August 5, 2009
News Articles
Opportunities and Resources
Advice Corner
New Funding Opportunities
News Articles
Your Noncompeting Funds 100 Percent Restored
Here's some good news: for your noncompeting award, you're getting 100 percent of your money. For our FY 2009 noncompeting grants, we have finished putting back your dollars so they're now fully funded. We had initially paid awards at about 90 percent of the level of the previous grant while we were operating under a continuing resolution.
Please check that your award amount is correct. If you see that your noncompeting grant was not revised, contact your program officer or grants management specialist listed in the Commons and on the Notice of Award.
Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Gets a Green Light
On July 7, NIH widened the door for scientists interested in studying human embryonic stem cells (hESC), publishing the NIH Guidelines on Human Stem Cell Research. The new guidelines describe eligibility, ethical, scientific, and legal requirements for investigators.
Note that based on public feedback to the April 23 draft guidelines—about 49,000 comments—NIH redefined hESCs to:
. . . cells that are derived from the inner cell mass of blastocyst stage human embryos, are capable of dividing without differentiating for a prolonged period in culture, and are known to develop into cells and tissues of the three primary germ layers.
But the basic eligibility criteria outlined in those guidelines stay the same:
- You must use embryonic stem cells from fertility clinic embryos that would otherwise be discarded.
- You must have written informed consent from donors.
The guidelines also state the research types not eligible for NIH funds, such as using hESCs from sources such as somatic cell nuclear transfer or parthenogenesis or using embryos created for research.
Because of the Dickey Amendment—which Congress passed in 1995 and is still in force—you cannot use appropriated funds to create human embryos for research or conduct research that results in their destruction.
So we cannot fund the creation of hESC cell lines, but once you get NIH's approval, we can fund research using those lines.
Pay attention to restrictions that apply even to eligible cell lines. For example, NIH doesn't allow research that involves introducing hESCs or induced pluripotent stem cells into non-human primate blastocysts.
When proposing research using hESCs, you may use the cell lines that will be posted on the future NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry or submit information to NIH to approve a new line.
If you are developing a new cell line, go to our How to Get a Human Embryonic Stem Cell Line Approved, which has all the information we know so far about the approval process, and check back for updates.
If Your Application Uses hESCs
For new applications or proposals, you may apply for a grant or contract that uses hESCs. But until hESC lines are listed on the new NIH Registry, do not identify a line. Instead, include a statement that you will use one from the new registry. Read more in the July 15, 2009, Guide notice.
For existing applications, NIH is not accepting additional information about the cell line.
- Reviewers are not factoring that information into your score.
- If funded, you will get a restricted award until you identify an approved cell line from the new NIH Registry.
- If the cell line is critical to your research, consider withdrawing your application and submitting another one later. Go to Standard Due Dates for Competing Applications for dates.
- All pending hESC Challenge Grant applications will be reviewed in the fall and go to the January 2010 Councils.
- NIH is looking at all other hESC applications pending review for FY 2009 or FY 2010 funding. If fundable, you will get a restricted award until you can identify an approved cell line.
If Your Grant Uses hESCs
Keep the following in mind if you are already conducting stem cell research. NIH covered this topic in the July 15, 2009, Guide notice.
- You can continue your research, but when you renew the grant, you must use only new lines in the NIH Registry.
- We can issue ARRA administrative supplements to existing hESC grants as long as the proposed work stays within the approved scope.
- You may not use a new line of research or another hESC line without NIH approval.
Remember, work involving hESC is considered human subjects research if donors can be identified.
The new guidelines stem from President Barack Obama's March 11, 2009, Executive Order 13505: Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells.
NIH announced them in the July 6, 2009, Guide notice. If you have a question, email stemcells@mail.nih.gov.
Obama Nominates a New NIH Director
We're pleased to announce that President Obama has nominated Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., to be the new NIH director. Dr. Collins is the former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, where he led the landmark Human Genome Project.
Read more from the White House at President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate Francis Collins as NIH Director.
Two NIAID-Supported Scientists Get Top Presidential Award
Two young NIAID-supported scientists—out of twelve from NIH—have won the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
Honoring 100 high-potential leaders working at the frontiers of science, PECASE awards winners as much as $1 million for up to five years. Nine federal organizations, including the NIH, National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy, nominate people who are conducting groundbreaking research and show a commitment to community service.
Our congratulations to Felicia D. Goodrum and Erica Ollmann Saphire, both supported by our Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Here's a profile of their work.
Felicia D. Goodrum, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Immunology of the University of Arizona.
Dr. Goodrum is studying human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) to identify the molecular interactions between the virus and host cell using primary human hematopoietic progenitor cells that culminate in latency. To this end, she developed a novel in vitro model for HCMV latency and identified the first virus-coded determinant required for latency.
She is also exploring the role of cellular mechanisms and pathways important to latency. These include the innate immune response to infection and epigenetic regulation of gene expression.
