NIH Human Genes and the Environment Research Training Program (T32)

WHAT: Limited Submission Proposal for the NIH Human Genes and the Environment Research Training Program (T32) 

WHO:  Texas A&M University faculty.  TAES, TEES and TTI personnel may wish to submit internal proposals through their own agency. 

WHY:  NIH anticipates making awards with maximum direct costs of $230,000 in year one, $365,000 in year two and $450,000 in years 3-5. 

WHEN: Internal proposal deadline of February 12, 2007. 

HOW:  TAMU faculty should email internal proposal 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 NIH Human Genes and the Environment Research Training Program (T32) seeks to build upon the established foundations in exposure biology and high throughput genomics and expands the base to include additional scientific disciplines, such as human genetics, population genetics/genomics, statistics, epidemiology, environmental genomics/genetics, mechanistic environmental health sciences, systems biology, metabolomics, engineering, computational biology, behavioral medicine, other clinical and biomedical elements, and other relevant areas, to define a new interdisciplinary science which can address the relative roles of genes and environmental exposures in complex diseases.  The goal is to produce a new generation of scientists who are equally at home in genomics and environmental health sciences and can seamlessly interact with both groups of scientists.

Applicants will need to elaborate their vision of the shared conceptual framework to the Human Genes and the Environment Research Training Program and identify a focus or theme within the research training needs of the larger interdiscipline that the proposed research training program intends to address.  Each program should identify and define some knowledge base for all individuals trained by the program, including new coursework, seminars and other curricular elements designed for the research training program.  Further, research training programs are expected to have a primary and predominant focus on training researchers to address problems of human health, complex human diseases and human biology, and the main elements of the program should consist of relevant research in human genetics/genomics and exposure biology/exposure technology to better measure human exposures and explain how they interact with genetic factors to cause disease.  Partnerships with the industrial sector are encouraged, as industrial partners can offer unique resources to the training environment, such as laboratory rotations, faculty and research projects.

Research training programs will support trainees at the predoctoral and postdoctoral levels and may include short-term training experiences.  The focus of the predoctoral program should be on completion of a high quality thesis research project consistent with the goals of the program announcement, along with the core curriculum and other didactic content appropriate to the degree.  Postdoctoral training should focus on attracting trainees with degrees relevant to exposure biology/environmental health sciences or genomics/genetics who wish to emphasize research and training experiences in the cross training area and/or trainees with clinical degrees who wish to engage in research in environmental genomic/genetics.  Short-term training experience can support either professional students or graduate students with backgrounds in quantitative sciences, engineering, environmental health sciences, genomics or genetics, who wish to engage in a cross-training experience in the opposite field. 

Research training programs are to be structured so that each trainee is supervised by a mentoring team of at least two mentors, one of whom has expertise in the relevant environmental exposure or exposure biology aspect of the research and the other having relevant genetic/genomic expertise.  In addition, a Kirschstein-NRSA institutional research training grant must be used to support a program of full-time research training.  It may not be used to support studies leading to the M.D., D.D.S., or other clinical, health-professional training except when those studies are part of a formal combined research training program, such as the M.D./Ph.D.  Similarly, trainees may not accept NRSA support for clinical training that is part of residency training leading to clinical certification in a medical or dental specialty or subspecialty.

The indirect rate is 8%.  NIH anticipates making awards with maximum direct costs of $230,000 in year one, $365,000 in year two and $450,000 in years 3-5.

More information can be found here:      

Internal Selection Procedures and Deadlines

February 9, 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 12, 2007: Deadline to obtain signatures of approval from your department head and college dean to submit an internal proposal to the Office of Sponsored Projects for review by the internal selection committee.  The internal proposal should include:

An executive summary, up to three pages, based on the proposal description as outlined in the NIH program announcement;

Summary budget;

Project and Management Plans (including team members);

The form for completing the internal proposal is here: 

This completed form should be submitted electronically for review by the internal selection committee.

Please read the RFP carefully for specific requirements of the program.

Selection of a proposal will be based on NIH guidelines.  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 PIs.

February 23, 2007: The Internal Selection Committee will notify PIs of the result of the internal competition.

May 29, 2007: Deadline for optional, but recommended, letter of intent to NIH.

June 29, 2007:  Deadline for full proposal.