, and U01.

NINR

The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) supports research to solve pressing health challenges and inform practice and policy - optimizing health and advancing health equity into the future. NINR discovers solutions to health challenges through the lenses of health equity, to mitigate health disparities, social determinants of health, population and community health, prevention and health promotion, and systems and models of care. Drawing on the strengths of nursing’s holistic, contextualized perspective, core values, and broad reach, NINR funds multilevel and cross-sectoral research that examines the factors that impact health across the many settings in which nurses work, including homes, schools, workplaces, clinics, justice settings, and the community. Observational, intervention, and implementation research are of interest.

Eligibility and Eligible Activity Codes

Active awards with project end dates in FY2023 or later (exclusive of no cost extensions) are eligible. However, some ICs will not fund supplements in the first or final year of a grant. To confirm eligibility, applicants are encouraged to contact staff at the Institute supporting the award when planning the request.
Additional funds may be awarded as supplements to parent awards using any Activity Code that is listed in PA-20-272, unless specifically restricted by the IC-specific statements above, with the following exceptions.
Small business activity codes (such as R41, R42, R43, R44, U44, and Fast Track) are excluded as well as G20, PS1, P60, U42, and UG1 awards. T awards are also excluded.
For grants already focused on CCH, applicants must describe how the proposed activities will enrich and expand the specific aims of the parent grant and provide a strong justification for why existing funds cannot be reallocated toward the proposed project.

Application and Submission Information

Applications for this initiative must be submitted using the following opportunity:

• PA-20-272 - 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-20-272 must be followed, with the following additions:

• Applications submitted in response to this NOSI are strongly encouraged to include the following information:

  Review Criteria (check parent Administrative Supplement FOA for additional review impact criteria)

Application Due Date July 27, 2022, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization

• For funding consideration, applicants must include "NOT-TW-22-003" (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.
• Only electronic submissions will be accepted for this funding opportunity. Use one of the methods described in PA-20-272. Paper submissions and applications submitted as attachments will be returned.
• Requests may be for one year of support only.The proposed project period must be within the active award period for the parent grant.
• Individual requests can be no more than $75,000 in direct costs. However, requested direct costs cannot exceed the direct costs for the parent grant in the FY22 budget.
• Applicants may not apply for more than one supplement to a given parent grant.
• The Research Strategy section of the application is limited to 6 pages.
• As part of the application, investigators must submit an abstract of the proposed supplement research or research training that shows the relevance to Climate Change and Health. Place the abstract in the Project Summary/Abstract section of the SF424 (R&R) form.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify the program contact at the Institute supporting the parent award that a request has been submitted in response to this FOA in order to facilitate efficient processing of the request. It would be most helpful if the applicant also included a copy of the submission as an attachment to this email.
• At the beginning of the description of the proposed planned activities, a brief description of the specific aims of the parent award and an explanation of how the new CCH activities relate to these specific aims.
• A brief description of the relevant expertise for the proposed new activities, including key investigator biosketches.
• A description of the research or research training proposed, including proposed methods and expected outcomes. For training programs, include a description of how the effectiveness of training will be evaluated.
• An indication of which of the core pillars and diverse scientific areas (outlined above) the research will address.
• A statement about the potential impact of the proposed supplement or future follow-on work to advance the understanding, tools, metrics, or practices for mitigating or preventing health impacts of climate change.
• A proposed timeline of activities and milestones for the 12-month supplementary funding period.
• Does the work proposed focus on climate change and health and fall within the four pillars of the CCH initiative and priority areas of science outlined above?
• Is the proposed work within scope of the parent grant?
• Are the proposed methods and techniques rigorous and appropriate?
• Is the proposed team appropriate and qualified to carry out the proposed project?
• Are the proposed milestones and timeline feasible and can they be completed within the period of the supplement?
• Is the proposed work likely to lead to new applications or research that will advance the goals of the CCH initiative?

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Flora Katz
Fogarty International Center (FIC)
Telephone: 301-402-9591
Email: [email protected]

Sekai Chideya-Chihota
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Telephone: 301-827-1916
Email: [email protected]

Randy King
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)
Telephone:301-451-4780
E-mail: [email protected]

Judith Cooper
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Telephone: 301-496-5061
E-mail: [email protected]

Liz Perruccio
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
Telephone: 301-402-8084
E-mail: [email protected]

Arielle Gillman
National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
Telephone: 301-435-0060
E-mail: [email protected]

Hiroko Iida
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Telephone: 301-594-7404
E-Mail: [email protected]

Lyn Hardy
National Library of Medicine
Telephone: 301-594-1297
E-mail: [email protected]