Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS)
and Human Services (HHS)
EXPIRED
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
U24 Resource-Related Research Projects Cooperative Agreements
See Notices of Special Interest associated with this funding opportunity
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications for Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program consortium-wide resource centers that will rapidly demonstrate and disseminate to the wider consortium innovative resources (to include capabilities) that have established impact at a local or national level. Applications for CTSA consortium-wide centers are expected to rapidly demonstrate and disseminate resources to advance clinical and translational science efforts.
Only applications submitted in response to a Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) published by NCATS will be allowed to apply to this FOA.
30 days prior to the application due date.
| Application Due Dates | Review and Award Cycles | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Renewal / Resubmission / Revision (as allowed) | AIDS | Scientific Merit Review | Advisory Council Review | Earliest Start Date |
| June 21, 2021 | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | October 2021 | January 2022 | April 2022 |
| June 21, 2022 | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | October 2022 | January 2023 | April 2023 |
| June 21, 2023 | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | October 2023 | January 2024 | April 2024 |
All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of non-AIDS applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on the listed date(s).
Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.
Not Applicable
It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Research (R) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts).
Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions.
Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.
Purpose
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications for Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program consortium-wide resource centers that will rapidly demonstrate and disseminate to the wider consortium innovative resources (to include capabilities) that have established impact at a local or national level. Applications for CTSA consortium-wide centers are expected to advance clinical and translational science efforts by facilitating scientific collaborations, scaling efficacious studies, and distributing common research resources throughout the network of CTSA institutions.
Only applications submitted in response to a Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) published by NCATS will be allowed to apply to this FOA.
Background
The CTSA Program is a national, collaborative consortium focused on bringing more treatments to more patients more quickly by: (1) Advancing clinical and translational science (CTS), that is developing, demonstrating, and disseminating scientific and operational innovations that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical translation from identification to first-in-human studies, to medical practice implementation to community health dissemination; (2) Promoting partnerships and collaborations to facilitate and accelerate translational research projects locally, regionally, and nationally; (3) Creating, providing, and disseminating innovative research programs and partnerships across institutions and communities to address health disparities and deliver the benefits of translational science to all; (4) Creating and implementing scientific and operational innovations that increase the quality, safety, efficiency, effectiveness, and informativeness of clinical research; (5) Providing a national resource for the rapid response to urgent public health needs; (6) Creating, providing, and disseminating CTS training programs for clinical research professionals of all disciplines on the research team; (7) Creating, providing, and disseminating clinical and translational science training and career support programs for translational scientists; and (8) Fostering the development of the emerging field of translational science. Applications for CTSA consortium-wide resource centers are expected to rapidly demonstrate and disseminate resources to advance these CTS efforts across the entire network of CTSA institutions.
The process to develop and implement clinical interventions and other research endeavors that demonstrably improve human health is currently complex, iterative, and, at times, inefficient. As such, new insights and innovative approaches are needed to create efficiencies that will optimize and accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into interventions that improve the health of individuals and the public. To this end, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) conducts and supports research in the science of translation, to understand the mechanistic and operational principles that underlie each step of the translational process.
Through the CTSA Program, NCATS supports an integrated research and training environment for CTS, with the goal of catalyzing the development, demonstration, and dissemination of methods and technologies that dramatically improve efficiency and quality across the translational research spectrum. The research centers that make up the CTSA Program are referred to as hubs to indicate their central role in their local environments where they coordinate and collaborate with multiple spokes , such as affiliated hospitals, clinics, and community health centers. Each CTSA Program hub functions as a local center of innovation in CTS and operations, the nature of which will build on local institutional strengths and in particular geographic/demographic needs. In aggregate, the diverse CTSA Program hubs form a network whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts, with hubs bringing complementary strengths at various levels, e.g., locally, regionally, and nationally.
Many of the developed resources from CTSA Program hubs have proven to be beneficial in advancing and accelerating translational science at other hubs, across the CTSA Program consortium and beyond the consortium. This FOA solicits applications for research centers to support the acceleration and rapid dissemination of evidenced-based, innovative resources and capabilities across the entire CTSA consortium.
