Department of Health and Human Services

Part 1. Overview Information

Participating Organization(s)

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Components of Participating Organizations

Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD)

National Eye Institute (NEI)

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

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 Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders (NIDDK)

Funding Opportunity Title
INvestigation of Co-occurring conditions across the Lifespan to Understand Down syndromE (INCLUDE) Clinical Trial Readiness (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Activity Code

R21 Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant

Announcement Type
Reissue of RFA-OD-20-004
Related Notices

See Notices of Special Interest associated with this funding opportunity

May 31, 2023 - Notice of NIDDK Participation in "RFA-OD-22-007: INvestigation of Co-occurring conditions across the Lifespan to Understand Down syndromE (INCLUDE) Clinical Trial Readiness (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)". See Notice NOT-DK-23-026

NOT-OD-23-012 Reminder: FORMS-H Grant Application Forms and Instructions Must be Used for Due Dates On or After January 25, 2023 - New Grant Application Instructions Now Available

NOT-OD-22-190 - Adjustments to NIH and AHRQ Grant Application Due Dates Between September 22 and September 30, 2022

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number
RFA-OD-22-007
Companion Funding Opportunity
RFA-OD-22-009 , R01 Research Project
RFA-OD-22-010 , R61/ R33 Phase 1 Exploratory/Developmental Grant/ Exploratory/Developmental Grants Phase II
Assistance Listing Number(s)
93.865, 93.173, 93.866, 93.846, 93.853, 93.867, 93.395, 93.394, 93.847
Funding Opportunity Purpose

The NIH INvestigation of Co-occurring conditions across the Lifespan to Understand Down syndromE (INCLUDE) Project seeks to improve health and quality-of-life for individuals with Down syndrome. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites researchers to submit applications for support of clinical projects that address critical needs for clinical trial readiness in Down syndrome. This initiative seeks applications that are intended to facilitate Down syndrome research by enabling efficient and effective movement of candidate therapeutics or diagnostics towards clinical trials for Down syndrome and its co-occurring conditions, and to increase their likelihood of success through development and testing of biomarkers and clinical outcome assessment measures, development and testing of novel trial methods and recruitment strategies, or by defining the presentation and course of the co-occurring conditions in individuals with Down syndrome to enable the design of future clinical trials.

Key Dates

Posted Date
April 05, 2022
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date)
May 30, 2022
Letter of Intent Due Date(s)

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
July 01, 2022 July 01, 2022 Not Applicable November 2022 January 2023 April 2023
July 01, 2023 June 30, 2023 Not Applicable November 2023 January 2024 April 2024
July 01, 2024 July 01, 2024 Not Applicable November 2024 January 2025 April 2025

All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.

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.

Expiration Date
July 02, 2024
Due Dates for E.O. 12372

Not Applicable

Required Application Instructions

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.

There are several options available to submit your application through Grants.gov to NIH and Department of Health and Human Services partners. You must use one of these submission options to access the application forms for this opportunity.

  1. Use the NIH ASSIST system to prepare, submit and track your application online.
  2. Use an institutional system-to-system (S2S) solution to prepare and submit your application to Grants.gov and eRA Commons to track your application. Check with your institutional officials regarding availability.

  3. Use Grants.gov Workspace to prepare and submit your application and eRA Commons to track your application.


  4. Table of Contents

Part 2. Full Text of Announcement

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

Purpose

The NIH INvestigation of Co-occurring conditions across the Lifespan to Understand Down syndromE (INCLUDE) Project seeks to improve health and quality-of-life for individuals with Down syndrome. This FOA requests research to address critical health needs for individuals across the lifespan with Down syndrome. The overarching emphasis is on the acquisition of knowledge that can be translated into new, enhanced, or tailored therapies for co-occurring conditions in individuals with Down syndrome. To date, clinical trials for Down syndrome have been extremely limited and have primarily focused on improving cognition, memory and adaptive functioning. Moreover, people with Down syndrome are often excluded from trials of potentially beneficial drugs and therapeutics that are used to treat the same condition in the general population.

