Full Text PAR-94-096

RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT PROGRAM

NIH GUIDE, Volume 23, Number 34, September 23, 1994

PA NUMBER:  PAR-94-096 (superceded by PAR-04-015)

P.T. 34

Keywords: 
  Emotional/Mental Health 
  0730057 


National Institute of Mental Health

PURPOSE

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is seeking to expand
the number of institutions capable of supporting state-of-the-art
mental health clinical and services research and thus increase the
number of investigators in the Nation with the skills needed to
conduct research in these areas.  The Research Infrastructure Support
Program (RISP) is in response to recommendations made by the National
Advisory Mental Health Council and by the NIMH Extramural Science
Advisory Board.

This program announcement supersedes and replaces NIMH announcement
PA-93-03, Research Infrastructure Program (RISP), dated September
1992.

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, Research Infrastructure Support Program (RISP), is
supportive of the priority area of mental health and mental
disorders.  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

Applications for RISP grants may be submitted by public and private,
non-profit and for-profit domestic organizations such as
universities, colleges, hospitals, laboratories, units of State and
local governments, and eligible agencies of the Federal government.
Eligible public agencies include State and local mental health
agencies, health agencies, social services and welfare agencies,
departments of education, and units of justice and corrections
systems.  Associations of these agencies are also eligible to submit
applications.   Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

MECHANISM OF SUPPORT

Grants awarded in the RISP program will use the resource-related
research projects (R24) mechanism of the National Institutes of
Health.  This mechanism is used to support projects that enhance
capabilities to contribute to extramural research of the PHS.  Grants
funded under this program announcement are awarded directly to the
applicant institution.  The award is made to a particular institution
and is not transferable.  Grants must be administered in accordance
with the PHS Grants Policy Statement (rev. 4/94).

The funding cap for RISP grants is $300,000 per year plus negotiated
indirect costs.  Support is limited to a period of five years and is
not renewable.  Annual awards will be made subject to continued
availability of funds and progress achieved.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Background.  RISP is designed to enable institutions with relatively
small, but viable, research programs in mental health to develop into
significantly stronger mental health clinical and/or services
research settings.  It is part of an integrated NIMH approach to
developing a broader national infrastructure for mental health
research that includes NIMH support for clinical and services
research centers, minority research centers, rural mental health
research centers, social work research development centers, and RISP.
Together, these programs provide a continuum of research
infrastructure support for institutions at varying levels of mental
health research.

RISP provides support for research infrastructure development in both
academic and non-academic settings in which mental health research is
conducted.  Many agencies and organizations that provide mental
health services have access to clinical populations and maintain
important data bases, but lack the resources needed to conduct strong
programs of scientific research.  RISP grants may be used by
non-academic agencies to develop these resources through such means
as collaborative arrangements with universities and other scientific
research institutions.  Similarly, RISP may be used by academic
institutions to strengthen their capacities to conduct mental health
clinical and/or services research.

A central philosophical principle underlying the RISP program is that
different types of institutions will require different types of
research infrastructure development activities and initiatives
depending upon particular needs and circumstances.  Accordingly, this
program announcement provides general rather than specific guidance
as to the types of development activities appropriate under RISP.
The following types of support may be requested under this program:

o  Partial salary support for persons engaged in the project,
particularly for women and members of minority groups
o  Research training for junior investigators
o  Scientific and statistical consultation, including expenses
incurred by a scientific advisory committee
o  Biostatistical and data management services
o  Research technicians and assistants
o  Research instruments
o  Small, project-specific equipment
o  Developmental, pilot, and feasibility studies
o  Research subject costs
o  Data acquisition costs

The application must present a plan for the proposed RISP.  It should
(1) assess the current institutional capacity to conduct mental
health clinical and/or services research; (2) identify unmet needs;
and (3) describe the activities that will be taken to develop and
strengthen the institutional research infrastructure.  The plan
should cover a period of five years and by the end of this period
should provide the applicant institution with significantly improved
capacity to conduct mental health clinical or services research.

The application must contain the following:

o  Specific aims

o  Summary of relevant ongoing mental health research

o  Assessment of institutional capacity to conduct state-of-the-art
clinical and/or services research in mental health;
identification of gaps that the RISP is intended to fill

o  Design and procedures to be used to accomplish the specific aims
of the research infrastructure development plan over a period of five
years, including plans for administrative structure, recruitment and
retention of persons skilled in mental health clinical and/or
services research, staff training and mentoring, statistical and
other consultation and data management, and collaboration with other
institutions

o  Brief descriptions (not to exceed one page each) of individual
research studies that will be undertaken as part of infrastructure
development, including plans for data collection and analysis

o  Description of procedures that will be used to evaluate and
monitor other studies that may be supported in future years

o  Description of equipment, space, and other facility resources
available to support the development plan and extent to which
enhancement of these resources is needed

o  Description of institutional financial commitment to support the
proposed mental health clinical and/or services research
infrastructure development

o  Plans for recruitment of women and minorities for participation in
research protocols

o  Plans for protection of human and vertebrate animal subjects of
proposed research projects

o  The research plan section of the application is limited to 25
pages.