Further, her lab is developing an in vivo model to analyze the impact of latent and productive infection on hematopoietic progenitor cell biology. Identifying virus-host interactions unique to the latent infection will elucidate the mechanisms required for latency and, consequently, those having an impact on viral pathogenesis. Go to UA Life Science Research - BioGate, Felicia D Goodrum.
Erica Ollmann Saphire, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbial Science of The Scripps Research Institute.
Dr. Saphire's lab explores, at the molecular level, how pathogens evade and usurp innate and adaptive immune responses and how we can design vaccines and antivirals to defend against them.
She and her colleagues are incorporating x-ray crystallography, virology, and immunology in their analysis of the key proteins responsible for the pathogenesis of and immune suppression in Lassa, Marburg, and Ebola hemorrhagic fevers.
In particular, her work aims to elucidate the structural mechanisms of innate immune suppression, viral assembly, and replication of Ebola virus as well as glycoprotein architecture of other hemorrhagic fever viruses. Go to Ollmann Saphire Laboratory.
For more information about PECASE, go to The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) Program.
Health Disparities in the Spotlight at NIH Summit
In the spirit of health equity, an illustrious group of speakers gathered near Washington, D.C. last December for NIH Summit: The Science of Eliminating Health Disparities.
A three-day, one-of-a-kind event, the Summit welcomed a who's who of biomedical scientists, public health commissioners, and other prominent experts to discuss the current state of health gaps among minority and underserved populations.
A number of NIAID PIs and staff also participated as speakers and moderators to cover topics such as:
- Perspectives on Health Care Reform: Eliminating Health Disparities
- Health Disparities and the Intersection of Science and Practice
- The Role of Media and Policy in Eliminating Health Disparities
The Summit ended with a town hall meeting on health care reform. Ideas were to be forwarded to President Obama's administration.
If you weren't among the more than 4,000 people who attended, you can catch videos, podcasts, and transcripts at Healthcast from The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
Staff Recognition
Putting together an event like the Summit took many people and hours. NIH's Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities was principal coordinator, but it had a lot of help from the Trans-NIH Planning Committee, which included several of our senior staff.
For their hard work, the following Committee members from NIAID received a group NIH Director's Award:
ARRA Makes a Difference—Read How
People are letting us know how ARRA funding helped their research and touched the lives of others in their labs.
We've gotten great feedback and posted our first entries from:
- Constantine D. Tsoukas, Ph.D., of San Diego State University
- Crystal Botham, Ph.D., of Stanford University
- Michael P. Pollastri, Ph.D., of Boston University
- Daniel Portnoy, Ph.D., of University of California, Berkeley
If you received ARRA funding, we'd love to hear from you. Send us your narrative to post, and read your colleagues' stories about hiring and retaining staff and pursuing important research. At the same time, you can tout your lab and your work to colleagues and potential collaborators.
Go to How Have ARRA Funds Helped You? and email us a few sentences so we can post your story for you. You can read examples at ARRA Success Stories.
Opportunities and Resources
Sign Up Now for the SBIR Niche Assessment Program
It's back—a fresh opportunity for FY 2009 and FY 2010 Small Business Innovation (SBIR) phase I awardees. You are eligible to participate in the annual Niche Assessment Program.
Here's a recap of how the program works: an NIH contractor, Foresight Science and Technology, assesses potential uses of the technology in your grant.
It also prepares a Technology Niche Analysis report, which shows how to improve your product's competitiveness, and a market entry strategy. That report may help you prepare the commercialization plan required for your SBIR phase II application.
Sign up now—only 50 slots are open for all NIH. The assessment should take only a few hours, and it's free. For more details, see the July 17, 2009, Guide notice. You can also download the registration forms here:
Check Out Tetramer and Epitope Resources
Searching for tetramer reagents or immune epitopes? You may not have to look any further than the following two places.
NIH Tetramer Facility
Since it opened ten years ago, the NIH Tetramer Facility has distributed over 3,000 reagents to investigators worldwide to study T-cell responses to infectious and immune-mediated diseases and cancer. The reagents have also been used in early stage development of vaccines and immune-based therapies for infectious diseases, cancer, and immune-mediated disorders.
Here's a list of the Facility's reagents:
To order, fill out the appropriate online Reagent Request Form. You'll also need to complete the NIH Tetramer Facility Registration Form, which serves as the Materials Transfer Agreement for all reagents supplied by the Facility.
Go to Tetramer Request Process to learn more about requesting a reagent, review and approval, and shipping.
If you have questions about the NIH Tetramer Facility or its reagents, contact Dr. Alison Deckhut Augustine at augustine@niaid.nih.gov.
Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Resource
The NIAID-supported Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Resource (IEDB) gives you a comprehensive, public database of immune epitopes for infectious diseases, excluding HIV, and allergy. It will soon include transplant and autoimmune epitopes.
