NIH AIDS RESEARCH LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM NIH GUIDE, Volume 21, Number 14, April 10, 1992 P.T. 23 Keywords: Biomedical Research Training Grants Administration/Policy+ National Institutes of Health Application Receipt Dates: April 27, 1992, August 1, 1992 PURPOSE This notice is a republication, with minor modifications, of a December 13, 1991 (Vol. 20, No. 46), issuance on this subject. It is being reissued to emphasize its availability. On November 4, 1988, the United States Congress enacted Public Law 100-607, directing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish an educational loan repayment program to attract investigators into Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) research. The NIH AIDS Research Loan Repayment Program (LRP), in order to increase the number of investigators conducting AIDS research at the NIH, invites interested health professionals to apply for LRP participation. The LRP may pay a maximum of $20,000 a year directly to a participant's lenders for qualifying educational debt during an initial, minimum two-year service period. The actual loan repayment is based, in part, on the availability of funding and the proportion of the participant's qualifying debt relative to the NIH basic pay or stipend received. Since such payments to lenders are considered income for the participant and increases his/her Federal tax liability, the LRP also makes payments, equal to 39 percent of the total loan repayments, directly towards the participant's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) account. The LRP may make additional tax reimbursements to those participants who show an increase in State and/or local tax liability. Benefits are paid in addition to a participant's annual NIH basic pay or stipend. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000 The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000," a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. This program announcement, NIH AIDS Research Loan Repayment Program, is related to the priority area of HIV infection. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full Report: Stock No. 017 001-00474-0) or "Healthy People 2000" (Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 9325 (telephone 202-783-3238). ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS An applicant becomes eligible for LRP participation when his/her qualified AIDS research assignment is approved by the AIDS Research Loan Repayment Advisory Committee (LRAC) and his/her contract is executed. Specific LRP applicant and participant eligibility criteria also include the following: (1) Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States; (2) Applicants must have a Ph.D., M.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.V.M., or equivalent degree; (3) Applicants must have qualified educational debt in excess of 20 percent of their annual NIH basic pay or stipend on the date of program eligibility resulting from governmental or commercial loans obtained to support their undergraduate and/or graduate education; (4) Individuals who are not NIH employees, such as Visiting Fellows, Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) recipients, National Research Service Award (NRSA) recipients, Guest Researchers and Special Volunteers, NIH, National Research Council (NRC) Biotechnology Research Associates Program participants, and Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) participants, may NOT participate in the LRP; (5) Individuals employed by the NIH during the period of November 4, 1987, through November 3, 1988, are INELIGIBLE; (6) Applicants may be appointed under a temporary or permanent employment mechanism, if the employment has the potential to last a minimum of two years; (7) Individuals with existing service obligations to Federal, State, or other entities will NOT be considered for the LRP unless deferrals are granted for the length of their LRP service obligation; and (8) Applicants will NOT be excluded from consideration under the LRP on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sex, handicap, age, national origin, or political affiliation. In addition, in order to qualify for repayment, LRP applicants' debts are subject to the following limitations and restrictions: The LRP will repay lenders for the principal, interest, and related expenses (such as the required insurance premiums on the unpaid balances of some loans) of qualified Government (Federal, State, and local) and commercial educational loans obtained by participants for the following: (1) undergraduate, graduate, and health professional school tuition expenses; (2) other reasonable educational expenses required by the school(s) attended, including fees, books, supplies, educational equipment and materials, and laboratory expenses; and (3) reasonable living expenses, including the cost of room and board, transportation and commuting costs, and other reasonable living expenses as determined by the LRP. The following loans are NOT repayable under the LRP: (1) loans not obtained from a Government entity or commercial lending institution, such as loans from friends, relatives, or other private individuals; (2) loans for which contemporaneous documentation is not available; (3) loans or portions of loans obtained for educational or living expenses that exceed the "reasonable" level as determined by the standard school budget for the year in which the loan was made, and are determined by the LRP to be unreasonable based on additional documentation provided by the applicant; and (4) loans, financial debts, or service obligations incurred under the Physicians Shortage Area Scholarship Program, NRSA Program, Public Health and National Health Service Corps Scholarship Training Program, National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program, Armed Forces (Army, Navy, or Air Force) Health Professions Scholarship Program, and Indian Health Service Scholarship Program. Loans in default, or loans not current in payment schedule, will not be considered as qualifying for repayment. Repayments will only be made for loans with current payment status. During lapses in loan repayments, due either to program administrative complications or a break in service, participants are wholly responsible for making payments or any other arrangements that maintain loans in a current payment status. Penalties assessed to participants as a result of LRP administrative failures to maintain current payment status may be considered for reimbursement. Payments will NOT be made under the LRP for loans that participants have paid prior to the program eligibility date. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The LRP is designed to attract additional investigators into AIDS research. The LRP intends to fund individuals conducting AIDS research as described in the following paragraphs that contain the "Activities Constituting AIDS Research" criteria as adopted by the LRAC on September 20, 1991: "The following parameters define whether or not a proposed research assignment meets the criteria for coverage under the NIH AIDS Research Loan Repayment Program - that is, whether or not the incumbent will be "primarily" engaged in AIDS research. "Primarily" engaged in AIDS research is defined as AIDS research activities that constitute at least 80 percent of a researcher's time. Clinical Associates whose intent is to primarily engage in AIDS research must engage in qualified AIDS research for at least three months in the first year of their program, with a total of fifteen months of qualified AIDS research during their two year contract. "AIDS research includes studies of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the pathophysiology of HIV infection, the development of models of HIV infection and its sequelae, cofactors predisposing to HIV infection and AIDS, or its sequelae, and the development of vaccines and therapeutics. More specifically, the following research activities are included: (1) studies of HIV and related retroviruses; (2) studies of the mechanism(s) by which HIV and related retroviruses establish infection and infect host cells; (3) studies of the mechanism(s) by which HIV and related retroviruses cause disease, including studies of the immune deficiency induced by HIV and related retroviruses; (4) studies of the pathophysiology of host response to HIV infection; (5) studies of in vivo or in vitro models of human HIV infection and its sequelae; (6) epidemiologic studies of HIV and related retrovirus infection; (7) clinical trials involving prophylaxis or therapy for HIV infection or its sequelae; (8) preclinical studies aimed at the development of therapy for or prevention of HIV infection and the immunodeficiency caused by HIV infection and its sequelae; (9) cofactors predisposing to acquiring HIV infection; (10) basic studies and clinical trials involving vaccines, or other immunological or chemotherapeutic interventions for the prevention of HIV infection and its sequelae; and (11) basic studies into the transmission of HIV involving high risk behaviors and research concerning the interruption of transmission by behavioral change and pharmacologic intervention. "AIDS researchers include scientists who are intellectually engaged in the process of providing scientific direction and guidance in programs of original AIDS research, specifically epidemiologists, statisticians, and others who are involved in the design and conduct of research studies. The duties of such scientists may include the generation and design of studies and the collation and analysis of data; and/or the preparation and publication, as author or co-author, of studies in peer-reviewed journals. AIDS researchers also include physicians who are providing care for HIV-infected individuals who are subjects of HIV-related research." APPLICATION PROCEDURES Individuals wishing to apply to the LRP must first obtain a firm employment commitment from an Institute, Center, or Division (ICD) Personnel Department. An initiating official, which may be a laboratory or branch chief, must recommend an individual for application to the LRP, and the ICD Scientific Program Director and ICD Director must concur. LRP participation is contingent, in part, upon employment with the NIH, and candidates may not be recommended for loan repayment by an ICD until a firm employment commitment has been made by the ICD Personnel Department. Applicants must submit a signed contract, along with their completed LRP application package, to be considered for participation in the program. At the conclusion of the initial contract, participants may reapply and be considered for subsequent, one-year continuation contracts. Continuation contracts are based upon the same review criteria as the initial contract, in addition to a submission that describes AIDS research accomplishments made during the initial contract. These continuation contracts are approved on a year-to-year basis and contingent upon the appropriation and availability of funds. REVIEW PROCEDURES Completed applications to the LRP are reviewed by the LRAC. The LRAC, which is composed of intramural and extramural scientific staff, reviews, ranks, and approves or disapproves applicants. LRAC approval, in part, is based on the appropriateness of the applicant's research assignment to AIDS research and the scientific merit of the research. In addition, the credentials provided in the application are reviewed and ranked to assess the applicant's potential to conduct qualified AIDS research. AWARD CRITERIA The award of funds for approved applications is contingent, in part, upon the availability of funds appropriated by the Congress of the United States for the NIH. Funds will not be awarded to disapproved applicants. In return for the repayment of educational loans, participants must agree (1) to be "primarily" engaged in qualified AIDS research, which is described above in the "Activities Constituting AIDS Research" criteria, as NIH employees for a minimum period of two years; (2) make payments to lenders on their own behalf for periods of Leave Without Pay (LWOP); (3) pay monetary damages as required in cases where the initial contract is breached; and (4) all other provisions agreed upon in the contracts. Substantial monetary penalties will be imposed for breach of contract. INQUIRIES Written and telephone inquiries are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome. Information regarding the LRP may be obtained by calling or writing to: Mr. Marc S. Horowitz, J.D. Director, NIH AIDS Research Loan Repayment Program Office of AIDS Research National Institutes of Health Building 31, Room 5C12 Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 402-0192 AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS The LRP is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93.936. Awards are made under authorization of section 487A of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 288-1), as amended by section 634 of the Health Omnibus Programs Extension of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-607). This program is not subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs, and was granted clearance from the Office of Management and Budget (0925-0361), under the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, on June 15, 1990. .
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