The NIMH encourages RISP collaborations between academic research
centers and public agencies that provide and finance care for persons
with mental disorders.

Applicants from institutions that have a General Clinical Research
Center (GCRC) funded by the NIH National Center for Research
Resources may wish to identify the GCRC as a resource for conducting
the proposed research.  If so, a letter of agreement from the GCRC
program director or principal investigator should be included with
the application.

INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN
SUBJECTS

It is the policy of the NIH that women and members of minority groups
and their subpopulations must be included in all NIH supported
biomedical and behavioral research projects involving human subjects,
unless a clear and compelling rationale and justification are
provided that inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health
of the subjects or the purpose of the research.  This new policy
results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of
Public Law 103-43) and supersedes and strengthens the previous
policies (Concerning the Inclusion of Women in Study Populations, and
Concerning the Inclusion of Minorities in Study Populations) which
have been in effect since 1990.  The new policy contains some new
provisions that are substantially different from the 1990 policies.
All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should
read the "NIH Guidelines for Inclusion of Women and Minorities as
Subjects in Clinical Research," which were published as a separate
Part VIII in the Federal Register of March 28, 1994 (FR 14508-14513),
and in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts of March 18, 1994,
Volume 23, Number 11.  Investigators may obtain copies from these
sources or from the program staff or contact person listed below.
Program staff may also provide additional relevant information
concerning the policy.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Applicants are to use the research grant application form PHS 398
(rev. 9/91).  The number and title of this program announcement must
be typed in Item 2a on the face page of the PHS 398 application form
and the YES box must also be marked.  Applicants should specify in
Item 2b that the R24 mechanism is being used.

Application kits containing the necessary forms may be obtained from
the office of sponsored research at most universities, colleges,
medical schools, and other major research facilities and from the
Office of Grants Information, Division of Research Grants, National
Institutes of Health, Westwood Building, Room 449, Bethesda, MD
20892, telephone 301/710-0267.

Applicants must submit, in one package, a signed original of the
application, including the Checklist, and five signed copies to:

Division of Research Grants
National Institutes of Health
Westwood Building, Room 240
Bethesda, MD  20892**

REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS

Applications will be reviewed for scientific and technical merit by
an initial review group (IRG) composed primarily of non-Federal
scientific experts.  Final review is by the National Advisory Mental
Health Council; review by Council may be based on policy
considerations as well as scientific merit.  By law, only
applications recommended for consideration for funding by the Council
may be supported.  Summaries of IRG recommendations are sent to
applicants as soon as possible following IRG review.

Criteria to be considered in evaluating applications for
scientific/technical merit are:

o  Significance and public health relevance of the proposed research
infrastructure development plan

o  Scientific and technical merit of the development plan

o  Potential of the principal investigator and other senior staff to
contribute to implementation of the proposed development plan

o  Potential of the plan to effect significant and lasting
improvements in the institution's capacity to conduct mental health
clinical and/or services research

o  Nature, amount, and duration of non-Federal commitment to the
development plan

o  Recruitment and retention plans for inclusion of women and
minority subjects in research protocols

o  Appropriateness of the proposed budget

o  Adequacy of the procedures for protecting human and animal
subjects

Applications received after a given receipt date will be returned to
the applicant without review.

AWARD CRITERIA

Applications recommended for approval by the National Advisory Mental
Health Council will be considered for funding on the basis of overall
scientific and technical merit of the research infrastructure
development plan as determined by peer review, program needs and
balance, and availability of funds.  Preference will be given to
institutions with NIMH research support not exceeding $3,000,000 (in
total costs) in any of the three completed Federal fiscal years
immediately preceding the date of application submission.

INQUIRIES

Written and telephone inquiries are encouraged.  The opportunity to
clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome.
Applicants are encouraged to discuss their planned applications with
NIMH staff before submitting a formal grant application.

Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to:

Thomas L. Lalley, M.A.
Division of Epidemiology and Services Research
National Institute of Mental Health
Room 10C-06  Parklawn Building
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD  20857
Telephone:  (301) 443-3364
Internet:  [email protected]

Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to:

Diana S. Trunnell
Grants Management Branch
National Institute of Mental Health
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 7C-08
Rockville, MD  20857
Telephone:  (301) 443-3065

AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS

This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance 93.242.  Awards are made under authorization of the Public
Health Service Act, Title IV, Part A (Public Law 78-410, as amended
by Public Law 99-158, 42 USC 241 and 285).  Federal Regulations at 42
CFR Part 52 and 66, "Grants for Research Projects" and 45 CFR Parts
74 and 92 concerning administration of grants, are applicable to
these awards. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental
review requirements of Executive Order 12372, as implemented through
DHHS regulations at 45 CFR Part 100, or Health Systems Agency review.

The Public Health Service (PHS) strongly encourages all grant
recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use
of all tobacco products.  This is consistent with the PHS mission to
protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American
people.

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