INDIVIDUAL POSTDOCTORAL NRSA FELLOWSHIP IN EPIDEMIOLOGY /CLINICAL TRIALS RESEARCH /OUTCOMES RESEARCH IN SKIN DISEASES Release Date: March 13, 2000 RFA: AR-00-003 National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Application Receipt Date: May 11, 2000. PURPOSE Progress in the treatment of skin diseases has been hampered by a lack of baseline data concerning prevalence and the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions in all but the most common skin diseases. Part of this problem is the lack of trained individuals within the skin disease community capable of designing and carrying out these studies. In response, the NIAMS along with the Herzog Foundation announces the availability of individual NRSA postdoctoral fellowships to support the training of physicians with expertise in clinical dermatology to supplement that knowledge with training in epidemiology/clinical trials/outcomes research. These fellowships are intended to support up to two years of advanced training in the relevant methodologies which is to be used to obtain a Masters of Public Health and or a Ph.D. in epidemiology to qualify the fellow to pursue a career in these areas as they relate to skin diseases. Therefore, a special feature of this award is the inclusion of tuition and fees for the necessary course work which is to be taken at a School of Public Health. An additional unique feature is the cooperation of the Herzog Foundation which will directly provide supplementation of approximately $ 30,000 per year per fellow to supplement the stipend and any other expenses involved in the training. The intent of this announcement is to begin to train a cadre of investigators who will be both experienced clinicians in dermatology as well as in the sciences underpinning epidemiology/clinical trials/outcomes research so that in the future this data will become available to the skin disease community. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2010 The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of Healthy People 2010, a PHS led national activity for setting priority areas. This Request for Applications (RFA) for Individual Postdoctoral NRSA Fellowships in Epidemiology/Clinical Trials/Outcomes Research in Skin Diseases is related to one or more of the priority areas. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of Healthy People 2010" at http://www.health.gov/healthypeople ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS The candidate must have an M.D. degree and have completed at least two years of clinical dermatology training in an accredited program prior to the commencement of the fellowship. Clinical dermatology training may not have been completed more than five years prior to submission of the application. The individual must also meet the criteria for NIH National Research Service Awards for Individual Postdoctoral Fellows (F32) described in Program Announcement PA-99-025 available in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts (Release date December 11, 1998; available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-99-025.html). Racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. By the time of award, individuals must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States, or have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence (i.e., possess a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card I-551, or other legal verification of such status). Non-citizen nationals are generally persons born in outlying possessions of the United States (i.e., American Samoa and Swains Island). Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible. Before submitting a fellowship application, the applicant must identify a sponsoring institution and an individual who will serve as a sponsor (also called mentor or supervisor) who will supervise the training and research experience. The sponsoring institution may be private (profit or nonprofit) or public, including the NIH Intramural Programs and other Federal laboratories. The applicant’s sponsor should be an active investigator in either skin disease research or epidemiology/clinical trials/outcomes research. In some instances, it may be advisable for a secondary sponsor to complement the primary sponsors expertise. The sponsor must document the availability of staff research support, didactic training and facilities for high quality research training. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT This RFA will use the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Individual Postdoctoral NRSA Fellowship Award (F32) mechanism. The total project period for an application submitted in response to this RFA may not exceed a total of two years. The requested project period should be reduced by the amount of time a fellow has received support on any prior NRSA post-doctoral fellowship including Institutional NRSA training grants (T32s) so that the total NRSA postdoctoral support does not exceed 3 years. For further information refer to the NIH Guidelines for the NIH National Research Service Awards for Individual Postdoctoral Fellows (F32) published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts (PA-99-025) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-99-025.html. FUNDS AVAILABLE The NIAMS intends to fund up to 9 new applications responding to this RFA in FY 2001 subject to the availability of resources and receipt of sufficiently meritorious applications. The estimated funds (total costs) available for the first year of support of this program is $300,000. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The overall goal of this research training initiative is to increase the number of clinically trained dermatologists who have the appropriate training and advanced degrees in epidemiology/clinical trials/outcome research to pursue a career focused on this combined area of investigation. The secondary goal is to enhance the visibility of this discipline at U.S. academic health centers. 