Specific Objectives
This funding opportunity will support research centers focused on broadly scaling the demonstration and dissemination of translational science resources (to include capabilities) in specific areas that have been tested and validated at one or more hubs. Assets may include, but are not limited to, existing and/or novel methods, processes, approaches, interventions, communications, tools, technologies, software, applications and training that improve and accelerate the translational research process. All projects require a detailed needs assessment, as well as dissemination, evaluation, management and sustainability plans that will inform subsequent dissemination. Projects should provide evidence that the proposed asset is ready for use and dissemination. It is expected that the support for the resource center will help catalyze the sharing, adoption and/or expansion of innovations, that may be developed at a specific hub(s) or the hub’s partners or collaborators, to additional CTSA Program hubs and beyond. Projects should address novel and/or emerging approaches in areas of need with the overall goal of improving efficiencies in clinical and translational science. In doing so, this initiative will further NCATS vision of the CTSA Program as an integrated and collaborative national network that comprises of hubs that work together to improve the translational science process and get more evidenced-based treatments, interventions, and/or programs to more patients more quickly.
Highly impactful resource centers are expected to demonstrate and disseminate assets developed at one or more hubs or institution that:
NCATS will only accept applications addressing specific topics as defined in a Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) released annually. Applicants should consult the current NCATS NOSI listed in the Related Notices section above for responsive topics. Applications that do not address a specific topic in the current NOSI will be considered non-responsive and will not be reviewed.
Non-Responsive Applications
The following will be considered non-responsive. Non-responsive applications will not be reviewed.
Prior Consultation with NCATS
Consultation with NCATS staff at least 2 months prior to the application due date is strongly encouraged for submission of the Resource-Related Research Projects--Cooperative Agreement (U24) application. If requested, NCATS staff will consider whether the proposed U24 meets the goals and mission of the Institute; whether it addresses one or more high priority research areas; and whether the application is best fit to the U24 activity code.
NCATS staff will not evaluate the technical and scientific merit of the proposed project; technical and scientific merit will be determined during peer review using the review criteria indicated in this FOA. During the consultation phase, if the proposed project does not meet NCATS programmatic needs or is not appropriate for this FOA, applicants will be strongly encouraged to consider other Funding Opportunities.
See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.
Cooperative Agreement: A support mechanism used when there will be substantial Federal scientific or programmatic involvement. Substantial involvement means that, after award, NIH scientific or program staff will assist, guide, coordinate, or participate in project activities. See Section VI.2 for additional information about the substantial involvement for this FOA.
The OER Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types. Only those application types listed here are allowed for this FOA.
Not Allowed: Only accepting applications that do not propose clinical trials.
Need help determining whether you are doing a clinical trial?
The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.
NCATS intends to fund 1-3 awards in FY2022.
Application budgets are limited to $3,000,000 per year direct cost and must reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.
The scope of the proposed project should determine the project period. The maximum project period is 5 years.
NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made from this FOA.
An application must be submitted by an institution that is a direct recipient of a CTSA Program hub or an institution listed as a partnering institution in a currently funded CTSA Program hub. A CTSA Program hub is defined as a UL1 award with a linked KL2 award and an optional TL1 award. A hub that is in no-cost extension (NCE) status is not considered a currently funded CTSA Program hub (see https://ncats.nih.gov/ctsa/about/hubs).
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.
Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.
Applicant organizations
Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.
Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s))
All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account. PD(s)/PI(s) should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate their existing account with the applicant organization in eRA Commons. If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.
Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.
For institutions/organizations proposing multiple PDs/PIs, visit the Multiple Program Director/Principal Investigator Policy and submission details in the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Component of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
The PD/PI or contact PD/PI must be employed by a direct recipient of funding from a currently funded CTSA Program hub institution or a partnering institution as defined above in Eligible Organizations. Investigators who are not employed by a direct recipient of funding from a CTSA Program hub institution or partnering institution but who wish to bring an innovative project to the CTSA Program, can co-direct a project in partnership with a contact PD/PI who is employed by a currently funded CTSA Program hub institution or partnering institution using the multiple PD/PI option.
The PD/PI should be an established investigator in clinical and translational science field and capable of providing both administrative and scientific leadership to the demonstration and dissemination of the proposed activities. The PD(s)/PI(s) should have a strong track record coordinating and administrating large and collaborative networks, demonstrated experience in effectively communicating, messaging and disseminating various resources and information to stakeholders and to the broader scientific community. The PD(s)/PI(s) are each expected to commit at least two person months effort per year and preferably three to six person months per year effort to the award.
