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NIH Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers (OAICs) and Coordinating Center (P30)
WHAT: Limited Submission Proposal for the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers
(OAICs) and Coordinating Center (P30)
WHO: Texas A&M University faculty. TAES, TEES and TTI personnel may wish to submit internal proposals through their own agency.
WHY: An applicant may request a project period of five years and may request a budget for direct costs up to $1 million dollars per year.
WHEN: Internal proposal deadline of February 26, 2007.
HOW: TAMU faculty should submit internal proposal to via email for review by the internal selection committee.
THE FINE PRINT:
The funding agency, NIH, has limited the number of proposals to one per institution.
BRIEF PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers (OAICs) and Coordinating Center (P30) Program is designed to increase scientific knowledge that will lead to better ways to maintain or restore independence in older persons. An application should identify one or more research areas to be addressed, to specify the goals to be achieved within the five-year OAIC award period, to provide a plan to reach these goals and to provide a method to evaluate progress toward these goals.
Possible areas of research focus include: aging-related issues concerning a specific condition contributing to loss of independence in older persons; causes, assessment, prevention and treatment of a specific type of disability in older persons; causes, prevention and treatment of a geriatric syndrome that is related to multiple pathologies and/or disabilities; specific aging related physiologic changes, other risk factors and/or interventions that affect risk for multiple conditions or disabilities in old age; interactions of multiple diseases, disabilities and interventions in older persons and their relationship to risk of morbidity, progression of disability and efficacy of prevention or treatment strategies; and factors contributing to amelioration or delay of multiple deleterious aging changes by modulating risk factors or fundamental aging mechanisms.
An OAIC application should not include major foci on neurosciences (with the exception of rehabilitation) or behavioral and social sciences, as these are more appropriate for other NIA programs that also use the Center mechanism. On the other hand, research to determine effects of organizational or operational patterns of health practices or services is generally appropriate for a Pepper Center component, as long as it meets specific criteria.
In addition, the minimum components required to qualify for an OAIC Award are: a Leadership/Administrative Core (LAC), a Research Career Development Core (RCDC) and one or more Research Cores (RC). One or more Pilot/Exploratory Studies Cores (P/EC) are optional. The LAC will support research planning and evaluation activities for the Cores, the OAIC as a whole and other administrative activities. The RCDC will support career development activities and infrastructure for junior faculty who are conducting pilot studies, developmental projects or working on independently funded projects. The RCs will provide resources to enhance or support projects funded primarily by other mechanisms, as well as develop and validate model systems to advance aging research. The P/EC will support research to acquire information needed to select or design future crucial studies in the OAIC area of focus. A Coordinating Center is optional and will create a mechanism for maintaining an active involvement in all aspects of the OAIC program.
The following are also required of OAIC applications. Each OAIC must support a significant amount of clinical research with human subjects. The Principal Investigator for the OAIC application should be the Core Leader for the LAC. Participation of OAIC investigators and Coordinating Unit leadership at an annual scientific meeting is mandatory. At least some of the junior faculty and research associates selected for support through the RCDC should hold a clinical doctoral degree. Further, an applicant may not propose a Research Core unless it will support at least two projects. These projects may be external projects with funding from other NIH mechanism or developmental projects proposed as a part of the Research Core.
A budget may include request for direct costs up to $1 million dollars per year. Within this budget: up to $150,000 in direct costs per year may be requested for Leadership and Administrative Core (LAC) activities; a maximum of $400,000 in first-year direct costs may be requested for the Research Career Development Core (RCDC); a proposed Research Core (RC) may request support of up to $105,000 in direct costs per year for developmental projects; a minimum of $25,000 in direct first-year costs may be requested for the Pilot/Exploratory Studies Core (P/EC); and a maximum of $175,000 in direct costs may be requested for the OAIC Coordinating Center.
The full announcement can be found at the web page of the sponsor here.
INTERNAL SELECTION PROCEDURES AND DEADLINES
February 23, 2007: Deadline for an email of intent, including the names of the PI and co-PIs, title of internal proposal and a 1-3 sentence description of the project. Send email of intent .
February 26, 2007: Deadline to obtain approval from your department head and college dean and to submit an internal proposal to the Office of Sponsored Projects. The internal proposal should include:
- An executive summary, up to three pages, based on the proposal description as outlined in the NIH Program Announcement;
- Project and Management Plans (including team members);
- Summary budget.
The form for completing the internal proposal is here.
This completed form, including signatures, should be submitted electronically via email for review by the internal selection committee.
Please read the RFP carefully for specific requirements of the program here.
Selection of internal proposals will be based on National Institutes of Health guidelines. Meeting the needs of the university’s reinvestment plan will also be taken into account. During the selection process, the internal selection committee may contact departments and colleges for their opinions and commitments. They may also request additional information from PI’s.
March 9, 2007: The Internal Selection Committee will notify PIs of the result of the internal competition.
March 26, 2007: NIH Deadline for optional, but recommended, letter of intent.
April 23, 2007: NIH Deadline for full proposal.