IEDB provides one-stop shopping for immune epitope information, which has been curated from the scientific literature. It also hosts an analysis resource that includes:
Among other IEDB resources:
- A Swine Flu Analysis of potential cross-reactive immune epitopes among Swine flu (H1N1) and seasonal flu strains
- Peer-reviewed articles describing immune epitope knowledge, utility, and research gaps or opportunities for the following:
Heads Up: RFAs for NIH Director's Pioneer Award Program
If you have a highly innovative project in mind, look out later this month for two funding opportunity announcements for the NIH Director's Pioneer Award Program. And be forewarned: it won't be business as usual since NIH is implementing changes to the application and review process.
Details about these changes will be in the funding opportunity announcements, which you should read carefully. Expected receipt date is October 20, 2009, with no pre-applications required.
For the official heads up, see the July 9, 2009, Notices of Intent to Publish RFAs for the Pioneer Award DP1 and DP2.
T32s: Don't Table Official Data Tables
(New on June 18, 2010: NIAID now accepts training grant applications on September 25 for non-AIDS and January 7 for AIDS-related applications).
For your new Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) grant application or progress report, remember to use the data tables in the PHS 398 or PHS 2590, respectively.
Though NIAID had its own tables, we stopped using them when NIH switched to standardized formats last year. See our June 18, 2008, article "Training Grants Get New Data Table Formats."
Most investigators got the news, though some are still submitting data in the now obsolete tables or not submitting the required information at all. If you make this mistake, be aware that you will have to send data in the correct format.
But resubmissions are different. As we state in the newsletter article referenced above, we allowed you to use the old tables in resubmitted applications for the September 25, 2008, submission date. If you resubmitted but didn't get funded and need to revise once again, you may still use the old tables.
You'll also find this information in the reader question below: If I used the older data table formats for my T32 application last September 25, may I use them again for my resubmission?
Advice Corner
Use the Financial Conflict of Interest Module—It's "Commons" Sense
We've said it before, and we're saying it again: submit your financial conflict of interest reports through the eRA Commons' FCOI module. You should have started using it on July 1.
For more information, read our previous reminder in the June 17, 2009, article "Submit FCOI Reports in the Commons."
Underrepresented Fellows: Know Where Your Letter Goes
As people get used to submitting fellowship applications electronically, here's a tip for those seeking an NRSA Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (F31).
You probably know that your institution must certify in a letter that you're from an underrepresented group. Though this policy isn't new, how you submit the letter is, since paper applications are now a thing of the past.
Here's the skinny:
- Attach your certification letter titled Diversity_Eligibility_Ltr under Item 11 Other Attachments in Section 4.4 Other Project Information Component.
- Make sure it is on institutional letterhead and scanned so that an institutional official signature is visible.
You'll find the official word in the July 6, 2009, Guide notice and our Fellowship Grants SOP, which we updated accordingly.
Can I Keep Receiving Grant Funds if Furloughed?
That depends. First, check with your institution about its furlough policy. As long as the policy doesn't violate the terms and conditions of your award, we can continue to fund your grant for up to three months.
If the furlough lasts longer, you must appoint another PI or terminate the grant. See our Change of Principal Investigator SOP to read about requesting NIAID's approval. For information about your situation, contact your grants management specialist.
Reader Questions
Feel free to send us a question at deaweb@niaid.nih.gov. After responding to you, we may include your question in the newsletter, incorporate it into the NIAID Research Funding site, or both.
"Can I use my allowed SBIR fee to pay for reporting or other administrative assistance, and are these costs direct or indirect costs?"—an anonymous reader
Yes, you can use your 7 percent fee to pay for consultants to file required reporting or administrative grant assistance. But this fee is not considered a direct or indirect cost to the grant. Check out our
Small Business Awards page for more information.
"Can I transfer my ARRA award from my current institution to another institution when I relocate?"—an anonymous reader
Unfortunately, in most cases you cannot transfer an ARRA award from one institution to the next. The only circumstance in which NIH allows you to transfer the grant is if you have not spent any grant money. At the moment there is no leeway with this rule though it could change in the future.
If you have any more questions about Recovery Act policy, you can reference our Special ARRA Requirements—Recovery Act Questions and Answers page.
"Any idea when I'll hear about my F32 for ARRA funding if I submitted my just-in-time information in May?"—Dave Sullivan, Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University
Unfortunately, we don't know when you'll hear about your application. For some people, we are just waiting for approval from higher levels of government before we can make the award; others may be in a different situation.
If you haven't already done so, speak to your grants management specialist or program officer. They are close to the funding process and are in the best position to tell you about timing.
"If I used the older data table formats for my T32 application last September 25, may I use them again for my resubmission?"—Ferric C. Fang, University of Washington School of Medicine
Yes. Since your Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) application is grandfathered, you may submit your application using NIAID's old table format.
For new and noncompeting grants, read our article "T32s: Don't Table Official Data Tables" in this issue.
New Funding Opportunities
See these and older announcements at NIAID Funding Opportunities List.
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