Department of Health and Human Services

Part 1. Overview Information
Participating Organization(s)

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Components of Participating Organizations

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is developed as a Common Fund initiative (http://commonfund.nih.gov/) through the NIH Office of the NIH Director, Office of Strategic Coordination (http://dpcpsi.nih.gov/osc/). The FOA will be administered by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (http://www.drugabuse.gov/) on behalf of the NIH.

Funding Opportunity Title

Functional Epigenomics: Developing Tools and Technologies for Cell-type, Temporal, or Locus-specific Manipulation of the Epigenome (R01)

Activity Code

R01 Research Project Grant

Announcement Type

New

Related Notices

None

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number

RFA-RM-12-026

Companion Funding Opportunity

None

Number of Applications

See Section III. 3. Additional Information on Eligibility.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s)

93.310

Funding Opportunity Purpose

The purpose of this FOA is to stimulate innovative research to develop novel tools and technologies that enable at least one of the following: 1. Tissue or cell-specific manipulation of epigenetic modifications or their effector molecules, 2. Temporal manipulation of the epigenome, 3. Locus-specific manipulation of the epigenome, or 4. Novel approaches that enable any combination of these three things.

Key Dates
Posted Date

January 4, 2013

Open Date (Earliest Submission Date)

February 27, 2013

Letter of Intent Due Date(s)

February 27, 2013

Application Due Date(s)

March 27, 2013, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.

AIDS Application Due Date(s)

Not Applicable

Scientific Merit Review

June/July 2013

Advisory Council Review

August 2013

Earliest Start Date

September 30, 2013

Expiration Date

March 28, 2013

Due Dates for E.O. 12372

Not Applicable

Required Application Instructions

It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from the 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.

Table of Contents

Part 1. Overview Information
Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission Information
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information

Part 2. Full Text of Announcement

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

Background

This initiative is funded through the NIH Common Fund, which supports cross-cutting programs that are expected to have exceptionally high impact. All Common Fund initiatives invite investigators to develop bold, innovative, and often risky approaches to address problems that may seem intractable or to seize new opportunities that offer the potential for rapid progress. This Common Fund initiative is part of a series of programs known collectively as the NIH Roadmap (http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/).

The NIH Roadmap Epigenomics Program began in 2008. Under the umbrella of this program, the NIH Common Fund and NIH Institutes and Centers have supported a total of 68 grants in the areas of epigenetic technology development, identification of novel epigenetic marks, reference epigenome mapping, and disease epigenomics investigations. Details concerning the funded projects, resources, protocols generated, epigenomic datasets, and scientific publications can be found at https://commonfund.nih.gov/epigenomics/ or http://www.roadmapepigenomics.org/.

Scientific Opportunity

Despite dramatic improvements in our ability to scrutinize the epigenome, our ability to manipulate the epigenome remains relatively crude. This is reminiscent of the early days of functional genetics when our ability to manipulate DNA was extremely limited. However, once recombinant DNA technologies were developed, there was an explosion in our ability to manipulate, investigate, and understand DNA and genetic contributions to health and disease processes. Our current ability to manipulate the epigenome largely relies on pharmacological or genetic manipulation of epigenetic regulatory proteins. Pharmacological modulators of epigenetic enzymes and processes are of great value, however these modulators typically have pleiotropic effects and rarely impact a specific tissue, cell type, or specific locus. Genetic manipulation of epigenetic enzymes can achieve results similar to those obtained by pharmacological manipulation, although gene targeting approaches can sometimes limit these effects to selected tissues or cell types. In addition, whether or not tissue or cell-specific epigenomic manipulation is achieved, the technologies currently available do not have robust temporal control and typically yield changes that impact the entire genome of a cell rather than focused effects on one or a few key loci. The potential pleiotropic effects resulting from genome-wide epigenome manipulation obscure our understanding of how epigenomic changes at specific loci may influence phenotype and are an obstacle to the development of future epigenomic therapeutics.

