Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS)
and Human Services (HHS)
EXPIRED
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
National Eye Institute (NEI)
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH)
The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support preclinical optimization and development of safe, effective, and non-addictive small molecule and biologic therapeutics to treat pain. The goal of the program is to accelerate the optimization and development of promising small molecule and biologic hits/leads towards clinical trials. Applicants must have a promising hit/lead, robust biological rationale for the intended approach, and identified assays for optimization of the agent. The scope of this program includes optimization and early development activities, IND-enabling studies, and assembly of Investigational New Drug (IND) application. This is a milestone-driven phased cooperative agreement program involving participation of NIH program staff in the development of the project plan and monitoring of research progress.
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.
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.
New Date June 5, 2019 per issuance of NOT-NS-19-040. (Original Expiration Date: March 07, 2019 )
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.
The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support preclinical optimization and development of safe, effective, and non-addictive small molecule and biologic therapeutics to treat pain. The goal of the program is to accelerate the optimization and development of promising small molecule and biologic hits/leads towards clinical trials. Applicants must have a promising hit/lead, robust biological rationale for the intended approach, and identified assays for optimization of the agent. The scope of this program includes optimization and early development activities, IND-enabling studies, and assembly of Investigational New Drug (IND) application. This is a milestone-driven phased cooperative agreement program involving participation of NIH program staff in the development of the project plan and monitoring of research progress.
Background:
This study is part of the NIH's Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) initiative to speed scientific solutions to the national opioid public health crisis. The NIH HEAL Initiative will bolster research across the NIH to (1) improve treatment for opioid misuse and addiction and (2) enhance pain management. More information about the HEAL Initiative is available at: https://www.nih.gov/research-training/medical-research-initiatives/heal-initiative?.
More than 25 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, a highly debilitating medical condition that is complex and lacks effective treatments. In recent decades, there has been an overreliance on opioids for chronic pain despite their poor ability to improve function. This contributed to a significant and alarming epidemic of opioid overdose deaths and addictions. Innovative scientific solutions to develop alternative treatment options for pain are thus critically needed. As part of the mission of the HEAL Initiative, NINDS is working with other NIH Institutes and Centers to encourage the translation of basic research into new non-addictive pain treatments. This program announcement is intended to create a foundation to initiate the optimization and development of pain therapeutics and catalyze the development of partnerships between the academic and industrial sectors so that translational research in pain can flourish as a cooperative, iterative process leading to safe, effective, and non-addictive treatments for pain.
Scope:
This program announcement is specifically focused on the preclinical translational development necessary to advance small molecules and biologics to the point of clinical testing of therapeutic candidates for pain. The program supports preclinical optimization and development of small molecules and biologics leading to assembly of IND applications for the FDA. The scope of this program excludes clinical research, basic research, and studies of disease mechanism or mechanistic/mechanism of action studies of the intended therapeutic. Further, development of animal models, diagnostics, biomarkers, rehabilitation strategies, or therapeutic devices is out of scope.
General Entry Criteria:
All projects must enter the UG3 phase of the program. For entry, projects must have a promising small molecule or biologic starting point for optimization, a rigorous biological rationale for the intended approach, and scientifically sound assays to test the agent.
For the UG3 phase, this FOA encourages projects proposing the following optimization activities:
It is expected that by the end of the UG3 phase, awardees will have characterized and selected a lead candidate that is ready for in vivo efficacy testing, though additional optimization may be necessary.
For advancement to the UH3 phase, the following development activities are in scope:
Additional Resources:
To support these projects, additional existing NIH resources may be made available to the applicant outside of this grant budget. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact NIH staff to discuss these options. These resources include, but are not limited to the following:
NINDS
NINDS has established contract support for pharmacokinetic studies, toxicology (GLP and non-GLP) and safety testing and can provide access to experts in therapeutics development through a consulting service. Additionally, as part of the HEAL Initiative, NINDS anticipates establishing support for a preclinical screening platform for pain and make available variety of in vivo animal models to test promising lead compounds. Applicants must contact NINDS staff (contacts provided below) in order to utilize these resources and determine how to best leverage these as part of the application.
