The Informer - WSU Research Funding News & Opportunities

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

NIH will receive $10.4 billion. Their FY 08 budget was $29.6 billion. With the stimulus appropriation NIH would have a total FY2009 budget of at least $39.9 billion.  A major consideration is that funds must be distributed over 18 months to meet the goals of the ARRA.

1. I would add that WSU/INHS Health Informatics initiative might be able to leverage the substantial new funding for electronic health records. We can certainly expect a jump in demand for graduate training in health informatics, as well as additional federal funds for implementation and evaluation research. Below is a summary of this part of the stimulus bill and its potential impact on health care providers. Jae Kennedy, PhD Associate Professor of Health Policy and Administration College of Pharmacy http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog/2009/02/stimulus-bill-offers-docs-big-incentives-for-technology-but-demand-effective-use-.html

   Comment by Jae Kennedy - Tuesday, February 17, 2009

2. NIH procedures for stimulus supplement request: An Administrative Application is a one year request up to $50,000 and can be approved by the program manager in the form of a 2-3 page document, with a detailed budget, signed by the PI and countersigned by the Authorized Official. A Revision Application is a complete grants.gov file submitted with all required forms and uploads. This is used for multiple years and in excess of $50,000. The excerpt below was taken from the PHS 398 instructions at http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html 2.8 Revision Application A Revision application (formerly called a competing supplement) may be submitted to request support for a significant expansion of a project’s scope or research protocol. Revision applications are not appropriate when the sole purpose is to restore awards to the full SRG-recommended level if they were administratively reduced by the funding agency. A Revision application must not be submitted until after the original application has been awarded and may not extend beyond the term of the current award period. Introduction: Provide a one-page introduction at the beginning of the Research Plan that describes the nature of the revision and how it will influence the Specific Aims, Research Design, and Methods of the current grant. Any budgetary changes for the remainder of the project period of the current grant should be discussed under the budget justification. The body of the application should contain sufficient information from the original grant application to allow evaluation of the proposed revision in relation to the goals of the original application. If the Revision application relates to a specific line of investigation presented in the original application that was not recommended for approval by the SRG, then the applicant must respond to the criticisms in the prior Summary Statement, and substantial changes must be clearly evident and summarized in the Introduction. Administrative Supplements An administrative supplement provides additional funding to meet increased costs that are within the scope of an approved application, but that were unforeseen when the new or competing Renewal application was submitted. If considering administrative supplemental funding, consult in advance with the designated Grants Management Officer and Program Official. It is important to submit a request before the grant expires. To be considered for an administrative supplement, submit a request in writing to the Institute/Center, not to the Division of Receipt and Referral, Center for Scientific Review. The request must be signed by the authorized Business Official and describe the need for additional funding and the categorical costs. In the letter, point out what will NOT be accomplished if such a request is denied. Administrative supplements are not submitted using the 398 Application.

   Comment by Carrie Johnston - Thursday, February 19, 2009

3. WSU will need to focus on augmenting its existing portfolio of NIH grants. The challenge grants sound interesting (see article below), but the proportion of funds going to these is relatively modest. Perhaps WSU Spokane could host a one-day “summer camp” on the challenge grants, but given the timeline,“spring training” might be more useful. FROM: SCIENCE INSIDER:http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/02/ DATE: FEBRUARY 18, 2009 - TITLE: NIH Grant Pipeline Now Flush With $timulus The National Institutes of Health will dedicate most of its $8.2 billion for research from the economic stimulus bill to funding grant applications it has already received and to supplementing existing grants. A smaller amount, on the order of $100 million to $200 million, will go to new grant applications it receives in the coming months. Speaking Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C., to a packed auditorium of representatives from universities and associations, acting director Raynard Kington said NIH would soon issue a request for applications for new “challenge grants” of as much as $500,000 per year for 2 years. These challenge grants will be for research addressing certain areas in science or public health that NIH thinks can advance significantly in 2 years. NIH will create a shortened application process for these peer-reviewed grants but hasn't said which areas will be targeted. Because NIH has to spend the stimulus money within those 2 years, it is under pressure to start sending money to grantees as soon as possible. That's why, Kington said, it will not issue a massive call for new applications. Instead, it will mainly look to add money to existing grants and to fund grant applications it has already received and peer reviewed. Any of the 2-year grants that result from the stimulus package will come with unusually stringent reporting requirements, Kington said, including reporting the number of jobs created or preserved. He repeatedly said that NIH would be “embarrassed” if institutions did not spend the money or boost their local economies. He expects grantees to “hire people and make purchases and advance science,” he said. Because the stimulus bill's aim is to improve the nation's economy, Kington said, NIH would also be sensitive to geographic distribution of the grants it gives. Kington gave few specifics about NIH's plans but said more details would become available soon. —Lila Guterman

   Comment by Jae Kennedy - Friday, February 20, 2009

4. Per Barbara Y. Croft, Ph.D., Cancer Imaging, National Cancer Institute is paying a number of applications and investigators who would have normally been reapplying over the next year. Because of this, the opportunities in FY2010 (applications June and October 2009) will be better than usual. This means that outstanding R01 applications have very good chances. (Our R21 initiative has expired and we are not re-newing it because the investigators did not seem to go on to successful R01s). You should be putting your efforts into writing an outstanding R01.

   Comment by Esther Pratt - Wednesday, April 15, 2009