Purpose

The purpose of this FOA is to stimulate innovative research to develop novel tools and technologies that enable at least one of the following:

1. Tissue or cell-specific manipulation of epigenetic modifications or their effector molecules,

2. Temporal manipulation of the epigenome,

3. Locus-specific manipulation of the epigenome,

4. Novel approaches that enable any combination of these three things.

Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s) must propose to develop novel, innovative, or enabling tools or technologies to manipulate the epigenome in a cell-specific, temporal, or locus-specific manner. The tool or technology developed can be at the proof of concept stage in terms of achieving one or more of the above goals, but the approach should be broadly useful to the scientific community or have a high impact on a particular biological process or disease state. The NIH is interested in supporting revolutionary projects that have the potential to break new ground and transform current capabilities in this area as opposed to those that propose only incremental advances.

This announcement uses the R01 mechanism. Preliminary data are not required, but the applicants should make clear they have the ability to achieve their proposed goals. The main goal of this FOA is to develop tools and technologies. Given the level of knowledge that exists at present, it is expected that applicants will be in a position to propose cell-specific or locus-specific targets from the outset. In the last year or two of their research plan, applicants may propose to apply the innovative tool or technology they plan to develop to investigate a specific biological question or disease or, if appropriate, begin to translate the innovative discoveries into the preclinical pipeline.

The proposed tools and technologies must impact epigenetic regulatory mechanisms such as DNA modifications, histone modifications, histone variants, proteins that bind these modifications, non-coding RNAs associated with chromatin, or processes that alter nucleosome position, associated complexes, or higher order chromatin structure.

Some potential scientific projects might include:

To avoid submitting an application that is not responsive to this FOA applicants should carefully review the submission requirements for this FOA in Section IV. 2. to ensure that they have included all of the components needed in the Research Plan.

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

The OER Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types.

Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards

The total amount of funds available for these awards is approximately $3.8 million per year for FY2013-FY2017, contingent upon the receipt of scientifically meritorious applications. 6-9 awards are anticipated from this solicitation. Future year awards will depend on annual appropriations.

Award Budget

Application budgets may not exceed $325,000 in direct costs and must reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.

Award Project Period

The project period may not exceed five years.

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

Section III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

Eligible Organizations

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

Other

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 must complete the following registrations as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. Applicants must have a valid Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number in order to begin each of the following registrations.

All Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s)) must also work with their institutional officials to register with the eRA Commons or ensure their existing eRA Commons account is affiliated with the eRA Commons account of the applicant organization.

All registrations must be completed by the application due date. Applicant organizations are strongly encouraged to start the registration process at least 6 weeks prior to the application due date.

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.

NIH will not accept any application that is essentially the same as one already reviewed within the past thirty-seven months (as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement), except for submission:

Section IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Requesting an Application Package

Applicants must download the SF424 (R&R) application package associated with this funding opportunity using the Apply for Grant Electronically button in this FOA or following the directions provided at Grants.gov.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

It is critical that applicants follow the 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.

For information on Application Submission and Receipt, visit Frequently Asked Questions Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications.

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:

The letter of intent should be sent to:

John Satterlee, Ph.D.
National Institute on Drug Abuse/NIH
Division of Basic Neuroscience and Behavioral Research
6001 Executive Blvd., Rm 4264
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone: (301)-435-1020
Email: satterleej@nida.nih.gov

Required and Optional Components

The forms package associated with this FOA includes all applicable components, mandatory and optional.  Please note that some components marked optional in the application package are required for submission of applications for this FOA. Follow all instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide to ensure you complete all appropriate optional components.

Page Limitations

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

Budget

Applicants should budget funds for travel of the PD/PI and up to one additional investigator to attend an annual in-person investigators meeting in Washington D.C.

