CZJ%NIHCU.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (09/13/88)
Attached is the Table of Contents and articles of interest from the
NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts 8/12/88
Jim Cassatt
------------------------------------------------------------------
Vol. 17, No. 26, August 12, 1988
NOTICES
REMINDER: REFERENCE LETTERS FOR RCDA AND FIRST GRANT ........(84/105)...... 1
Division of Research Grants
Index: RESEARCH GRANTS
PERCENTILE SCORES ............................................(108/172)..... 1
Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration
Index: ALCOHOL, DRUG ABUSE, AND MENTAL HEALTH
NEW BASIS FOR PRIORITY SCORE PERCENTILES AT NIH ..............(175/238)..... 2
National Institutes of Health
Index: NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
NIH REGIONAL WORKSHOPS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PHS POLICY
ON HUMANE CARE AND USE OF LABORATORY ANIMALS .................(241/307)..... 3
National Institutes of Health
Index: NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
DATED ANNOUNCEMENTS (RFPs AND RFAs)
INTERGENERATIONAL FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS (RFA)..........(324/493, 884/1247)....4
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Institute on Aging
Index: CHILD HEALTH, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, AND AGING
IN VIVO MODELS OF IMMUNOCONTRACEPTION (RFA)...........(496/567, 1250/1554).. 6
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Index: CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
RESEARCH ON AIDS AND THE AMERICAN TEENAGER (RFA).....(570/738, 1557, 1901).. 7
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Index: CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF NEW SCREENING TESTS FOR
HUMAN RETROVIRUSES (RFA).............................(740/781, 1904/2246)... 9
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Index: HEART, LUNG, AND BLOOD
CELLULAR AND ANIMAL MODELS FOR SICKLE CELL DISEASE (RFA)...(784/833)........ 9
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2249/2661)
Index: HEART, LUNG, AND BLOOD
NOTICES
REMINDER: REFERENCE LETTERS FOR RCDA AND FIRST GRANT
APPLICATIONS
P.T. 34; K.W. 1014002
Division of Research Grants
Applications for the Research Career Development Award (RCDA) and the First
Independent Research Support and Transition (FIRST) Award require letters of
reference. To assist the NIH in expediting the referral and review process,
applicants MUST include these reference letters with the submitted application
package. Otherwise, the application will be returned to the applicant.
RCDA and FIRST applicants are to send the reference forms included in the PHS
398 kit to their referees well in advance of the application submission,
advising the referees to return the completed forms to the applicant in sealed
envelopes as soon as possible. To protect the utility and confidentiality of
reference letters, applicants are asked not to open the sealed envelopes. The
sealed envelopes MUST be attached to the original applications. (This same
procedure for submission of reference letters is now being used for individual
and senior National Research Service Award fellowship applications.) These
procedures were effective as of the June 1, 1988, receipt deadline.
NEW BASIS FOR PRIORITY SCORE PERCENTILES AT NIH
P.T. 34; K.W. 1014002
National Institutes of Health
Research grant applications reviewed at the June/July 1988, round of initial
review groups (IRGs) will be presented to the October meetings of National
Advisory Councils and Boards. At those Council and Board meetings, percentile
values, rather than priority scores, will be utilized as one important factor
in making funding decisions. Thus, starting in October, all of the NIH
funding components will be utilizing percentile values. This action will
emphasize the importance of relative rank and provide compensation for widely
differing scoring practices that have occurred among IRGs in recent years.
Until now, percentile values have been calculated against a reference base of
applications favorably recommended by a chartered review group at three
consecutive meetings. This has served to smooth out some of the variations
that may exist from meeting to meeting. Beginning with this June/July round
of meetings, the basis for calculating percentiles will be altered. For this
round, the percentile base will be the applications favorably recommended at
this round only. When the IRGs meet again in October/November of this year,
percentile values will be calculated against a reference base of that meeting
and the preceding June/July meeting. In other words, there will be a phase-in
process whereby percentiles are calculated on the basis of one round, and then
for the next cycle of reviews they will be based on 2 rounds of scores, and
for one after that (February/March 1989 IRG meetings) we will be back to the
standard usage of 3 rounds for the DRG Study Sections.