Applicants should document the PD/PI's (and, as relevant, additional senior/key personnel's) experience in 1) fulfilling the mission of the CTSA Program or another comparable program, 2) coordinating and administrating large and collaborative networks, 3) expertise and experience in the area of the described resource and/or capability, and 4) effectively communicating, messaging and successfully disseminating various resources and information to stakeholders and to the broader scientific community.
See required Letters of Support (Section IV).
This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.
The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time. This means that the NIH will not accept:
The application forms package specific to this opportunity must be accessed through ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace or an institutional system-to-system solution. Links to apply using ASSIST or Grants.gov Workspace are available in Part 1 of this FOA. See your administrative office for instructions if you plan to use an institutional system-to-system solution.
Letter of Intent
Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows IC staff to estimate the potential review workload and plan the review.
By the date listed in Part 1. Overview Information, prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information:
The letter of intent should be sent to:
Carol Lambert, Ph.D.
Telephone: 301-435-0814
Email: Lambert@mail.nih.gov
All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.
The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this FOA.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Biosketches from External Scientific Consultants should be included in the application if the consultant has accepted the invitation to be an External Scientific Consultant.
R&R Budget
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
Specific Aims:
Briefly state the specific aims of the center indicating how it will demonstrate and disseminate highly innovative, collaborative and impactful translational science resources (to include capabilities) that will address the goals of the CTSA Program.
Research Strategy:
Program Director/Principal Investigator:
Without duplicating information in the biosketches, describe how the PD/PI and other designated senior/key personnel that are contributing to the project must have demonstrated expertise in the proposed resource and/or capability.
Addressing a systemic barrier in clinical and translational science:
State which one or more of the CTSA Program Strategic Goals the project addresses. Describe the translational science nature of the resource and how it addresses one or more of the CTSA Program Strategic Goals. Note that NCATS describes translational science as understanding the scientific and operational principles underlying each step of the translational process in order to enable improvement. See: https://ncats.nih.gov/translation/spectrum
Needs Assessment:
Provide a needs assessment that includes a review of the landscape and gaps of existing resources (including research capabilities) across the CTSA consortium. This must include an analysis of the existing utilization and adoption. Provide a rationale why the resource has the likelihood to be impactful for the CTSA consortium. Provide a description of how, once demonstrated and disseminated the resource and/or capability has a high likelihood of having a sustained impact on translational science.
Evidence that the proposed resource is ready for use and dissemination:
Provide a strategy for determining that a proposed resource and/or capability has been tested/validated and led to a measurable impact at one or more hubs in an area of translational science that addresses one or more of the CTSA Program Strategic Goals.
Strategy for generating evidence for resources that are not evidence-based:
If applicable, for innovations that have preliminary evidence for advancing clinical research / clinical trials, provide a plan to validate those resources as part of the implementation plan. This could include testing methods to rapidly identify and enroll participants for clinical trials, methods to reach and enroll diverse and underserved populations in clinical research, and best methods to include the patient’s perspective in a clinical research study. If the resources will be used to implement clinical trials, provide a plan to evaluate if the resources enhanced the implementation of the resultant trials, such as accelerating site activation or reducing time for regulatory approvals.
Dissemination Plan:
A dissemination plan must be described and include a timeline, milestones and deliverables. Wherever possible, the approaches to dissemination should build knowledge both on the overall effectiveness of the approach, as well as "how and why" they work. Describe a plan for dissemination of the results (resources, tools, interventions, etc.) of the project across the CTSA consortium, and more broadly to the translational science community. As appropriate for information technology required for the dissemination of resources/capabilities, preference will be given to applications that specify plans for integrating technology with any of the major public cloud providers via NCATS Federated Authorization Service.
Evaluation Plan:
Milestones and deliverables must be included and framed in terms of what would be considered a successful outcome for the resource center. Identify measurements to assess success of the dissemination plan. Metrics should be selected to ensure that enhanced resources of the receiving CTSA consortium hubs can be measured, including assessing the impact of the consortium-wide dissemination in translational science. Pre- and post- assessments of the dissemination of the resource are expected to demonstrate the value of its uptake, thereby providing evidence for subsequent stakeholders in deciding whether to implement the resource.
Management Plan:
Describe the plans for management and integration of the resource center with other activities within the CTSA Program, including a communication plan for the CTSA consortium. Describe who will oversee day-to-day activities (e.g., a project manager if not the PD/PI) and how the management structure will support achievement of the proposed goals and milestones. Useful elements of this description include the organization of the proposed center; its management structure; personnel and leadership structure; and oversight mechanisms for evaluating progress towards milestones. The plan should also describe how the stated collaborations will be managed.
