NIH Tropical Medicine Research Centers (P50)

WHAT: Limited Submission Proposal for the NIH Tropical Medicine Research Centers (P50)

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

WHY: NIH anticipates having $2.6 million dollars per year for five years to fund 3-4 awards.

WHEN: Internal proposal deadline of April 24, 2006.

HOW: TAMU faculty should submit internal proposal to osppc@tamu.edu for review by the internal selection committee.

THE FINE PRINT:  

Details available below and online at http://vpr.tamu.edu/osp/limited.html

The funding agency, NIH, has limited the number of proposals to one per institution.

BRIEF PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The NIH Tropical Medicine Research Centers (P50) Program is designed to support research requiring access to endemic populations and is limited to Leishmaniasis, Chagas’ Disease and human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) in areas that are endemic for these diseases. Each Tropical Medicine Research Center (TMRC) will focus on only one of these three diseases. Further, relevant research activities may include projects involving clinical research, epidemiological and field aspects of Leishmaniasis, Chagas and HAT, as well as supportive research related to the biology of host-vector-infectious agent interactions.

This program will not support studies of micronutrients, pre-clinical studies, including toxicology and animal studies, and studies that do not require access to endemic sites or populations. In addition, studies focused on the impact of HIV infection on Leishmaniasis, Chagas’ Disease and HAT are supported by other NIAID activities and will not be supported by this program. The TMRC Program will support clinical studies, but not clinical trials.

Responsibility for leadership of each TMRC rests with the Program Director who must be a resident of the country of award and must possess demonstrated scientific and administrative competence as part of an administrative core. The Program Director should be located at and affiliated with the institution at which the TMRC will reside. A research administrator will be responsible for the daily administration and fiscal management and be fluent in the English language. In addition, each TMRC will have a data management system with a full-time data manager, as well as a designated biostatistician who must commit no less than 10% effort to the program.

Each TMRC must propose two or more scientifically meritorious projects whose interrelationship(s) will result in a greater contribution to the program goals than if each project were pursued individually. Each of the individual projects will be under the leadership of an established, resident investigator who will also serve as the project leader for the specific project. Also, at least one of the projects must be a clinical study. The F&A rate for indirect costs is 8%.

More information can be found at:

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AI-06-006.html

Internal Selection Procedures and Deadlines

April 21, 2006: 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 to osppc@tamu.edu

April 24, 2006: 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 at: http://vpr.tamu.edu/osp/internalselectionlspform.pdf

This completed form should be submitted electronically to osppc@tamu.edu for review by the internal selection committee.

Please read the RFP carefully for specific requirements of the program at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AI-06-006.html

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.

May 5, 2006: The Internal Selection Committee will notify PIs of the result of the internal competition.

June 21, 2006: Deadline for optional, but recommended, letter of intent to NIH.

July 21, 2006: Deadline for full proposal.