NCATS
Applicants are also strongly encouraged to utilize the state-of-the-art capabilities at the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NIH/NCATS). Depending on the nature of the proposed collaboration, NCATS will make available its comprehensive capabilities in support of HEAL initiatives. The capabilities include, but are not limited to, screening and scalable production of relevant stem cells; biofabrication of 3D functional tissues for drug testing; using quantitative high-throughput screening to identify promising compounds to be optimized by medicinal chemists; and implementing IND-enabling studies. A more detailed description of the capabilities can be found at: https://ncats.nih.gov/heal/intramural-capabilities
Milestones:
Because therapeutics optimization and development are inherently high risk, it is expected that there will be significant attrition as projects progress. Go/No-Go milestones will be established by a team consisting of the PD/PI and NIH program staff at the start of each project and updated as needed. These will be tailored to the therapeutic agent to make sure that investigators have the appropriate resources to advance the proposed projects and will differ between therapeutic candidates. Program staff may consult as necessary with independent consultants with relevant expertise.
NIH program staff and leadership will conduct an annual administrative review. At the end of the UG3 phase, NIH program staff and leadership will determine if the project will advance to the UH3 phase. If needed, additional meetings to administratively review progress may take place. If justified, future year milestones may be revised based on data and information obtained during the previous project period. The reviews will be based on:
Intellectual Property:
Since the ultimate goal of this program is to bring new pain therapeutics to the market, the creation and protection of appropriate intellectual property are significant considerations in designing research strategies and prioritizing projects for funding. Each applicant is expected to address intellectual property issues related to the proposed therapeutics, with input from the institution's technology transfer officials, if applicable. Peer reviewers will be instructed to comment on the intellectual property landscape for each application. The project milestone plan may include commercialization milestones to protect and leverage intellectual property. Recipients of awards are encouraged to identify potential licensing and commercialization partners early in the therapy development process. The PD(s)/PI(s) is encouraged to work closely with technology transfer officials at his or her institution, if applicable, to ensure that royalty agreements, patent filings, and all other necessary intellectual property arrangements are completed in a timely manner. (See Section IV.2. Other Project Information for details.)
Implementation:
The program provides funding through the UG3/UH3 cooperative agreement mechanism. As a cooperative agreement, implementation will involve participation of NIH program staff in the planning and execution of the therapy-directed projects. This program is envisioned as a 5-year program in two stages UG3 and UH3. The UG3 portion of the award is designed to support optimization research for two years. Our goal is to fund 6-8 projects with a limited budget for the first 2 years during the UG3 phase. Based on the progress to milestones, only a limited number of projects will proceed to the UH3 phase (3 years) for the remainder of the award period which will include final optimization and development leading to IND-enabling studies, either through the grant budget or through additional contract resources outlined above.
Matching Requirement:
As part of the HEAL Initiative, this FOA is subject to certain requirements for for-profit applicant organizations. Public Law 115-141, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 (signed March 23, 2018) includes a requirement that grantees from for-profit applicant organizations must provide a 50% match and/or in-kind contribution of all federally awarded dollars under the grant award (direct costs, as well as facilities and administrative costs) for research related to opioid addiction, development of opioid alternatives, pain management and addiction treatment.
A grantee from a for-profit organization funded under this funding opportunity announcement must match funds or provide documented in-kind contributions at a rate of not less than 50% of the total-Federally awarded amount, as stipulated by Public Law 115-141, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018. The applicant will be required to demonstrate that matching funds and/or in-kind contributions are committed or available at the time of, and for the duration of, the award. Applications must identify the source and amount of funds proposed to meet the matching requirement and how the value for in-kind contributions was determined. All matching funds and/or in-kind contributions must be used for the portion of allowable project costs not paid by Federal funds under the grant award. NIH will not be the recipient, nor serve as a pass-through entity, of any such matching funds and/or in-kind contributions required under this announcement. See 45 CFR 75.306 for additional details.
IC-Specific Areas of Interest
NCCIH
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) will support research on optimization of non-addictive therapies for acute or chronic pain conditions, including chronic low back pain, that are treated with complementary and integrative health approaches. Examples of complementary and integrative health approaches relevant to this FOA include, but are not restricted to, herbal products, dietary supplements, special diets, probiotics, or a combination of any of these therapies with each other or with conventional pharmacological therapies.