Sustainability Plan:
The center must provide a detailed plan for sustainability after the funding period ends. Applicants are expected to seek additional resources to maintain their operations and continue to have an impact after NIH funding ends. Plans should indicate other sources of support for program sustainability, and include descriptions of all institutional support, financial and collaborative arrangements, and/or agreements for payment for services. Appropriate documentation should be included in the application. Provide any other relevant information about the applicant’s approach for self-sustaining infrastructure and operations.
External Scientific Consultants:
Applicants must provide a plan for the appointment of External Scientific Consultants to provide advice and comments to the resource center about the activities outlined in this FOA, including progress made towards the overall goals of the FOA, and any changes in scope or governance that might help make the resource center more effective and useful. The composition, roles, responsibilities, and desired expertise of the consultants, frequency of meetings, and other relevant information should be included. Describe how the External Scientific Consultants will evaluate the overall effectiveness of the activities, including the stated expected impact of its activities. Proposed External Scientific Consultants should be named in the application if they have been invited to participate at the time the application is submitted and agreed to participate as an External Scientific Consultant.
NOTE: Applications that do not include the required Dissemination, Evaluation, Management, and/or Sustainability Plans, or do not include a plan to appoint External Scientific Consultants will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed.
Letters of Support:
Provide all appropriate letters of support, including any letters necessary to demonstrate the support of collaborators. Each collaborating investigator is required to include a letter of support from the PD/PI of the CTSA Program hub with which they are associated. For multiple investigators from the same CTSA Program hub, one letter of support from the CTSA Program PD/PI is sufficient. Where relevant, include letters of support or other documentation of partnerships or collaborative effort with the private sector (e.g., patient groups and/or industry), subcontractors, consultants, and/or other providers of personnel and facilities. Letters of support from External Scientific Consultants should be included in the application if the consultant has accepted the invitation to be an External Scientific Consultant.
Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
The following modifications also apply:
This FOA requires a separate Sharing Plan for the Resource.
It is NIH policy that the results and accomplishments of the activities that it funds should be made available to the public. PD/PIs and recipient organizations are expected to make the results and accomplishments of their activities available to the research community and the public at large. Investigators conducting biomedical research frequently develop unique research resources. NIH considers the sharing of such unique research resources (also called research tools) an important means to enhance the value of NIH-sponsored research. Restricting the availability of unique resources can impede the advancement of further research. At the same time, NIH recognizes the rights of recipients to elect and retain title to subject inventions developed with federal funding pursuant to the Bayh-Dole Act. See the Office of Extramural Research, Division of Extramural Inventions & Technology Resources (DEITR), Intellectual Property Policy page: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/intell-property.htm.
To provide further clarification of the NIH policy on disseminating unique research resources, NIH published Principles and Guidelines for Recipients of NIH Research Grants and Contracts on Obtaining and Disseminating Biomedical Research Resources (64 FR 72090, December 23, 1999; https://grants.nih.gov/grants/intell-property_64FR72090.pdf). This document will assist recipients in determining reasonable terms and conditions for disseminating and acquiring research tools.
For the purposes of this FOA, the resource/capability can be considered a research tool as described in the Principles and Guidelines for Recipients of NIH Research Grants and Contracts on Obtaining and Disseminating Biomedical Research Resources (64 FR 72090, December 23, 1999; https://grants.nih.gov/grants/intell-property_64FR72090.pdf). For the purposes of this FOA the research tool may include software, algorithms and code.
As appropriate for the resource/capability, the following services must be incorporated into the plan:
NCATS Information Resources Technology Branch (ITRB) will provide access to various public cloud services, and high-performance computing services for the needs of the awardees. This enables the awardees to offer their systems, projects, and research in a secure environment with simplified implementation, deployment and operational reliability. Through these services, NCATS ITRB will enable the awardees to gain a self-service capability. NCATS ITRB will provide the following:
IaaS Services
Cloud based High Performance Computing
Specifically, under this cooperative agreement, NCATS will support (financially and administratively) access to various public cloud services, and high-performance computing services for the needs of the awardees software that will be physically sitting on the NCATS cloud instance. As such, NCATS will maintain access and involvement with these software platforms as certain Health and Human Services (HHS) and NIH Information Technology (IT) security and privacy [including Public Health information (PHI) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)] requirements must be adhered to by the Center.