PHS 398 Research Plan Component

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

Research Strategy

To ensure that your application will be responsive to this FOA, please address the following topics within the page limits of the research strategy:

Resource Sharing Plan

Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans (Data Sharing Plan, Sharing Model Organisms, and Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS)) as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following modifications:

Roadmap Epigenomics Program Data and Resource Sharing

To achieve the goals of this program, projects funded by this FOA are expected to share technological advances and research data. For example, depending on the precise nature of the project, sharing can take place in various ways. Examples of such approaches are described in greater detail in the sections that follow and are consistent with achieving the goals of this program. The PDs/PIs of funded projects will be expected to share technological advances and information with other PDs/PIs funded by the Roadmap Epigenomics Program through active and open participation in at least one in-person or "virtual" grantee meeting per year. The PDs/PIs of funded projects will also be expected to share technological advances and information with epigenetics researchers as a whole and thus need to give thought to an appropriate intellectual property management plan necessary to facilitate this sharing.

The precise content of data sharing plans will vary, depending on the data being collected and how the investigator is planning to share the data. Applicants who are planning to share data should describe briefly the expected schedule for data sharing, the format of the final dataset, the documentation to be provided, whether or not any analytic tools also will be provided, whether or not a data-sharing agreement will be required and, if so, a brief description of such an agreement (including the criteria for deciding who can receive the data and whether or not any conditions will be placed on their use), and the mode of data sharing (e.g. under their own auspices by mailing a disk or posting data on their institutional or personal website, through a data archive or enclave). Investigators choosing to share under their own auspices may wish to enter into a data-sharing agreement. References to data sharing may also be appropriate in other sections of the application.

As described above, all applicants are expected to include a plan for sharing research data in their application. The NIH data sharing policy is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing. All investigators responding to this funding opportunity should include a description of how final research data will be shared, or explain why data sharing is not possible.

The reasonableness of data sharing plans or the rationale for not sharing research data will be assessed by the reviewers. However, reviewers will not factor the proposed data sharing plan into the determination of scientific merit or the impact score. Program staff will be responsible for overseeing the data sharing policy and for assessing the appropriateness and adequacy of proposed data-sharing plans. Applicants are encouraged to discuss data sharing plans with the Scientific/Research Contact prior to submitting their applications.

As the Roadmap Epigenomics Program is a community resource program, NIH expects that not only data, but also resources generated during the course of the program should be made rapidly available to the research community and that sharing plans should follow the same principles and spirit as the proposed rapid data release policy. The applicant should provide specific plans for resource sharing and distribution in the application. The reasonableness of the data and resource sharing plans will be assessed by the reviewers. However, reviewers will not factor the proposed resources sharing plan into the determination of scientific merit or the impact score. The adequacy of the resources sharing plans will be considered by the funding organization when making recommendations about funding applications. The presence of a resources sharing plan will be part of the terms and conditions of the award. The effectiveness of the resource sharing will be evaluated as part of the administrative review of each non-competing Grant Progress Report (PHS 2590, http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/2590/2590.htm). See Section VI.3. Award Administration Information, Reporting.

Intellectual Property Management Plan

Certain research plans will require collaboration and coordination between investigators at different institutions, some of whom may not be NIH funding recipients and who may have pre-existing intellectual property obligations to third parties. It is anticipated that commercial embodiments of the results of such research may incorporate single inventions shared by several institutions, or multiple inventions each from a separate institution. Therefore, prior to funding, grant applicants are expected to address, for example, how they will coordinate patent prosecution and licensing activities, if necessary, to enable a licensee to access the bundle of intellectual property needed to take a product to market on commercially viable terms. Suggested strategies include: (1) assigning intellectual property rights to related inventions to an invention management firm; (2) designating one organization to take the lead on patenting and licensing related inventions; and (3) agreeing in advance that if multiple parties are to independently license related inventions, the total of stacked royalties will not exceed a predetermined percentage rate. The technology transfer/ intellectual property management/licensing officer or equivalent of the PD s/PI's institution is expected to submit an intellectual property management plan, including at least those elements above. Alternatives to the suggested strategies, which accomplish the same goals, will be considered. The applicant's institution should avoid exclusively licensing those inventions that are research tools unless either: (1) the field of use of the exclusive license is restricted to commercial use; or (2) the exclusive licensee will make the research tool available on reasonable terms. Applicants are directed to the NIH policy on the dissemination of biological research resources ( research tools ) at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/intell-property_64FR72090.pdf.