This phase-in of new bases for the calculation of percentiles is designed
primarily to encourage reviewers to adjust their evaluation scales and ratings
and to utilize fully the entire range of 1.0 to 5.0. All NIH IRGs are being
asked to utilize the following adjectival scale in terms of scores that are
assigned:
Outstanding 1.0 - 1.5
Excellent 1.5 - 2.0
Good 2.0 - 2.5
Satisfactory 2.5 - 3.0
Adequate 3.0 - 3.5
Fair 3.5 - 4.0
Acceptable 4.0 - 5.0
It should be understood that the percentile rank of applications reviewed at
this June/July round will be wholly independent from the priority score
distribution in any prior review meeting. Therefore, IRGs have a window of
opportunity to adjust evaluation scales and to make the distribution of
priority scores more symmetrical and more useful. This may be done at this
time without penalizing any applicants because of the change. Thus, members
now have an opportunity to recalibrate their voting scales without the concern
of disadvantaging any application.
The bases for percentile score calculations are summarized below:
June/July IRG Oct/Nov IRG Feb/March '89
Meeting Meeting IRG Meeting
NIH REGIONAL WORKSHOPS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PHS POLICY
ON HUMANE CARE AND USE OF LABORATORY ANIMALS
P.T. 42; K.W. 1014002, 0201011, 1014003
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, Office for Protection from Research Risks,
is continuing to sponsor a series of workshops in implementing the Public
Health Service Policy on the Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. The
workshops are open to institutional administrators, members of animal care and
use committees, laboratory animal veterinarians, investigators and other
institutional staff who have responsibility for high-quality management of
sound institutional animal care and use programs.
Date: September 27-28, 1988
Location: Altanta, Georgia
Contact: Office of Continuing Medical
Emory University School of Medicine
1440 Clifton Road, N.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30322
Telephone: (404) 727-5695
Date: November 1-2, 1988
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Contact: Conference Bureau
Room 110
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
Telephone: (317) 494-7206
Date: December 1-2, 1988
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Contact: Office of Continuing Education
Johns Hopkins University
720 Rutland Avenue
Turner 22
Baltimore, Maryland 21205
Telephone: (301) 955-2959
Date: January 24-25, 1989
Location: San Antonio, TX
Contact: Ms. Molly Greene
Institutional Animal Care Program
University of Texas Health Science Center
at San Antonio
7703 Floyd Curl Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78284-7822
Telephone: (512) 567-3717
Date: February 9-10, 1989
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Contact: Joan Provost
Conferences and Institutes
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
Telephone: (801) 581-5809
CELLULAR AND ANIMAL MODELS FOR SICKLE CELL DISEASE
RFA AVAILABLE: NIH-88-HL-22-B
P.T. 34; K.W. 0755020, 0780015, 0785070
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Application Receipt Date: December 9, 1988
The Division of Blood Diseases and Resources of the National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health, announces the
availability of a request for applications (RFA) for the development of
cellular and animal models for sickle cell disease. Copies of the RFA and
Vol. 17, No. 26, August 12, 1988 - Page 9
Instructions for the Preparation of Applications are currently available from
NHLBI staff.
The major goal of this program is to stimulate basic research in the
development of cellular and animal models for sickle cell disease in order to
further our understanding of the pathophysiology of the sickling process and
to develop and test therapeutic modalities. Specific areas of interest are:
(a) cellular systems which express human hemoglobins at high levels; (b)
systems that allow long-term perfusion of animals with sickled cells; (c)
animal models which express high levels of the sickle and other human
hemoglobins; and (d) studies that lead to the discovery of new strains of mice
that lack endogenous alpha or beta chain synthesis.
The support mechanism for this FIVE YEAR program will be the traditional,
individual research project grant (RO1). Although the financial plans for
fiscal year 1989 include $1.8 million in total costs for this announcement,
award of grants pursuant to this RFA is contingent upon availability of funds
for this purpose. It is anticipated that four to six grants will be awarded
under the program established by this announcement. The specific number to be
funded will, however, depend on the merit and scope of the applications
received and the availability of funds.
The requirements and format for applications submitted in response to the