Background

Down syndrome is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability, the most common autosomal trisomy, and one of the most visible and universally recognized genetic syndromes. Each year there are approximately 5300 babies born in the United States with Down syndrome. Within the past 25 years, the average lifespan for a person with Down syndrome has doubled, from 30 to 60 years. Despite this increase in lifespan, individuals with Down syndrome and their families face significant and changing health challenges with age, and they have often been excluded from participation in research that could improve their health outcomes and quality of life. While all people with Down syndrome are connected by the common feature of a complete or partial copy of chromosome 21 (trisomy 21), there are significant physical and cognitive differences among them, indicating that inter-individual variability exists.

Down syndrome is associated with an increased prevalence of autism and epilepsy. About 75% of individuals experience cognitive decline in a syndrome that resembles Alzheimer’s disease but has its onset a decade or two earlier than typical Alzheimer’s disease. Individuals with Down syndrome also have high rates of hearing loss, eye abnormalities, congenital heart defects, sleep apnea, pulmonary hypertension, gastrointestinal malformations, thyroid disease, leukemia, and other autoimmune or immune dysregulation disorders including celiac disease. However, people with Down syndrome infrequently develop solid tumors such as breast or prostate cancer, and despite multiple risk factors for coronary artery disease and high rates of obesity, sleep apnea, and type 1 diabetes, they rarely develop atherosclerosis or have myocardial infarctions. Understanding this unique combination of risk and resiliencies will inform medical advances for individuals with Down syndrome, and for individuals who do not have Down syndrome but share these co-occurring conditions.

This FOA is one of several trans-NIH research initiatives created in response to Fiscal Year 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 Omnibus Appropriations Reports, which encourage NIH to expand its current efforts on Down syndrome and common co-occurring conditions also seen in the general population, while increasing the pipeline of Down syndrome investigators. Together, the initiatives are called the INCLUDE Project (INvestigation of Co-occurring conditions across the Lifespan to Understand Down syndromE). Information about projects that were funded in prior years, as well as the NIH INCLUDE Down Syndrome Research Plan, are available on the INCLUDE Project website at https://www.nih.gov/include-project/. The INCLUDE Project has three components:

  • Component 1: Targeted, high risk-high reward, basic science studies in areas highly relevant to Down syndrome
  • Component 2: Assembly of a large cohort of individuals with Down syndrome across the lifespan to perform deep phenotyping and study co-existing conditions
  • Component 3: Inclusive clinical trials of existing and future treatments and interventions for co-occurring conditions in individuals with Down syndrome

Scope

This FOA addresses Component 3 of the INCLUDE Project. Specifically, to optimize clinical trial readiness, there needs to be a sufficient understanding of Down syndrome and the specific co-occurring conditions to permit the design, conduct, and interpretation of rigorous clinical trials. The purpose of this FOA is to seek applications that are intended to facilitate Down syndrome research by enabling efficient and effective movement of candidate therapeutics or diagnostics towards clinical trials for Down syndrome and its co-occurring conditions, and to increase their likelihood of success through the development and testing of biomarkers and clinical outcome assessment measures, development and testing of novel trial methods and recruitment strategies, or by defining the presentation and course of the co-occurring conditions in individuals with Down syndrome to enable the design of future clinical trials.

Applicants are expected to have clinical expertise in Down syndrome and the particular co-occurring condition under study, including the capability for measuring clinical outcomes and analyzing appropriate biomarkers where applicable. This FOA seeks applications that demonstrate access to a sufficient number of individuals with Down syndrome for inclusion in the proposed study or access to additional participants through collaboration.

Projects appropriate for this initiative need not be high-risk/high reward studies; however, they should advance the field by facilitating clinical trial readiness through the development of missing components that are essential for rigorous clinical trials.