Appendix

Do not use the Appendix to circumvent page limits. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

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. Submission Dates and Times

Part I. Overview Information contains information about Key Dates. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the deadline to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission.

Organizations must submit applications via 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.

Applicants are responsible for viewing their application before the deadline 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.

4. Intergovernmental Review (E.O. 12372)

This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.

5. 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.

6. 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 Applying Electronically.

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.

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 theSystem for Award Management (SAM). 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 by the Center for Scientific Review and responsiveness by NIH program staff. Applications that are incomplete and/or nonresponsive will not be reviewed.

Applications Involving the NIH Intramural Research Program

The requests by NIH intramural scientists will be limited to the incremental costs required for participation.   As such, these requests will not include any salary and related fringe benefits for career, career conditional or other Federal employees (civilian or uniformed service) with permanent appointments under existing position ceilings or any costs related to administrative or facilities support (equivalent to Facilities and Administrative or F&A costs). These costs may include salary for staff to be specifically hired under a temporary appointment for the project, consultant costs, equipment, supplies, travel, and other items typically listed under Other Expenses. Applicants should indicate the number of person-months devoted to the project, even if no funds are requested for salary and fringe benefits.

If selected, appropriate funding will be provided by the NIH Intramural Program. NIH intramural scientists will participate in this program as PD/PIs in accord with the Terms and Conditions provided in this FOA. Intellectual property will be managed in accord with established policy of the NIH in compliance with Executive Order 10096, as amended, 45 CFR Part 7; patent rights for inventions developed in NIH facilities are NIH property unless NIH waives its rights.

Should an extramural application include the collaboration with an intramural scientist, no funds for the support of the intramural scientist may be requested in the application. The intramural scientist may submit a separate request for intramural funding as described above.

Additional Requirements of the FOA

To accelerate progress in the field of epigenomics, grantees will be expected to participate actively and openly in at least one in person or "virtual" grantee meeting per year. Substantial information sharing is critical to the program, so how an applicant plans to achieve this would be considered as a term and condition of the award; failure to openly share information will be considered in continued funding consistent with achieving the goals of the program. It is understood that some information developed under the grants will be proprietary and cannot be shared immediately without damaging the commercialization potential of the technology. Other investigators in the field (i.e., not supported under this program) may be invited to participate in these meetings but their agreement to share information substantially will be a prerequisite to their participation. This initiative is part of a broader program in Epigenomics funded as part of the NIH Common Fund. In order to fulfill requirements for oversight of the Epigenomics Program as a whole, NIH staff may have to present status reports on individual initiatives to coincide with NIH Office of the Director time frames. Thus, in addition to the annual progress report required at the time of submission of the noncompeting continuation application, awardees may be required to submit additional progress updates at a time to be determined by NIH.

Post Submission Materials

Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in NOT-OD-10-115.

Section V. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

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.

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.

Significance

Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? 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? If the goals of the application are fully achieved, will the tool or technology developed to manipulate the epigenome be broadly useful to the scientific community? Is the tool or technology to be developed an incremental advance or will it substantially change our ability to investigate a particular biological process or disease? Is the potential advance resulting from the proposed work exceptional?

Investigator(s)

Are the PD(s)/PI(s), collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the project? If Early Stage Investigators or New Investigators, or 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 applicant/team have a strong record of developing broadly useful tools or technologies? Does the applicant/team have the appropriate expertise to achieve the goals of the application?

Innovation

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? Does the application contain novel, innovative or unusual combinations of ideas? Is the project original or revolutionary? Is the proposed methodology unconventional and exceptionally innovative? Does the proposed technological development represent a major leap beyond the current state of the art? 

Approach

Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project? 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? 

If the project involves clinical research, are the plans for 1) protection of human subjects from research risks, and 2) inclusion of minorities and members of both sexes/genders, as well as the inclusion of children, justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed? Does the applicant propose to develop a tool or technology to manipulate the epigenome? Is the biological system to be used compelling? Does the applicant indicate how use of this biological system could, in the long term, lead to improvements in at least one aspect of human health? Are the proposed milestones appropriate, concrete, and likely to be achieved?