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 is provided that inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of the research. This policy results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law 103-43). All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the ANIH Guidelines for Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research, which have been published in the Federal Register of March 28, 1994 (FR 59 14508-14513) and in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Vol. 23, No. 11, March 18, 1994 available on the web at the following URL address: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not94-100.html. INCLUSION OF CHILDREN AS PARTICIPANTS IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS It is the policy of NIH that children (i.e., individuals under the age of 21) must be included in all human subjects research, conducted or supported by the NIH, unless there are scientific and ethical reasons not to include them. This policy applies to all initial (Type 1) applications submitted for receipt dates after October 1, 1998. All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the NIH Policy and Guidelines on the Inclusion of Children as Participants in Research Involving Human Subjects that was published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, March 6, 1998, and is available at the following URL address: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not98-024.html. Investigators also may obtain copies of these policies from the program staff listed under INQUIRIES. Program staff may also provide additional relevant information concerning the policy. APPLICATION PROCEDURES Applications are to be submitted on the form PHS 416-1 (rev. 12/98) available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm. Application kits are available from most institutional offices of sponsored research and from the Division of Extramural Outreach and Information Resources, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7910; Bethesda, MD 20892-7710, telephone (301) 710-0267, email: grantsinfo@nih.gov. Information on the current stipend levels may be found at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-00-008.html. Applications for fellowship awards must include at least three sealed letters of reference. Fellowship application submitted without the required number of reference letters will be considered incomplete and will be returned without review. The title and number of this RFA must be typed on line 2 (item number 3) of the face page of the application form. The sample RFA label available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/label-bk.pdf has been modified to allow for this change. Please note this is in pdf format. The original and two copies of the application must be submitted to: CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC REVIEW NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH 6701 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE, ROOM 1040, MSC-7710 BETHESDA, MD 20892-7710 BETHESDA, MD 20817 (for express/courier service) REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS Applications to this RFA will be assigned to NIAMS. Applications submitted in response to this RFA will be reviewed in accordance with the standard NIH peer review procedures. The following factors are considered in the review of fellowship applications: (1) the candidate’s potential for a research career; (2) the scientific or scholarly merit and training potential of the research proposal; (3) the training environment and resources; and (4) assessment of the value of the proposed fellowship experience. The second level of review is performed by the appropriate oversight group of the NIH awarding component. AWARD CRITERIA Applications will compete for available training funds set aside for this RFA. Up to ten awards will be made dependent upon the quality of the applications received. The following will be considered in funding decisions: Quality of the fellowship applications determined by peer review and availability of funds. ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS The Herzog Foundation has agreed to provide approximately $ 30,000 per year (direct costs) to each successful applicant to supplement the available stipend and/or any other costs associated with this mechanism that might not otherwise be covered in the NRSA award. These monies will be made available to the sponsoring institution by the Herzog Foundation specifically earmarked for the support of the individual receiving this award. These funds will be provided according to the sponsoring institution’s own formally established policies and must be consistently applied regardless of the source of funds. Reimbursement for tuition and fees for the didactic components of the training plan may also be budgeted pursuant to NRSA guidelines. INQUIRIES Inquiries are strongly encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome. Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to: Alan N. Moshell, M.D. Skin Diseases Program Director National Institute of Health National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease 45 Center Drive, Room 5AS-25L, MSC-6500 Bethesda, MD 20892-6500 Telephone: 301-594-5017 FAX: 301-480-4543 Email: alan_n_moshell@nih.gov Direct inquires regarding fiscal matters to: Leslie D. Boggs Grants Management Specialist GMB, NIAMS, NIH 45 Center Drive, Room 5AS-43H, MSC-6500 Bethesda, MD 20892-6500 Telephone: 301-594-3968 FAX: 301-480-5450 Email: boggsl@mail.nih.gov AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS NRSA awards are made under the authority of Section 487 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 288) and Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 66. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number is 93.846 . This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review. The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products. In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any portion of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library, day care, health care or early childhood development services are provided to children. This is consistent with the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American people.


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