For the purpose of this initiative, clinical trial readiness can include projects that utilize sensitive, reliable, valid, and responsive tools to identify or select appropriate participants for clinical trials, or to measure the effects of interventions. These tools include clinical outcome measures and biomarkers. Investigators are encouraged to use or modify existing resources, validate existing tools or add components to existing disease-specific tools (such as symptom scales). Projects that define the presentation and course of the co-occurring condition in ways that are essential for the design of upcoming clinical trials can also be included.

Examples of studies intended to be supported through this FOA include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Studies aimed at the clinical validation of biomarkers or clinical outcome measures with defined contexts of use in Down syndrome.
  • Proof of concept studies in an animal model of Down syndrome.
  • Studies to develop or incorporate patient-reported or patient-centered outcomes.
  • Studies to characterize participants regarding clinical outcome measures, biomarkers, genetic, epigenetic, or physiological factors that will be used for stratification or determine inclusion/exclusion criteria in upcoming clinical trials.
  • Studies to characterize participants using candidate outcome measures to establish the variability of measures as needed for accurate power calculations or to determine the appropriate duration of upcoming clinical trials.
  • Studies evaluating the responsiveness of biomarkers or clinical outcome measures through the observation of patients who are receiving treatment as part of their clinical care.
  • Studies to address knowledge gaps for clinical trial planning that also pilot innovative recruitment strategies, especially aimed at recruiting underrepresented populations.
  • Studies examining pharmacokinetics of medications in individual with Down syndrome.
  • Ancillary studies that leverage ongoing clinical studies supported through other sources of funding. Researchers may consider collecting data to characterize new or improved clinical outcome measures, biomarkers, or approaches as ancillary studies to ongoing clinical trials or longitudinal studies.

Examples of studies that are considered not appropriate for this FOA include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Natural history studies aimed at broadly exploring disease pathophysiology, genetic or epigenetic mechanisms with no direct connection to an upcoming clinical trial.
  • Studies of biomarker discovery.
  • Applications that propose only to maintain patient registries.
  • Applications that request support for infrastructure to establish new clinical trial networks.

Applications are assigned to participating Institutes and Centers (ICs) based on receipt and referral guidelines, and applications may be assigned to multiple participating ICs with related research interests. Applicants are encouraged to identify a participating IC that supports their area of research and contact Scientific/Research staff from relevant ICs to inquire about their interest in supporting the proposed research project via the INCLUDE website, which lists IC-specific funding priorities, as well as contacts for each participating IC.

Projects that propose to recruit subjects with Down syndrome are encouraged to promote enrollment of research subjects in the Down syndrome patient registry supported by NIH, DS-Connect . For biospecimens collected from human genetic or non-genetic studies, awardees are encouraged to use biorepositories designated by INCLUDE staff that meet requirements for broad sharing. An NIH resource describing Common Data Elements may be helpful during the planning phases of a project when considering ways to optimize data collection in order to facilitate broad data sharing. For those applications that generate clinical data, it is expected that the data sharing plan will include the INCLUDE Data Coordinating Center (DCC).

Leveraging Existing Research Resources

Applicants are encouraged to leverage existing research resources for their clinical trial readiness studies (e.g., existing NIH clinical research consortia and networks). Contact the IC point of contact in the relevant research area to discuss potential resources.

See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.

Section II. Award Information

Funding Instrument

Grant: A support mechanism providing money, property, or both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity.

Application Types Allowed
New
Resubmission
Revision

New

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.

Clinical Trial?

Not Allowed: Only accepting applications that do not propose clinical trials.

Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards

NIH intends to commit total costs of at least $1,000,000 in FY2022 to fund an estimate of 3 to 5 awards.

The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications. Future year amounts will depend on annual appropriations.

Award Budget

Applications can request budgets that are up to $275,000 direct costs for the 2-year project period of the award. No more than $200,000 direct costs may be requested in any single year.

Award Project Period

The total project period may not exceed 2 years.

NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made from this FOA.