NICHD
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver ?N?a?t?i?o?n?a?l? ?I?n?s?t?i?t?u?t?e? ?o?f? ?C?h?i?l?d? ?H?e?a?l?t?h? ?a?n?d? ?H?u?m?a?n? ?D?e?v?e?l?o?p?m?e?n?t? ?(?N?I?C?H?D?) is interested in supporting research aimed at developing novel, non-addictive pharmacotherapies for (1) more effective and safer treatment of pain in pediatric or obstetric populations; (2) the treatment of chronic gynecologic pain syndromes, including vulvodynia/vestibulodynia, chronic pelvic pain, and dysmenorrhea, and post-operative gynecologic pain; (3) the management of persistent pain associated with multiple chronic conditions in individuals with physical impairments. Investigators are strongly encouraged to discuss their research plans with NICHD Scientific/Research contact prior to submitting their application.
NIDCR
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) is interested in preclinical optimization and development of safe, effective, and non-addictive small molecule and biologic therapeutics to treat painful disorders of the orofacial region including temporomandibular joint disorders, trigeminal neuropathies, burning mouth syndrome, oral cancer pain, dental pain, and other conditions. Investigators are encouraged to contact NIDCR program staff to discuss potential research projects prior to application submission to determine alignment of the planned studies with priorities of the Institute mission and strategic plan.
The OER Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types.
Need help determining whether you are doing a clinical trial?
NIH intends to fund an estimated 6-8 awards, corresponding to a total cost of $6 million for fiscal year 2019. Future year amounts will depend on annual appropriations.
Application budgets must reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. The UG3 phase budget, a maximum of 2 years, should not exceed $500K direct cost per year. The UH3 phase budget should not exceed $1.5M direct cost per year. Budgets for all years including both phases must be provided.
The total duration may not exceed 5 years.
Higher Education Institutions
The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
For-Profit Organizations
Governments
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.
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 NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time. This means that the NIH will not accept:
Buttons to access the online ASSIST system or to download application forms 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.
For information on Application Submission and Receipt, visit Frequently Asked Questions Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications.
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:
For applicants with interest in small molecules, the letter of intent should be sent to:
Charles Cywin, PhD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-1779
Email: [email protected]
For applicants with interest in biologics, the letter of intent should be sent to:
Chris Boshoff, Ph.D.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-1779
Email: [email protected]
The following additional instructions apply:
Other Attachments:
Applications should include an Intellectual property (IP) strategy. It may be no more than 2 pages. Applicants are encouraged to prepare this section of the application in consultation with their institution's technology transfer officials.
Applicants should describe the IP landscape surrounding their therapy. Applicants should describe any known constraints that could impede their therapeutic optimization and development (e.g., certain restrictions under transfer or sharing agreements, applicants' previous or present IP filings and publications, similar therapies that are under patent protection and/or on the market, etc.) and how these issues could be addressed.
If the applicant proposes using a hit/lead whose IP is not owned by the applicant's institution, as the starting point for optimization, the applicant should address any questions of freedom to operate and IP generation to ensure robust licensing opportunities at project completion.
If patents pertinent to the therapy being developed under this application have been filed, the applicant should indicate the details of filing dates, what type of patents are filed, application status, and associated USPTO links, if applicable.
Applicants should discuss future IP filing plans. For a multiple-PD/PI and/or multiple-institution applications (including those with NIH intramural collaborators), applicants should describe the infrastructure of each institution for bringing the technologies to practical application and for coordinating these efforts (e.g., licensing, managing IP) among the institutions. Applicants should clarify how IP will be shared or otherwise managed if multiple PD/PIs and institutions are involved.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Cost Matching Requirement for For-profit Applicants
Cost matching or documented in-kind contributions is required for for-profit organizations responding to this FOA. The for-profit awardee is required to match funds or provide at least a 50% matching of funds or documented in-kind contributions at a rate of not less than 50% of the for the total-Federally awarded amount (direct costs, as well as facilities and administrative costs), as stipulated by Public Law 115-141, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018.
Federal funds may not be used as a source of matching funds. Generally, cost matching requirements may not be met from the following sources:
a) Costs borne by another Federal grant or sub award;
b) Costs or contributions toward cost sharing on another Federal grant, a Federal procurement contract, or any other award of Federal funds;
c) Cost of services or property financed by income earned by contractors under a contract from the recipient (or sub recipient);
(d) Program income; and
(e) Patient incentives.