NCATS is responsible for CTSA program data security and compliance but is using systems that are purchased or built by others, such as third-party vendors, NCATS and its contractors.
If the resource that is proposed to be utilized by the CTSA consortium is already developed and an appropriate sharing plan is not in place (licensing, continued support of the research tool, etc.), the Sharing Plan must detail the transition of the resource to the NCATS cloud. The transition must describe what is needed for the project and assurance that the awardee will utilize NCATS cloud Computing Services and Engineering Support provisioned by the ITRB. Transition must occur within the first six months of the award. The sharing plan must provide details and a timeline for utilization, commercialization, and public availability of the resource at the end of the award. It is expected that NCATS support during the award using ITRB services will result in cost savings for the awardee and the NIH, facilitate and support data that will demonstrate the effectiveness and utility of the resource at a larger scale across the CTSA consortium, and provide sufficient time to develop a plan for continued independent support and/or commercialization. With respect to any invention in which the grantee elects rights, NIH shall have a nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license to practice or have practiced for on behalf of the United States any subject invention throughout the world for government purposes (37 CFR 401.14.6.b).
If the applicant proposes to utilize research resource separately from the NCATS Cloud Computing Services and Engineering Support provisioned by the ITRB, applicants must specify how their resource dissemination plan aligns with the Sharing Biomedical Research Resource principles outlined by NIH (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/intell-property_64FR72090.pdf) and provide a sharing plan specifying the details of how relevant resources will transition to NCATS at the end of the award. Please note that if NCATS determines that separate research resources do not meet the purpose and goals of this funding announcement, such requests may be denied.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss the project’s needs with Program Staff prior to submission.
Program staff are responsible for overseeing resource sharing policies and for assessing the appropriateness and adequacy of any proposed resource sharing plans. Program staff may negotiate modifications to these plans prior to funding and these modifications will be incorporated into the terms and conditions of the award.
When involving human subjects research, clinical research, and/or NIH-defined clinical trials (and when applicable, clinical trials research experience) follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:
If you answered Yes to the question Are Human Subjects Involved? on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or Delayed Onset Study record.
Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Note: Delayed onset does NOT apply to a study that can be described but will not start immediately (i.e., delayed start).All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
See Part 1. Section III.1 for information regarding the requirement for obtaining a unique entity identifier and for completing and maintaining active registrations in System for Award Management (SAM), NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code (if applicable), eRA Commons, and Grants.gov.
Part I. Overview Information contains information about Key Dates and times. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission. When a submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.
Organizations must submit applications to Grants.gov (the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies). Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIH’s electronic system for grants administration. NIH and Grants.gov systems check the application against many of the application instructions upon submission. Errors must be corrected and a changed/corrected application must be submitted to Grants.gov on or before the application due date and time. If a Changed/Corrected application is submitted after the deadline, the application will be considered late. Applications that miss the due date and time are subjected to the NIH Policy on Late Application Submission.
Applicants are responsible for viewing their application before the due date in the eRA Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission.
Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time submission are provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.
All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Pre-award costs are allowable only as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. Paper applications will not be accepted.
Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III. Eligibility Information contains information about registration.
For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit How to Apply Application Guide. If you encounter a system issue beyond your control that threatens your ability to complete the submission process on-time, you must follow the Dealing with System Issues guidance. For assistance with application submission, contact the Application Submission Contacts in Section VII.
Important reminders:
All PD(s)/PI(s) must include their eRA Commons ID in the Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile Component of the SF424(R&R) Application Package. Failure to register in the Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application to NIH. See Section III of this FOA for information on registration requirements.
The applicant organization must ensure that the DUNS number it provides on the application is the same number used in the organization’s profile in the eRA Commons and for the System for Award Management. Additional information may be found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
See more tips for avoiding common errors.
Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness and compliance with application instructions by the Center for Scientific Review, NIH, and for responsiveness by the Office of Scientific Review, NCATS. Applications that are non-responsive, incomplete or non-compliant will not be reviewed.
Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in the policy. Any instructions provided here are in addition to the instructions in the policy.
Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process. Applications submitted to the NIH in support of the NIH mission are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.
For this particular announcement, note the following:
This FOA is intended to support CTSA consortium-wide resource centers that will rapidly demonstrate and disseminate to the wider consortium innovative resources (to include capabilities) that have established impact at a local or national level. Applications for CTSA consortium-wide resource centers are expected to rapidly demonstrate and disseminate resources to advance clinical and translational science efforts.
Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the project to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in consideration of the following review criteria and additional review criteria (as applicable for the project proposed).
Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact. For example, a project that by its nature is not innovative may be essential to advance a field.
Does the proposed Center address the needs of the research consortium that it will serve? Is the scope of activities proposed for the Center appropriate to meet those needs? Will successful completion of the aims bring unique advantages or capabilities to the research consortium?
Specific to this FOA:
To what extent does the project address a current or emerging area of need in clinical and translational science?
To what extent does the project contribute to advancing one or more of the CTSA Program Strategic Goals?
To what extent does the application propose a research center to support the acceleration and rapid dissemination of evidenced-based, innovative resources and capabilities across the entire CTSA consortium?
Is there a satisfactory needs assessment for the resource and/or capability to support the likelihood of the project having a sustained impact on translational science?
Are the PD(s)/PI(s) and other personnel well suited to their roles in the Center? Do they have appropriate experience and training, and have they demonstrated experience and an ongoing record of accomplishments in managing clinical and translational research? Do the investigators demonstrate significant experience with coordinating collaborative research? If the Center is multi-PD/PI, do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise and skills; are their leadership approach, governance, plans for conflict resolution, and organizational structure appropriate for the Center? Does the applicant have experience overseeing selection and management of subawards, if needed?
Specific to this FOA:
Do the PD(s)/PI(s) have appropriate expertise in facilitating the development and sharing of resource and/or capability, and do they provide sufficient evidence of their ability to successfully demonstrate and disseminate novel resources at more than one institution?
Do the PD(s)/PI(s) have sufficient time and committed sufficient effort to accomplish the goals of the Center?
Do the letters of support provide assurance that the collaborators will support the project?
Is the plan to recruit External Scientific Consultants with appropriate expertise suitable?
Does the application propose novel organizational concepts, management strategies, or instrumentation in coordinating the research consortium the Center will serve? Are the concepts, strategies, or instrumentation novel to one type of research program or applicable in a broad sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of organizational concepts, management strategies or instrumentation proposed?
Specific to this FOA:
To what extent does the application propose the demonstration and dissemination of novel methods, processes, approaches, interventions, communications, tools, technologies, software, applications and/or skills training that improve the translational science process across multiple institutions?
Are the overall strategy, operational plan, and organizational structure well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the goals of the research consortium the Center will serve? Will the investigators promote strategies to ensure a robust and unbiased scientific approach across the consortium, as appropriate for the work proposed? Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success presented? If the consortium is in the early stages of operation, does the proposed strategy adequately establish feasibility and manage the risks associated with the activities of the consortium? Are an appropriate plan for work-flow and a well-established timeline proposed? Have the investigators presented adequate plans to ensure consideration of relevant biological variables, such as sex, for studies of vertebrate animals or human subjects?
If the project involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, are the plans to address 1) the protection of human subjects from research risks, and 2) inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion or exclusion of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults), justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed?
Specific to this FOA:
Is the proposed research center strategy (to determine whether a resource and/or capability is mature) sufficiently detailed and does it demonstrate promise in disseminating validated resources across the CTSA consortium?
Is the plan for disseminating the results of this project adequately described and reasonable?
Is the evaluation plan adequate to assess and measure the success and impact of the proposed project? Are the metrics reasonable and do they provide a clear assessment of consortium-wide impact? Are the project timelines, milestones and deliverables well-described and realistic; can the project be completed within the proposed timeframe?
Is the approach described in the management plan sufficient to ensure success?
Is the overall plan for sustainability after completion of the funding period adequate?
Is the Sharing Plan for the Resource sufficient for the proposed resource center?
Will the institutional environment in which the Center will operate contribute to the probability of success in facilitating the research consortium it serves? Are the institutional support, equipment and other physical resources available to the investigators adequate for the Center proposed? Will the Center benefit from unique features of the institutional environment, infrastructure, or personnel? Are resources available within the scientific environment to support electronic information handling?
Specific to this FOA:
To what extent is the environment optimal for a timely and complete integration of the proposed resources throughout the CTSA consortium?
As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score, but will not give separate scores for these items.
Protections for Human Subjects
For research that involves human subjects but does not involve one of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate the justification for involvement of human subjects and the proposed protections from research risk relating to their participation according to the following five review criteria: 1) risk to subjects, 2) adequacy of protection against risks, 3) potential benefits to the subjects and others, 4) importance of the knowledge to be gained, and 5) data and safety monitoring for clinical trials.