Section III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

Eligible Organizations

Higher Education Institutions

  • Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
  • Private Institutions of Higher Education

The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:

  • Hispanic-serving Institutions
  • Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
  • Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
  • Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
  • Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)

Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education

  • Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
  • Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)

For-Profit Organizations

  • Small Businesses
  • For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)

Local Governments

  • State Governments
  • County Governments
  • City or Township Governments
  • Special District Governments
  • Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
  • Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)

Federal Governments

  • Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government
  • U.S. Territory or Possession

Other

  • Independent School Districts
  • Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities
  • Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
  • Faith-based or Community-based Organizations
  • Regional Organizations
  • Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions)
Foreign Institutions

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are eligible to apply.

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are eligible to apply.

Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.

Required Registrations

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.

  • System for Award Management (SAM) Applicants must complete and maintain an active registration, which requires renewal at least annually. The renewal process may require as much time as the initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not already been assigned a CAGE Code.
    • NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code Foreign organizations must obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM.
    • Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)- A UEI is issued as part of the SAM.gov registration process. SAM registrations prior to fall 2021 were updated to include a UEI. For applications due on or after January 25, 2022, the UEI must be provided on the application forms (e.g., FORMS-G); the same UEI must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application.
    • Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Organization registrations prior to April 2022 require applicants to obtain a DUNS prior to registering in SAM. By April 2022, the federal government will stop using the DUNS number as an entity identifier and will transition to the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) issued by SAM. Prior to April 2022, after obtaining a DUNS number, applicants can begin both SAM and eRA Commons registrations. The same DUNS number must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application.
  • eRA Commons - Once the unique organization identifier (DUNS prior to April 2022; UEI after April 2022) is established, organizations can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their full SAM and Grants.gov registrations; all registrations must be in place by time of submission. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.
  • Grants.gov Applicants must have an active SAM registration in order to complete the Grants.gov registration.

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.

Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal Investigator)

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.

2. Cost Sharing

This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

3. Additional Information on Eligibility

Number of Applications

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, per 2.3.7.4 Submission of Resubmission Application. This means that the NIH will not accept:

  • A new (A0) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of an overlapping new (A0) or resubmission (A1) application.
  • A resubmission (A1) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of the previous new (A0) application.
  • An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review (see 2.3.9.4 Similar, Essentially Identical, or Identical Applications).

Section IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Requesting an Application Package

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.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Research (R) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced. Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

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:

  • Descriptive title of proposed activity
  • Name(s), address(es), and telephone number(s) of the PD(s)/PI(s)
  • Names of other key personnel
  • Participating institution(s)
  • Number and title of this funding opportunity

The letter of intent should be sent to:

Natalia Komissarova
Telephone: 301-435-1206
Email: natalia.komissarova@nih.gov

Page Limitations

All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.

Instructions for Application Submission

Note: Effective for due dates on or after January 25, 2023, the Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan will be attached in the Other Plan(s) attachment in FORMS-H and subsequent application forms packages. For due dates on or before January 24, 2023, the Data Sharing Plan and Genomic Data Sharing Plan GDS) will continue to be attached in the Resource Sharing Plan attachment in FORMS-G application forms packages.

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.

SF424(R&R) Cover

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

SF424(R&R) Project/Performance Site Locations

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

SF424(R&R) Other Project 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.

SF424(R&R) Senior/Key Person Profile

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

R&R or Modular 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.

R&R Subaward 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.

PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

PHS 398 Research Plan

Other Plan(s):

Note: Effective for due dates on or after January 25, 2023, the Data Management and Sharing Plan will be attached in the Other Plan(s) attachment in FORMS-H and subsequent application forms packages. For due dates on or before January 24, 2023, the Data Sharing Plan and Genomic Data Sharing Plan GDS) will continue to be attached in the Resource Sharing Plan attachment in FORMS-G application forms packages.

All applicants planning research (funded or conducted in whole or in part by NIH) that results in the generation of scientific data are required to comply with the instructions for the Data Management and Sharing Plan. All applications, regardless of the amount of direct costs requested for any one year, must address a Data Management and Sharing Plan.