Environment

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? Do the institutions involved have the appropriate resources to enable achievement of the proposed aims?

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. Subjects

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 Human Subjects Protection and Inclusion Guidelines.

Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Children 

When the proposed project involves clinical research, the committee will evaluate the proposed plans for inclusion of minorities and members of both genders, as well as the inclusion of children. For additional information on review of the Inclusion section, please refer to the Human Subjects Protection and Inclusion Guidelines.

Vertebrate Animals

The committee will evaluate the involvement of live vertebrate animals as part of the scientific assessment according to the following five points: 1) proposed use of the animals, and species, strains, ages, sex, and numbers to be used; 2) justifications for the use of animals and for the appropriateness of the species and numbers proposed; 3) adequacy of veterinary care; 4) procedures for limiting discomfort, distress, pain and injury to that which is unavoidable in the conduct of scientifically sound research including the use of analgesic, anesthetic, and tranquilizing drugs and/or comfortable restraining devices; and 5) methods of euthanasia and reason for selection if not consistent with the AVMA Guidelines on Euthanasia. For additional information on review of the Vertebrate Animals section, please refer to the Worksheet for Review of the Vertebrate Animal Section.

Biohazards

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.

Resubmissions

Not Applicable

Renewals

Not Applicable

Revisions

Not Applicable

Additional Review Considerations

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.

Applications from Foreign Organizations

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.

Select Agent Research

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).

Resource Sharing Plans

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) Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS).

Budget and Period of Support

Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.

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:

Appeals of initial peer review will not be accepted for applications submitted in response to this FOA.

Applications will be assigned 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:

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

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 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 the DUNS, SAM Registration, and Transparency Act requirements as noted on the Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants website.

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, Grantees, and Activities. More information is provided at Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants.

Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions of Award

Not Applicable.

3. Reporting

When multiple years are involved, awardees will be required to submit the annual Non-Competing Progress Report (PHS 2590 or RPPR) and financial statements as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

A final progress report, 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.

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.

Section VII. Agency Contacts

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

Application Submission Contacts

Grants.gov Customer Support (Questions regarding Grants.gov registration and submission, downloading or navigating forms)
Contact Center Phone: 800-518-4726
Email: support@grants.gov

GrantsInfo (Questions regarding application instructions and process, finding NIH grant resources)
Telephone 301-710-0267
TTY 301-451-5936
Email: GrantsInfo@nih.gov

eRA Commons Help Desk (Questions regarding eRA Commons registration, tracking application status, post submission issues)
Phone: 301-402-7469 or 866-504-9552 (Toll Free)
TTY: 301-451-5939
Email: commons@od.nih.gov

Scientific/Research Contact(s)

John Satterlee, Ph.D. 
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Division of Basic Neuroscience and Behavioral Research
6001 Executive Blvd. Rm 4101
Bethesda, MD 20892
(For Fedex Delivery the address is Rockville, MD 20852)
Phone: 301-435-1020
Email: satterleej@nida.nih.gov

Peer Review Contact(s)

Amy Rubinstein, PhD
Scientific Review Officer
Center for Scientific Review
National Institutes of Health
6701 Rockledge Drive, Rm 5152 MSC 7849
Bethesda, MD 20892 (courier: 20817)
Phone: 301-408-9754 
Email: rubinsteinal@csr.nih.gov

Financial/Grants Management Contact(s)

Cheryl Nathaniel
Grants Management Specialist
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institutes of Health
6001 Executive Blvd., MSC 9560
Bethesda, MD 20892-9560
Rockville, MD 20852 (Express Mail)
Phone: 202-526-0108
Fax: 301-594-6849
Email: nathanic@nida.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 Parts 74 and 92.


Weekly TOC for this Announcement
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices



NIH Office of Extramural Research Logo
  Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) - Home Page Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS)
  USA.gov - Government Made Easy
NIH... Turning Discovery Into Health®



Note: For help accessing PDF, RTF, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Audio or Video files, see Help Downloading Files.