For research that involves human subjects and meets the criteria for one or more of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate: 1) the justification for the exemption, 2) human subjects involvement and characteristics, and 3) sources of materials. For additional information on review of the Human Subjects section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Human Subjects.
Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Individuals Across the Lifespan
When the proposed project involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, the committee will evaluate the proposed plans for the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults) to determine if it is justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed. For additional information on review of the Inclusion section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Inclusion in Clinical Research.
Vertebrate Animals
The committee will evaluate the involvement of live vertebrate animals as part of the scientific assessment according to the following criteria: (1) description of proposed procedures involving animals, including species, strains, ages, sex, and total number to be used; (2) justifications for the use of animals versus alternative models and for the appropriateness of the species proposed; (3) interventions to minimize discomfort, distress, pain and injury; and (4) justification for euthanasia method if NOT consistent with the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. Reviewers will assess the use of chimpanzees as they would any other application proposing the use of vertebrate animals. For additional information on review of the Vertebrate Animals section, please refer to the Worksheet for Review of the Vertebrate Animal Section.
Biohazards
Reviewers will assess whether materials or procedures proposed are potentially hazardous to research personnel and/or the environment, and if needed, determine whether adequate protection is proposed.
Resubmissions
Not Applicable
Renewals
Not Applicable
Revisions
Not Applicable
As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will consider each of the following items, but will not give scores for these items, and should not consider them in providing an overall impact score.
Applications from Foreign Organizations
Not Applicable
Select Agent Research
Reviewers will assess the information provided in this section of the application, including 1) the Select Agent(s) to be used in the proposed research, 2) the registration status of all entities where Select Agent(s) will be used, 3) the procedures that will be used to monitor possession use and transfer of Select Agent(s), and 4) plans for appropriate biosafety, biocontainment, and security of the Select Agent(s).
Resource Sharing Plans
Reviewers will comment on whether the following Resource Sharing Plans are reasonable: (1) Data Sharing Plan; (2) Sharing Model Organisms; and (3) Genomic Data Sharing Plan (GDS).
Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources:
For Centerts involving key biological and/or chemical resources, reviewers will comment on the brief plans proposed for identifying and ensuring the validity of those resources.
Budget and Period of Support
Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.
Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s) convened by NCATS, in accordance with NIH peer review policy and procedures, using the stated review criteria. Assignment to a Scientific Review Group will be shown in the eRA Commons.
As part of the scientific peer review, all applications will receive a written critique.
Applications may undergo a selection process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific and technical merit (generally the top half of applications under review) will be discussed and assigned an overall impact score.
Applications will be assigned on the basis of established PHS referral guidelines to the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. Applications will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications submitted in response to this FOA. Following initial peer review, recommended applications will receive a second level of review by the appropriate national Advisory Council or Board. The following will be considered in making funding decisions:
Information regarding the disposition of applications is available in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
If the application is under consideration for funding, NIH will request "just-in-time" information from the applicant as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided to the applicant organization for successful applications. The NoA signed by the grants management officer is the authorizing document and will be sent via email to the recipient's business official.
Awardees must comply with any funding restrictions described in Section IV.5. Funding Restrictions. Selection of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These costs may be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs.
Any application awarded in response to this FOA will be subject to terms and conditions found on the Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants website. This includes any recent legislation and policy applicable to awards that is highlighted on this website.
Institutional Review Board or Independent Ethics Committee Approval: Recipient institutions must ensure that protocols are reviewed by their IRB or IEC. To help ensure the safety of participants enrolled in NIH-funded studies, the awardee must provide NIH copies of documents related to all major changes in the status of ongoing protocols.
All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Recipients, and Activities. More information is provided at Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants.
Recipients of federal financial assistance (FFA) from HHS must administer their programs in compliance with federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age and, in some circumstances, religion, conscience, and sex. This includes ensuring programs are accessible to persons with limited English proficiency. The HHS Office for Civil Rights provides guidance on complying with civil rights laws enforced by HHS. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/provider-obligations/index.html and http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/understanding/section1557/index.html.