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:

Research Strategy:

Need for Clinical Trial Readiness - The Significance section of the Research Strategy should include a subsection with the heading Urgent Need for Clinical Trial Readiness . This subsection should describe the need for conducting the trial readiness study at this time. Applicants should describe the clinical trial design issues (e.g., biomarker or clinical outcomes validation or qualification, data for power calculations, defining inclusion/exclusion criteria, determining the duration of the trial, etc.) that will be addressed by this trial readiness study. Applicants should describethe potential impact of the proposed studies in addressing significant needs in the design and increasing the likelihood of success of upcoming clinical trials.

This section should also contain the following:

  • A brief description of the state of development of candidate therapeutics or devices for Down syndrome and the specific co-occurring condition (even if the current applicants are not involved in the development of those therapeutics/devices).
  • Timelines for the advance of therapeutics/devices to clinical trials.
  • A brief description of the clinical trial(s) that would be enabled by the results of this trial readiness study.
  • Include a brief description of the currently available clinical measures and/or biomarkers. If appropriate for the proposed study, describe how the study will result in advancements over the currently available measures/biomarkers. If the current measures/biomarkers are considered inadequate or insufficiently developed for use in upcoming trials, describe their limitations and how those limitations may compromise the success of upcoming trials. If the proposed trial readiness study is ancillary to an ongoing clinical trial or longitudinal study, describe that study and provide a letter of support (below) from the study's lead PD(s)/PI(s). Explain how the trial readiness study will lead to improvements in the design of future trials above that of the ongoing study.
  • Describe any gaps in knowledge regarding the condition that need to be addressed to achieve clinical trial readiness. Explain how the lack of this knowledge will compromise clinical trial design and how this study will overcome current obstacle(s).

Letters of Support

Provide letters of collaboration from individuals who will contribute in a substantive, meaningful way to the scientific development or execution of the project, whether or not salaries are requested. As appropriate, letters should document access to expertise, equipment and/or patients.

For ancillary studies, provide a letter of support from the PD/PI of the parent study that includes:

  • A brief description of the aims of the parent study; and,
  • The timeline of the parent study relative to the proposed ancillary study.

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:

  • NIH intends to maximize the impact of INCLUDE-supported projects through broad and rapid data sharing. Consistent with the priorities of the INCLUDE Project, all applications, regardless of the amount of direct costs requested for any one year, are required to include a Data Management and Sharing Plan outlining how scientific data and any accompanying metadata will be managed and shared, regardless of whether the data are used to support scholarly publication. The plan should describe data types, file formats, submission timelines, and standards used in collecting or processing the data. It is expected that all de-identified human data generated by INCLUDE-funded projects will be submitted to NIH-designated repositories in coordination with the INCLUDE Data Coordinating Center (DCC). All applications generating human genomic data should include, as an attachment, an Institutional Certification (https://osp.od.nih.gov/scientific-sharing/institutional-certifications/) which indicates the data use limitations and/or modifiers stating how individual level sequence data can be shared with and used by secondary users, under the guidance of the NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-14-124.html. For more information regarding INCLUDE data sharing, visithttps://www.nih.gov/include-project/frequently-asked-questions.

    Considerations

    To maximize comparisons across datasets or studies, and facilitate data integration and collaboration, applications submitted in response to this RFA are strongly encouraged to incorporate the following standards and resources (where applicable):