The for-profit organization will be required to demonstrate that matching funds and/or in-kind contributions are committed or available at the time of, and for the duration of, the award. Applicants must submit budgets that clearly document the total costs, the source and amount of matching funds, and how valuation was determined in the case of in-kind contributions, as well as the Federal and Institutional (non-Federal) components of the budget. All matching funds and/or in-kind contributions must be used for the portion of allowable project costs not paid by Federal funds under the grant award. NIH will not be the recipient, nor serve as a pass-through entity, of any such matching funds and/or in-kind contributions required under this announcement. See 45 CFR 75.306 for additional details.
Budget Justification: All for-profit applicants must document the matching (non-Federal) component and the federal (non-matching) component in the total project budget. That is, the requested budget plus the cost-matching budget must be detailed in tabular format to document the cost-matching (non-Federal) component and the federal (non-cost matching) component. The amount of matching is subject to adjustment based on total allowable costs incurred. All costs and contributions used to satisfy the matching requirement must be documented by the recipient, including how the value for in-kind contributions was determined, and are subject to audit. The cost matching requirement is not negotiable for for-profit organizations.
Budget Justification: All for-profit applicants must document the matching (non-Federal) component and the federal (non-matching) component in the total project budget. That is, the requested budget plus the cost-matching budget must be detailed in tabular format to document the cost-matching (non-Federal) component and the federal (non-cost matching) component. The amount of matching is subject to adjustment based on total allowable costs incurred. All costs and contributions used to satisfy the matching requirement must be documented by the recipient, including how the value for in-kind contributions was determined, and are subject to audit. The cost matching requirement is not negotiable for for-profit organizations.
Specific Aims: The Specific Aims section should include Aims delineated for the UG3 and UH3 phases.
Research Strategy:
The Research Strategy section should include the following subsections:
Clinical Impact (Significance):
Each application generally should focus on one or more specific pain condition(s). The target patient population and intended use guide the design of the drug and of the preclinical studies, such as toxicology and formulation.
For the specific pain condition(s) proposed, briefly describe the current state of knowledge of the etiology, clinical characteristics, and current and projected prevalence of the proposed condition indication.
Biological Rationale (Significance):
Testing Strategy (Approach):
In this section applicants should elaborate on their research plans to achieve the ultimate goal of assembling an IND application by the end of the project.
Include details on efforts to ensure the experimental design is rigorous. This includes, but is not limited to justification for model systems, endpoints, minimal requirements for agent purity, route and timing of delivery, adequacy of controls and sample sizes, description of statistical analyses, inclusions of measures to reduce bias, and plans for replication, if applicable.
Propose milestones to be used for measuring success in achieving each of the research plan key objectives. One or more milestone(s) should be used for each key objective.
Team management:
Team building is an essential step in the development of the overall plan for therapeutics development. Because translational research is intrinsically interdisciplinary, the plan will often involve cooperation among basic researchers, experts in preclinical development, and clinicians, and may include the participation of private-sector companies and voluntary organizations.
Innovation:
Explain how the project offers a novel approach to treating the proposed disease indication.
Letters of Support:
Applicants should include letters of support from consultants, contractors, and collaborators.
If applying from an academic institution, include a letter of support from the technology transfer official who will be managing intellectual property associated with this project.
The following modifications also apply:
Investigators should include a brief one-paragraph description of how the final research data will be shared or why data-sharing is not possible. If patent protection is being sought, investigators should explain how data will be shared after patent protection is secured.
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.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.
Foreign (non-U.S.) institutions must follow policies described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, and procedures for foreign institutions described throughout the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
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 Applying Electronically. If you encounter a system issue beyond your control that threatens your ability to complete the submission process on-time, you must follow the Guidelines for Applicants Experiencing System Issues. 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 and responsiveness by components of participating organizations, NIH. Applications that are incomplete, non-compliant and/or nonresponsive will not be reviewed.
Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process. As part of the NIH mission, all applications submitted to the NIH in support of biomedical and behavioral research are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.
The NIH is encouraging applications for translational research that may involve standard methodologies applied toward novel therapeutic approaches. Therefore, a project that does not necessarily employ novel methodologies may still be essential to advance the field.
Projects should not be penalized if the mechanism of action of the compound is unknown. While this may add to the risk, the increased risk may be counterbalanced by increased novelty.