HHS recognizes that research projects are often limited in scope for many reasons that are nondiscriminatory, such as the principal investigator’s scientific interest, funding limitations, recruitment requirements, and other considerations. Thus, criteria in research protocols that target or exclude certain populations are warranted where nondiscriminatory justifications establish that such criteria are appropriate with respect to the health or safety of the subjects, the scientific study design, or the purpose of the research. For additional guidance regarding how the provisions apply to NIH grant programs, please contact the Scientific/Research Contact that is identified in Section VII under Agency Contacts of this FOA.
Please contact the HHS Office for Civil Rights for more information about obligations and prohibitions under federal civil rights laws at https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/about-us/contact-us/index.html or call 1-800-368-1019 or TDD 1-800-537-7697.
In accordance with the statutory provisions contained in Section 872 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-417), NIH awards will be subject to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) requirements. FAPIIS requires Federal award making officials to review and consider information about an applicant in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS) prior to making an award. An applicant, at its option, may review information in the designated integrity and performance systems accessible through FAPIIS and comment on any information about itself that a Federal agency previously entered and is currently in FAPIIS. The Federal awarding agency will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to other information in FAPIIS, in making a judgement about the applicant’s integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in 45 CFR Part 75.205 Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants. This provision will apply to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements except fellowships.
The following special terms of award are in addition to, and not in lieu of, otherwise applicable U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) administrative guidelines, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) grant administration regulations at 45 CFR Parts 75, and other HHS, PHS, and NIH grant administration policies. The administrative and funding instrument used for this program will be the cooperative agreement, an "assistance" mechanism (rather than an "acquisition" mechanism), in which substantial NIH programmatic involvement with the recipients is anticipated during the performance of the activities. Under the cooperative agreement, the NIH purpose is to support and stimulate the recipients' activities by involvement in and otherwise working jointly with the award recipients in a partnership role; it is not to assume direction, prime responsibility, or a dominant role in the activities. Consistent with this concept, the dominant role and prime responsibility resides with the recipients for the project as a whole, although specific tasks and activities may be shared among the recipients and the NIH as defined below.
The PD(s)/PI(s) will have the primary responsibility for:
NIH staff has substantial programmatic involvement that is above and beyond the normal stewardship role in awards, as described below:
The NIH Project Scientist (PS) will be responsible for:
The Program Official will:
Areas of Joint Responsibility include:
A final RPPR, invention statement, and the expenditure data portion of the Federal Financial Report are required for closeout of an award, as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act), includes a requirement for awardees of Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY2011 or later. All awardees of applicable NIH grants and cooperative agreements are required to report to the Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.fsrs.gov on all subawards over $25,000. See the NIH Grants Policy Statement for additional information on this reporting requirement.
In accordance with the regulatory requirements provided at 45 CFR 75.113 and Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75, recipients that have currently active Federal grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies with a cumulative total value greater than $10,000,000 for any period of time during the period of performance of a Federal award, must report and maintain the currency of information reported in the System for Award Management (SAM) about civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings in connection with the award or performance of a Federal award that reached final disposition within the most recent five-year period. The recipient must also make semiannual disclosures regarding such proceedings. Proceedings information will be made publicly available in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS). This is a statutory requirement under section 872 of Public Law 110-417, as amended (41 U.S.C. 2313). As required by section 3010 of Public Law 111-212, all information posted in the designated integrity and performance system on or after April 15, 2011, except past performance reviews required for Federal procurement contracts, will be publicly available. Full reporting requirements and procedures are found in Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75 Award Term and Conditions for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters.
We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants.
eRA Service Desk (Questions regarding ASSIST, eRA Commons, application errors and warnings, documenting system problems that threaten submission by the due date, and post-submission issues)
Finding Help Online: http://grants.nih.gov/support/ (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-402-7469 or 866-504-9552 (Toll Free)
General Grants Information (Questions regarding application instructions, application processes, and NIH grant resources)
Email: GrantsInfo@nih.gov (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-945-7573
Grants.gov Customer Support (Questions regarding Grants.gov registration and Workspace)
Contact Center Telephone: 800-518-4726
Email: support@grants.gov
Audie Atienza, PhD
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
Telephone: 301-435-0198
Email: Audie.Atienza@nih.gov
Examine your eRA Commons account for review assignment and contact information (information appears two weeks after the submission due date).
Stacia Fleisher
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
Telephone: 301-435-0851
Email: stacia.fleisher@nih.gov
Recently issued trans-NIH policy notices may affect your application submission. A full list of policy notices published by NIH is provided in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 45 CFR Part 75.