    • All applications, regardless of the amount of direct costs requested for any one year, should address a Data Sharing Plan.
    • Projects that propose to recruit subjects with DS are encouraged to promote enrollment of research subjects in the DS patient registry supported by NIH, DS-Connect .
    • For biospecimens collected from human genetic or non-genetic studies, researchers are encouraged to use biorepositories designated by INCLUDE staff that meet requirements for broad sharing.
    • Applicants are encouraged to ensure that data collected by the study conform to Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) principles.
    • NIH encourages researchers to explore the use of the HL7 FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperabilityhttps://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-20-003.htmlResources) standard to capture, integrate, and exchange clinical data for research purposes and to enhance capabilities to share research data (NOT-OD-19-122). The FHIR standard may be particularly useful in facilitating the flow of data with EHR-based datasets, tools, and applications.
    • NIH encourages clinical research programs and researchers to adopt and use the standardized set of data classes, data elements, and associated vocabulary standards specified in the United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) standards (NOT-OD-20-146), as they are applicable. Use of the USCDI can complement the FHIR standard and enable researchers to leverage structured EHR data for research and enable discovery.
    • NIH encourages the use of data standards including common data elements, such as those available through the PhenX Toolkit (www.phenxtoolkit.org) and the NIH CDE repository (cde.nlm.nih.gov), terminologies and ontologies such as Mondo Disease Ontology (mondo.monarchinitiative.org), Human Phenotype Ontology (hpo.jax.org), and common data models such as the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP;ohdsi.org).
    • For studies that propose clinical trials, please consider submitting an application to RFA-OD-22-010 (Clinical Trials Development for Co-Occurring Conditions in Individuals with Down syndrome: Phased Awards for INCLUDE (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Required)).

Recruitment Plan to Enhance Diversity

The applicant must provide aRecruitment Plan (when applicable) to Enhance Diversity. The application should include outreach strategies and activities designed to recruit potential participants who are from diverse backgrounds, including participants from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups (seehttps://www.nimhd.nih.gov/about/overview/). Describe the specific efforts to be undertaken by the participating investigators to coordinate with efforts to recruit individuals from underrepresented groups. Please name the file "Recruitment Plan.pdf".

Appendix:

Only limited Appendix materials are allowed. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

  • No publications or other material, with the exception of blank questionnaires or blank surveys, may be included in the Appendix.

PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

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.

Delayed Onset Study

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.

PHS Assignment Request Form

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

Foreign Institutions

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.

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

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.

4. Submission Dates and Times

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.

5. Intergovernmental Review (E.O. 12372)

This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.

6. Funding Restrictions

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.

7. Other Submission Requirements and Information

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 fieldof the Senior/Key Person Profile form. 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 unique entity identifier (DUNS number or UEI as required) provided 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.

Post Submission Materials

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.

Section V. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

Note: Effective for due dates on or after January 25, 2023, the Data Sharing Plan and Genomic Data Sharing Plan (GDS) as part of the Resource Sharing Plan will not be evaluated at time of review.

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:

The R21 exploratory/developmental grant supports investigation of novel scientific ideas or new model systems, tools, or technologies that have the potential for significant impact on biomedical or biobehavioral research. An R21 grant application need not have extensive background material or preliminary information. Accordingly, reviewers will emphasize the conceptual framework, the level of innovation, and the potential to significantly advance our knowledge or understanding. Appropriate justification for the proposed work can be provided through literature citations, data from other sources, or, when available, from investigator-generated data. Preliminary data are not required for R21 applications; however, they may be included if available.

Overall Impact

Overall Impact

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).

Scored Review Criteria

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 project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? Is the prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project rigorous? 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?

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?

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?

Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project? Have the investigators included plans to address weaknesses in the rigor of prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed 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?

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?

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?

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:

  • All applications, regardless of the amount of direct costs requested for any one year, should address a Data Sharing Plan.

NIH intends to maximize the impact of INCLUDE-supported projects through broad and rapid data sharing. Consistent with the new NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-21-013.html) and the priorities of the INCLUDE Project, all applications, regardless of the amount of direct costs requested for any one year, are required to include a Data Management and Sharing Plan outlining how scientific data and any accompanying metadata will be managed and shared, regardless of whether the data are used to support scholarly publication. The plan should describe data types, file formats, submission timelines, and standards used in collecting or processing the data. It is expected that all de-identified human data generated by INCLUDE-funded projects will be submitted to NIH-designated repositories in coordination with the INCLUDE Data Coordinating Center (DCC). All applications generating human genomic data should include, as an attachment, an Institutional Certification (https://osp.od.nih.gov/scientific-sharing/institutional-certifications/) which indicates the data use limitations and/or modifiers stating how individual level sequence data can be shared with and used by secondary users, under the guidance of the NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-14-124.html. For more information regarding INCLUDE data sharing, visit ?https://www.nih.gov/include-project/frequently-asked-questions.

