RFA-DC-00-001: NIDCD MINORITY DISSERTATION RESEARCH GRANTS IN HUMAN COMMUNICATION

Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS)

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NIDCD MINORITY DISSERTATION RESEARCH GRANTS IN HUMAN COMMUNICATION Release Date: February 28, 2000 RFA: DC-00-001 National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Application Receipt Date: June 12, 2000 PURPOSE The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) announces the availability of small grants (R03) to support doctoral dissertation research in human communication for doctoral candidates who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups that are under-represented in biomedical and behavioral research. The goals of this program are to aid the research of new minority investigators and to encourage minority individuals from a variety of academic disciplines and programs to conduct research in hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, and language. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000 The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000," a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. This Request for Applications (RFA), NIDCD Minority Dissertation Research Grants in Human Communication, is related to several priority areas applicable to human communication. Potential candidates for the awards may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full Report: Stock No. 017-001-00474-0 or Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202- 512-1800). ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Candidates for this award must be graduate students in good standing and must be identified by the grantee institution as a member of an ethnic or racial group that is under-represented in biomedical or behavioral research. Awards will be limited to citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States or to individuals who have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e., in possession of an Alien Registration Receipt Card) at the time of application. Within this group, women and persons with disabilities are particularly encouraged to apply. The doctoral candidate must have a dissertation topic approved by his/her institutional committee established for that purpose. This information must be verified in a letter of certification from the thesis committee chairperson and submitted with the grant application (see APPLICATION PROCEDURES). Research topics must address issues in human communication, focusing on one or more of the seven NIDCD scientific mission areas described under RESEARCH OBJECTIVES. The applicant organization must be a domestic institution, such as a university or college, supporting doctoral level training. The performance site may be foreign or domestic. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT The mechanism of support is the NIH small grant (R03). Grants to support dissertation research may be requested for up to two years. These grants will provide up to $36,000 in direct costs over the two- year period, with no more than $30,000 in direct costs in any one year. FUNDS AVAILABLE The NIDCD has committed approximately $272,000 to award up to seven grants in response to this RFA. These grants are not eligible for renewal. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES This grant initiative is to provide students who are members of minority groups with grants-in-aid to perform their dissertation research on a topic related to human communication, and thereby increase the pool of minority researchers in the sciences of human communication. The research supported by NIDCD encompasses the basic or fundamental sciences and the clinical or applied sciences subserving hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech and language. The descriptions below of the research foci of NIDCD are provided to guide potential applicants in determining whether a given scientific topic may be appropriate for this initiative. These descriptions are not intended to be comprehensive. Questions on the relevance of a particular topic to the NIDCD scientific mission and other questions about this RFA should be addressed to the program contact listed under INQUIRIES. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their application with the program contact. HEARING. Diseases and disorders of the auditory system including otitis media, otosclerosis, autoimmune-mediated hearing loss, tinnitus, and genetic deafness/hearing impairment, the normal auditory system, including plasticity, development and regeneration of auditory structures, cochlear mechanics, and perception of complex auditory signals, and rehabilitation devices, including but not limited to, cochlear prostheses and hearing aids. BALANCE. Human balance control, structure and function of the peripheral and central vestibular system, development and regeneration of vestibular structures, molecular bases of vestibular function, adaptive plasticity in the vestibular system, vestibulo-autonomic regulation, diseases and disorders primarily affecting balance and the vestibular system, including, but not limited to, Meniere"s disease, vestibular toxicity and age-related changes in vestibular functioning, clinical assessment of balance and vestibular function, and medical/surgical therapeutics and physical rehabilitation of balance and vestibular disorders. SMELL. Normal and abnormal olfactory functions, including development and regeneration of olfactory receptor neurons, transport of substances to and from the brain via the olfactory receptor neurons, including transport of pathogens, and associations between olfaction and diseases throughout life. TASTE. Normal and abnormal sense of taste, including development and regeneration of taste bud cells, central processing, gustatory determinants of food intake, and the diagnosis of gustatory disorders. VOICE. The neural basis of vocal learning and vocalization, neural mechanisms and physiology of the larynx, voice disorders, including assessment, characteristics of specific populations, and treatment of voice disorders. SPEECH. Speech perception, characterization of normal speech production, and disorders of speech production, such as neurogenic speech disorders (apraxia and dysarthia), speech of deaf individuals, and stuttering. LANGUAGE. Normal language processing, brain bases of language, adult aphasia, the grammatical abilities and writing deficits associated with Alzheimer"s disease, language acquisition in deaf individuals, American Sign Language, literacy in deaf individuals, and language disorders in children, including specific language impairment, early expressive language delay, and language deficits associated with autism. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Additional Material. In addition to the completed PHS 398 form described under APPLICATION PROCEDURES, applicants must also submit: o A letter from the faculty committee or university official directly responsible for supervising the development and progress of the dissertation research. The letter must be countersigned by a representative of the graduate school of the sponsoring institution. The letter must: (a) fully identify the members of the committee and certify their approval of the dissertation topic and, (b) certify that the author of the letter has read the application and believes that it reflects the work to be completed in the dissertation, o A tentative timeline for completion of the research, the dissertation, and the dissertation defense, o A transcript of the candidate’s graduate school record, o A biography of the dissertation advisor, limited to 2 pages (use the Biographical Sketch page in form PHS 398). o A statement of the candidate’s career goals, to be placed under "Background" (see the Research Plan instructions in form PHS 398), and o A signed statement from the sponsoring institution establishing the eligibility for support under this program, including information on the candidate’s ethnic and/or racial origin and citizenship. (See ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS). Grant Conditions. The following conditions apply to dissertation research grants: o The doctoral candidate must be the designated Principal Investigator on the grant and must be the only individual named in the application for whom salary support is requested. o The principal investigator"s salary may not exceed $15,000 per twelve months. o Work on the funded project must be initiated within three months after the date of the award. o The principal investigator may request support for up to 24 months. An application that requests support beyond this time period will be returned. o A copy of the dissertation must be submitted to the NIDCD and constitutes the final report of the grant. The dissertation must be officially accepted by the faculty committee or university official responsible for the candidate"s dissertation and must be signed by the responsible officials. An applicant who receives support for dissertation research from the NIDCD under this research grant program may not receive concurrent stipend or salary support under a Federal predoctoral traineeship or fellowship grant, or be supported under any other research project grant awarded by a Federal agency. Allowable Costs. Expenses usually allowed under a PHS research grant will be covered by this program, but may not exceed $36,000 in direct costs for the total project period. Of this amount, no more than $30,000 may be budgeted for a 12-month period. Allowable costs include: 1) the investigator"s salary (not to exceed $15,000 per 12 months), and 2) direct research project expenses, such as supplies, data processing costs, dissertation preparation costs and travel to one scientific meeting per year (the latter limited to $1,000 per year). Candidates are generally expected to devote their full time effort to the dissertation project. Any level of effort by the candidate that is less than full time must be fully justified. No tuition support is allowed. It is expected that most equipment needed for the research will be available at the site or laboratory in which the dissertation is to be performed. Therefore, any requests for equipment must be specifically justified. Facilities and administrative costs are limited to eight percent (8%) of requested direct costs, less equipment. INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS It is the policy of the NIH that women and members of minority groups and their subpopulations must be included in all NIH supported biomedical and behavioral research projects involving human subjects, unless a clear and compelling rationale and justification is provided that inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of the research. This policy results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law 103-43). All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the "NIH Guidelines for Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research," which have been published in the Federal Register of March 28, 1994 (FR 59 14508-14513) and in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Volume 23, Number 11, March 18, 1994. INCLUSION OF CHILDREN AS PARTICIPANTS IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS It is the policy of NIH that children (i.e., individuals under the age of 21) must be included in all human subjects research conducted or supported by the NIH, unless there are scientific and/or ethical reasons not to include them. This policy applies to all initial (Type 1) applications submitted for receipt dates after October 1, 1998. All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the "NIH Policy and Guidelines" on the Inclusion of Children as Participants in Research Involving Human Subjects that was published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, March 6, 1998, and is available at the following URL address: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not98-024.html APPLICATION PROCEDURES The research grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 4/98) is to be used in applying for these grants. These forms are available at most institutional offices of sponsored research and from the Division of Extramural Outreach and Information Resources, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7910, Bethesda, MD 20892-7910, telephone (301) 710-0267, FAX (301) 480-0525, email GrantsInfo@nih.gov The RFA label available in the PHS 398 (rev. 4/98) application form must be affixed to the