Evaluation of the approach should focus on the biological rationale, the potential for identifying a candidate with suitable properties, potential patient benefit, competitive landscape (novelty), and strengths/weaknesses of studies to be conducted by the PD/PI. Any additional resources (e.g., contracts or consultants) provided by NIH should be presumed to be industry standard.
Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? Is there a strong scientific premise for the project? If the aims of the project are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?
Specific to this FOA:
If the project is successful in meeting its proposed Target Product Profile, how will it affect the development of safe, effective, and non-addictive small molecule and biologic therapies to treat pain?
Scientific Premise: what is the robustness of the preliminary data provided in support of the target/intervention (can be molecular, cellular or system) for the intended pain condition? Were the unpublished and published data used in support of the application from rigorously designed experiments and are they relevant? For key experiments, did the application explain assumptions for power analysis, describe statistical analysis methods and criteria for data inclusion or exclusion, and detail the procedures of how blinding and randomization were conducted? Have key data been replicated? If not, evaluate plans under Approach section.
Are the starting agent(s) robust and plans for optimization needed to achieve the desired candidate profile specified? Will the parameters proposed for optimization result in a candidate consistent with the requirements stated in the TPP? Is there evidence of clinical feasibility?
Are essential assays (in vitro and in vivo) that will be used to optimize the agent(s) well characterized (e.g., the dynamic range, variability) and available in the applicant's or collaborator's laboratory and suitable for the proposed use?
Are the PD(s)/PI(s), collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the project? If Early Stage Investigators or those in the early stages of independent careers, do they have appropriate experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD/PI, do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach, governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project?
Has an appropriate multidisciplinary team been engaged? Is any expertise lacking? Based on the team management plan and letters of support descriptions of how the members have already contributed to the design and proposed implementation of the project and how they will continue working together over the course of the project, does the team seem capable and sufficiently engaged to successfully complete the activities needed to obtain an optimized therapeutic candidate? Are the appropriate expertise areas represented in the team?
Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?
Specific to this FOA:
Would the proposed drug be expected to give significantly better clinical outcomes than have been observed in previous efforts focused on the same target? Will it offer a safer, effective, and non-addictive small molecule or biologic therapy to treat pain?
Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project? Have the investigators presented strategies to ensure a robust and unbiased approach, as appropriate for the work proposed? Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success presented? If the project is in the early stages of development, will the strategy establish feasibility and will particularly risky aspects be managed? Have the investigators presented adequate plans to address relevant biological variables, such as sex, for studies in vertebrate animals or human subjects?
Have the investigators included plans to address weaknesses in the rigor of prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project?
Specific to this FOA:
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 children, justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed?
Will the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Are the institutional support, equipment and other physical resources available to the investigators adequate for the project proposed? Will the project benefit from unique features of the scientific environment, subject populations, or collaborative arrangements?
Specific to this FOA:
Are there any intellectual property constraints that potentially could impede the development of the therapeutic and/or commercialization and achievement of the goals of the program?
For research that involves human subjects but does not involve one of the six 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 six 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.
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 children 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.
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.
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.
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
Specific to this FOA:
Does the project appropriately leverage any existing NIH resources?
Reviewers will assess whether the project presents special opportunities for furthering research programs through the use of unusual talent, resources, populations, or environmental conditions that exist in other countries and either are not readily available in the United States or augment existing U.S. resources.
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).
Reviewers will comment on whether the following Resource Sharing Plans, or the rationale for not sharing the following types of resources, are reasonable: (1) Data Sharing Plan; (2) Sharing Model Organisms; and (3) Genomic Data Sharing Plan (GDS).
For projects involving key biological and/or chemical resources, reviewers will comment on the brief plans proposed for identifying and ensuring the validity of those resources.
Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research. Specific to this FOA: How likely is it that the plans for cost matching will be adequate?
Information regarding the disposition of applications is available 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 grantee’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.
Special award condition specific to this FOA: A grantee from a for-profit organization funded under this announcement must match funds or provide documented in-kind contributions at a rate of not less than 50% of the total-Federally awarded amount, as stipulated by Public Law 115-141, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018. See 45 CFR 75.306 for additional details. Matching funds must be non-Federal funds set aside for this project and are available from the source(s) identified in the application, as committed to by the recipient. Cost matching will be evaluated by the awarding office to ensure that this requirement is being met. Compliance with the matching requirement must be verified on an annual basis and must be documented in the annual and final FFR.