Considerations

To maximize comparisons across datasets or studies, and facilitate data integration and collaboration, applications submitted in response to this RFA are strongly encouraged to incorporate the following standards and resources (where applicable):

  • Projects that propose to recruit subjects with DS are encouraged to promote enrollment of research subjects in the DS patient registry supported by NIH, DS-Connect .

  • For biospecimens collected from human genetic or non-genetic studies, researchers are encouraged to use biorepositories designated by INCLUDE staff that meet requirements for broad sharing.

  • Applicants are encouraged to ensure that data collected by the study conform to Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) principles.

  • NIH encourages researchers to explore the use of the HL7 FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability?https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-20-003.html?Resources) standard to capture, integrate, and exchange clinical data for research purposes and to enhance capabilities to share research data (NOT-OD-19-122). The FHIR standard may be particularly useful in facilitating the flow of data with EHR-based datasets, tools, and applications.

  • NIH encourages clinical research programs and researchers to adopt and use the standardized set of data classes, data elements, and associated vocabulary standards specified in the United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) standards (NOT-OD-20-146), as they are applicable. Use of the USCDI can complement the FHIR standard and enable researchers to leverage structured EHR data for research and enable discovery.

  • NIH encourages the use of data standards including common data elements, such as those available through the PhenX Toolkit (www.phenxtoolkit.org) and the NIH CDE repository (cde.nlm.nih.gov), terminologies and ontologies such as Mondo Disease Ontology (mondo.monarchinitiative.org), Human Phenotype Ontology (hpo.jax.org), and common data models such as the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP;?ohdsi.org).

  • For studies that propose clinical trials, please consider submitting an application to ?RFA-OD-22-010 ?(Clinical Trials Development for Co-Occurring Conditions in Individuals with Down syndrome: Phased Awards for INCLUDE (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Required)).

Additional Review Criteria

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.

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.

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.

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.

Allowed

Allowed

Allowed

Additional Review Considerations

Note: Effective for due dates on or after January 25, 2023, the Data Sharing Plan and Genomic Data Sharing Plan (GDS) as part of the Resource Sharing Plan will not be evaluated at time of review.

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.

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.

Peer reviewers will separately evaluate the recruitment plan (when applicable) to enhance diversity after the overall score has been determined. Reviewers will examine the strategies to be used to recruit a diverse pool of potential candidates that includes individuals from underrepresented groups. The overall plan will be rated as ACCEPTABLE only if the recruitment strategies for all of the relevant groups identified in the Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity are viewed by the review panel as acceptable, otherwise the plan will be rated as UNACCEPTABLE. The consensus of the review committee will be included in an administrative note in the summary statement.

2. Review and Selection Process

Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s) convened by the Center for Scientific Review, 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:
  • Scientific and technical merit of the proposed project as determined by scientific peer review.
  • Availability of funds.
  • Relevance of the proposed project to program priorities.

3. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

After the peer review of the application is completed, the PD/PI will be able to access his or her Summary Statement (written critique) via the eRA Commons. Refer to Part 1 for dates for peer review, advisory council review, and earliest start date.

Information regarding the disposition of applications is available in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Section VI. Award Administration Information

1. Award Notices

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.

Recipients must comply with any funding restrictions described in Section IV.6. 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 recipient must provide NIH copies of documents related to all major changes in the status of ongoing protocols.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

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, including of note, but not limited to:

If a recipient is successful and receives a Notice of Award, in accepting the award, the recipient agrees that any activities under the award are subject to all provisions currently in effect or implemented during the period of the award, other Department regulations and policies in effect at the time of the award, and applicable statutory provisions.