bottom of the face page of the application. Failure to use this label could result in delayed processing of the application such that it may not reach the review committee in time for review. In addition, the RFA title and number (NIDCD Minority Dissertation Research Grants in Human Communication, DC-00-00X) must be typed on line 2 of the face page of the application form and on the RFA label, and the YES box must be marked. The sample RFA label available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/label-bk.pdf has been modified to allow for this change. Please note this is in pdf format. Instructions for completing the application are found in the PHS 398 form. These instructions must be followed except that under C. Specific Instructions - Research Plan, no more than 10 pages may be used for items A to D (instead of 25 pages as stated in the standard instructions). Applications that exceed the 10 page limit for this section will be returned. Appendices may not be used to circumvent the page limitations. Submit a signed original of the application (with the supporting letter and the graduate school transcript), including the Checklist, and three signed photocopies, in one package to: CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC REVIEW NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH 6701 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE, ROOM 1040 - MSC 7710 BETHESDA, MD 20892-7710 BETHESDA, MD 20817 (for express/courier service) At the time of submission, send two additional copies of the application (with the supporting letter and the graduate school transcript) to: Chief, Scientific Review Branch Division of Extramural Research National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders 6120 Executive Boulevard, Room 400-C - MSC-7180 Bethesda, MD 20892-7180 Telephone: (301) 496-8683 FAX: (301) 402-6250 ATTN: Minority Dissertation Applications must be received by June 12, 2000. If an application is received after that date, it will be returned to the applicant without review. The Center for Scientific Review (CSR) will not accept any application in response to this RFA that is essentially the same as one currently pending initial review, unless the applicant withdraws the pending application. The CSR will also not accept any application that is essentially the same as one already reviewed. This does not preclude the submission of substantial revisions of applications already reviewed, but such applications must include an introduction (not exceeding one-half page) addressing the previous critique. REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed for completeness by CSR and for responsiveness to this RFA by the NIDCD. Applications that are complete and responsive to the RFA will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by an appropriate peer review group convened by the NIDCD, in accordance with standard NIH peer review procedures. As part of the initial merit review, all applications will receive a written critique and may undergo a process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific merit, generally the top half of applications under review, will be discussed and assigned a priority score. Review Criteria o Scientific and technical merit, significance, and originality of the proposed research, o Appropriateness and adequacy of the literature review and soundness and feasibility of the experimental approach and methodology proposed to carry out the research, o Qualifications of the Principal Investigator (the student), based on the candidate’s history as a student, past and current research experience, and potential for a productive scientific career, o Qualifications of the mentor, based on the mentor’s research and research training experience, particularly, but not exclusively, in the proposed area of research, o Quality and availability of research resources needed to complete the dissertation research, o Appropriateness of the requested budget and the duration of support in relation to the research proposed, o Adequacy of plans to include both genders, minorities and their subgroups, and children, if applicable, as appropriate for the scientific goals of the research. Plans for the recruitment and retention of subjects will also be evaluated. The initial review group will also examine the provisions for the protection of human and animal subjects, and the safety of the research environment. AWARD CRITERIA The anticipated date of award is September 2000. Final funding decisions are based on the recommendations of the reviewers, the relevance of the project to NIDCD priorities, and the availability of funds. INQUIRIES Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the NIDCD program official named below for inquiries concerning this RFA. Daniel A. Sklare, Ph.D. Program Branch Division of Extramural Research National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders 6120 Executive Boulevard, Room 400-C - MSC 7180 Bethesda, MD 20892-7180 Telephone: (301) 496-1804 FAX: (301) 402-6251 Email: daniel_sklare@nih.gov Direct inquiries relating to fiscal matters to: Castilla McNamara, M.P.A. Grants Management Branch National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders 6120 Executive Boulevard, Room 400-B - MSC 7180 Bethesda, MD 20892-7180 Telephone: (301) 402-0909 FAX: (301) 402-1758 Email: macnamara@exchange.nih.gov AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93.173 Awards are made under authorization of the Public Health Service Act Title IV, Part A (Public Law 79-410, as amended by Public Law 99-158, 42 USC 241 and 285) and administered under PHS grants policies and Federal Regulations 42 CFR 52 and 45 CFR Part 74. The requirements of Executive Order 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs, are not applicable to NIDCD research grant programs. The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products. In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any portion of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library, day care, health care or early childhood development services are provided to children. This is consistent with the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American people.

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