Recipients of federal financial assistance (FFA) from HHS must administer their programs in compliance with federal civil rights law. This means that recipients of HHS funds must ensure equal access to their programs without regard to a person’s race, color, national origin, disability, age and, in some circumstances, sex and religion. This includes ensuring your programs are accessible to persons with limited English proficiency. 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.
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.
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. HHS provides general guidance to recipients of FFA on meeting their legal obligation to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to their programs by persons with limited English proficiency. Please see http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/resources/laws/revisedlep.html. The HHS Office for Civil Rights also provides guidance on complying with civil rights laws enforced by HHS. Please see http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/understanding/section1557/index.html; and http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/understanding/index.html. Recipients of FFA also have specific legal obligations for serving qualified individuals with disabilities. Please see http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/understanding/disability/index.html. Please contact the HHS Office for Civil Rights for more information about obligations and prohibitions under federal civil rights laws at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/about/rgn-hqaddresses.html or call 1-800-368-1019 or TDD 1-800-537-7697. Also note it is an HHS Departmental goal to ensure access to quality, culturally competent care, including long-term services and supports, for vulnerable populations. For further guidance on providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services, recipients should review the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care at http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlid=53.
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 Part 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 awardees 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 awardees for the project as a whole, although specific tasks and activities may be shared among the awardees 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:
Leadership of the Institute/Center funding the project will make decisions on project continuation with input from NIH staff and/or any established oversight committee, based on:
Areas of Joint Responsibility include:
None; all responsibilities are divided between awardees and NIH staff as described above.
Dispute Resolution:
Any disagreements that may arise in scientific or programmatic matters (within the scope of the award) between award recipients and the NIH may be brought to Dispute Resolution. A Dispute Resolution Panel composed of three members will be convened. It will have three members: a designee of the Steering Committee chosen without NIH staff voting, one NIH designee, and a third designee with expertise in the relevant area who is chosen by the other two; in the case of individual disagreement, the first member may be chosen by the individual awardee. This special dispute resolution procedure does not alter the awardee's right to appeal an adverse action that is otherwise appealable in accordance with PHS regulation 42 CFR Part 50, Subpart D and DHHS regulation 45 CFR Part 16.
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.
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 processes and NIH grant resources)
Email: [email protected] (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: [email protected]
Charles Cywin
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Telephone: 301-496-1779
Email: [email protected]
Chris Boshoff, Ph.D.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-1779
Email: [email protected]
Wen G. Chen, PhD
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Telephone: 301-451-3989
Email: [email protected]
Diane St. Germain
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-7082
Email: [email protected]
Houmam Araj
National Eye Institute (NEI)
301-451-2020
[email protected]
Coryse St. Hillaire-Clarke, Ph.D.
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Telephone: 301-827-6944
Email: [email protected]
Soundar Regunathan, PhD
?National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
?Telephone: 301.443.1192
?E-mail: [email protected]
Charles Washabaugh, PhD
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases? (NIAMS)
?Telephone: 301.496.9568
?E-mail: [email protected]
Zhaoxia Ren, MD, PhD
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Telephone: 301-402-9340
Email: [email protected]
Kristopher Bough, Ph.D
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Telephone: 301-443-9800
Email: [email protected]
Yolanda F. Vallejo, PhD
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Telephone: 301-827-4655
Email: [email protected]
Teresa L.Z. Jones, MD
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Telephone: 301.435.2996
E-mail: [email protected]
Chief, Scientific Review Branch
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: (301) 496-9223
Email: [email protected]
Tijuanna E. DeCoster, Ph.D.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-9231
Email: [email protected]
Shelley Carow
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
301.594.3788
Amy Bartosch
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-6912
Email:[email protected]
Karen Robinson-Smith
National Eye Institute (NEI)
301-451-2020
Traci Lafferty
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Telephone: 301-496-8987
Email: [email protected]
Judy Fox
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Telephone: 301-443-4704
Email:[email protected]
Andrew Jones
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
Telephone: 301-435-0610
Email: [email protected]
Bryan S. Clark, M.B.A.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Telephone: 301-435-6975
Email: [email protected]
Pam Fleming
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Telephone: 301-480-1159
Email: [email protected]
Diana Rutberg, MBA
National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Telephone: 301-594-4798
Email: [email protected]