Should the applicant organization successfully compete for an award, 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 (including gender identify, sexual orientation, and pregnancy). This includes ensuring programs are accessible to persons with limited English proficiency and persons with disabilities. 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 https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/nondiscrimination/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 and 2 CFR Part 200.206 Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants. This provision will apply to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements except fellowships.

Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions of Award

Not Applicable

Data Management and Sharing

Note: The NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing is effective for due dates on or after January 25, 2023.

Consistent with the NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing, when data management and sharing is applicable to the award, recipients will be required to adhere to the Data Management and Sharing requirements as outlined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. Upon the approval of a Data Management and Sharing Plan, it is required for recipients to implement the plan as described.

3. Reporting

When multiple years are involved, recipients will be required to submit the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) annually and financial statements as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

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. NIH FOAs outline intended research goals and objectives. Post award, NIH will review and measure performance based on the details and outcomes that are shared within the RPPR, as described at 45 CFR Part 75.301 and 2 CFR Part 200.301.

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act), includes a requirement for recipients of Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY2011 or later. All recipients 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 the threshold. 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 2 CFR Part 200.113 and Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75 and 2 CFR Part 200, 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 and 2 CFR Part 200 Award Term and Condition for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters.

Section VII. Agency Contacts

We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants.

Application Submission Contacts

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: 301-637-3015

Grants.gov Customer Support (Questions regarding Grants.gov registration and Workspace)
Contact Center Telephone: 800-518-4726
Email: support@grants.gov

Scientific/Research Contact(s)

Please direct inquiries related to specific interests of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers to the IC contacts listed on the INCLUDE Project website.

Laurie M. Ryan, Ph.D.
National Institute On Aging (NIA)
Phone: 301.496.9350
E-mail: ryanl@mail.nih.gov

Kelly Anne King, Au.D., Ph.D.
National Institute On Deafness And Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Phone: 301-402-3458
E-mail: kingke@mail.nih.gov

Charlene A Schramm
National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Phone: (301) 435-0510
E-mail: schrammc@mail.nih.gov

Robert Riddle
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Telephone: 301 496 5745
Email: riddler@nih.gov

Houmam H Araj
NEI - NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE
Phone: (301) 435-8166
E-mail: ha50c@nih.gov

Malcolm Smith, M.D., Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Telephone: 240-276-6560
Email: smithm@ctep.nci.nih.gov

Melissa Parisi, MD, PhD
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Telephone: 301-435-6880
Email: parisima@mail.nih.gov

Marie Mancini, PhD
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
Phone: 301-594-5032
E-mail: mancinim2@mail.nih.gov

Peer Review Contact(s)

Natalia Komissarova, Ph.D.
Center for Scientific Review
Telephone: 301-435-1206
Email:?komissar@mail.nih.gov

Financial/Grants Management Contact(s)

Kelly Fritz
Grants Management Branch
Eunice Kennedy Shriver?National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Telephone: 301-827-5429
Email: Kelly.Fritz@nih.gov

Robin Laney
National Institute On Aging (NIA)
Phone: 301-496-1472
E-mail: laneyr@mail.nih.gov

Christopher Myers
National Institute On Deafness And Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Phone: (301) 435-0713
E-mail: myersc@nidcd.nih.gov

Fatima Kamara
National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Phone: (301) 435-7196
E-mail: fatima.kamara@nih.gov

Chief Grants Management Officer
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Email: ChiefGrantsManagementOfficer@ninds.nih.gov

Karen Robinsonsmith
NEI - NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE
Phone: (301) 451-2020
E-mail: kyr@nei.nih.gov

Crystal Wolfrey
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Phone: (240) 276-6277
E-mail: wolfreyc@mail.nih.gov

Kelly Fritz
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Telephone: 301-827-5429
Email: kelly.fritz@nih.gov

Erik Edgerton
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
Phone: 301-594-7760
E-mail: erik.edgerton@nih.gov

Section VIII. Other Information

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.

Authority and Regulations

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 and 2 CFR Part 200.

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