Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences May 1998

Communication to Grantees

From G. Iris Obrams, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Director
Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program

We'd like to begin a new way of occasionally letting you know of policy and program matters that we think will be of interest. For all those grantees for whom we have e-mail addresses, this communication was transmitted electronically. You are receiving the communication by regular mail because we either do not have an e-mail address for you, or there was a problem transmitting electronically to you. Please contact us and provide your e-mail address so that we can include you in the much faster electronic communications. With time, the plan is to migrate to sending these types of communications entirely via e-mail. You may contact our offices at: 301-435-4915; fax: 301-402-4279; e-mail: rm78q@nih.gov, to provide your e-mail address.

This communication includes information on:

1. New Requirement for Prior Acceptance Affects ALL Unsolicited Applications for $500,000 (Direct Costs) or More For Any Year Submitted for June 1 Receipt Date

2. New Policy on Inclusion of Children in Research Effective in October

3. Active Program Announcements Listed

4. Request for Proposals Issued for Health-Related Geographic Information System to Supporting Island Breast Cancer Study Project

5. How to Have NIH Guide Table of Contents Automatically Delivered Via E-Mail

6. Publication Available on NCI Budget Proposal for FY 1999

7. World Wide Web Access to NCI Press Releases

1. New Requirement for Prior Acceptance Affects All Unsolicited Applications for $500,000 (Direct Costs) or More For Any Year Submitted for June 1 Receipt Date

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has updated its policy on acceptance of all unsolicited award mechanisms, including new, amended or revised, competing continuation, and competing supplemental requests, and all types of award mechanisms for which $500,000 or more in direct costs for any year is being requested. The new procedure is effective with applications submitted for the June 1 receipt date. Investigators are to contact, in writing or by telephone, NIH program staff before submitting grant applications (i.e., as plans for the study are being developed), and obtain agreement that their application will be accepted for consideration. If assignment of the application is accepted for consideration for funding, the staff is to notify the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) before the application is submitted. Also, in the cover letter that accompanies grant applications, investigators are to name the program staff who agreed to accept assignment of the application. Agreement for acceptance for any subsequent amendment or revision must be obtained, too. The revised policy does not apply to applications submitted in response to Requests for Proposals or other announcements with specific budgetary limits.

The policy says that "Any application subject to this policy that does not contain the required information in the cover letter sent with the application will be returned to the applicant without review."

This change is intended to assist NIH better plan for unanticipated requests for unusually high amounts of direct costs. Unanticipated requests for large amounts of funding can be difficult to accommodate, despite the merits of the research. The aim is to serve the best interests of both the NIH and the applicant in seeing that meritorious research is funded.

Please allow EGP Program Directors as much time as possible for NCI consideration of proposals, and to complete the required paperwork to notify CSR of acceptances. The text of the revised policy is available from the NIH Web site: http://www.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not98-030.html. (NIH Guide, March 20, 1998)

2. New Policy on Inclusion of Children in Research Effective in October

The NIH has established a new policy and guidelines on the inclusion of children (under 21 years of age) in all human subjects research, unless there are scientific and ethical reasons not to include them. This policy applies to all human subjects research, including research which is otherwise exempt from including children as described in Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (Sections 101(b) and 401 (b) of 45 CFR 46). The policy applies to all grant applications received after October 1, 1998.

Investigators are to create in their research plan a section titled "Participation of Children." They are to provide "either a description of the plans to include children and a rationale for selecting or excluding a specific age range of child, or an explanation of the reason(s) for excluding children as participants in the research." For full information, the policy and guidelines are available from the NIH Web site: http://www.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not98-024.html. (NIH Guide, March 6, 1998)

3. Active Program Announcements Listed

The EGP is currently sponsoring or co-sponsoring Program Announcements to stimulate research or research training in 11 areas. Investigators are invited to submit grant applications on these topics, and to consult our Program Directors about their proposal ideas. The topics and contacts for inquiries about programmatic issues are:

• Clinical Epidemiologic Studies in Hereditary Breast/Ovarian Cancer (PA-97-109). Contact: Dr. Susan Nayfield; phone: 301-496-9600; fax: 301-435-5477; e-mail: sn15c@nih.gov.
• Cancer Survivorship Studies in Established Epidemiologic Cohorts (PA-98-027). Contact: Dr. Susan Nayfield.
• Diet, Lifestyle, and Cancer in U.S. Special Populations (PA-98-028). Contact: Dr. A.R. Patel; phone: 301-496-9600; fax: 301-402-4279; e-mail: ap39f@nih.gov.
• Epidemiology of Lung Cancer: Interdisciplinary Studies (PA-96-008). Contact: Dr. A.R. Patel.
• Molecular Epidemiology of Prostate Carcinogenesis (PA-95-084). Contact: Dr. Kumiko Iwamoto; phone: 301-496-9600; fax: 301-402-4279; e-mail: cj24t@nih.gov.
• Epidemiology of AIDS/Retroviral-Associated Cancers (PA-97-057). Contact: Dr. Sandra Melnick; phone: 301-435-4914; fax: 301-402-4279; e-mail: sm33k@nih.gov.
• HIV Pathogenesis in Women's Interagency HIV Study (PA-97-105). Contact: Dr. Sandra Melnick.
• Geographic Information Systems in Environmental Health Sciences (PA-95-032). Contact: Mr. Burdette Erickson; phone: 301-496-9600; fax: 301-402-4279; e-mail: cj24t@nih.gov.
• Interdisciplinary Training in Genetic Epidemiology of Cancer (PA-97-071). Contact: Dr. Daniela Seminara; phone: 301-496-9600; fax: 301-435-5477; e-mail: cj24t@nih.gov.
• Small Grants Program for Cancer Epidemiology (PAR-98-023). Contact: Dr. Patel.
• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Programs. NCI's budget for the SBIR Program is about $48 million for FY 1998 (about $30 million is available for competing awards) and about $3 million for the STTR Program. Contact: Mr. Burdette Erickson.

The Program Announcements are available at http://www.nih.gov/grants/guide. Further information on the SBIR and STTR Programs is available at http://www.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm.

4. Request for Proposals Issued for Health-Related Geographic Information System to Support Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project

A Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Phase I implementation of a geographic information system to support the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project has been issued. The due date is June 19, 1998. The RFP can be accessed at http://rcb.nci.nih.gov/rfp.htm. Contact: Ms. Theresa Shroff, Contracting Officer; phone: 301-435-3796; fax: 301-402-8579; e-mail: ts144t@nih.gov.

5. How to Have NIH Guide Table of Contents Delivered Automatically Via E-Mail

Each week the NIH transmits via a LISTSERV the table of contents for the week's issue of the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The Web address for each Guide article is included, with links provided to access the articles. To subscribe to the LISTSERV, send an e-mail message, and in the first line of the message (not in the "Subject" line), provide the following information: subscribe NIHTOC-L your name (substitute for "your name" the name you wish to use). Instructions for subscribing are also provided at http://www.nih.gov/grants/guide/listserv.htm.

6. Publication Available on NCI Budget Proposal for FY 1999

The Nation's Investment in Cancer Research: A Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 1999 describes NCI's current budget and provides a vision of how additional funds should be spent. The publication is available at http://www.cancer.gov, and click on "What's New." (Items in "What's New" are in chronological order; see March 26, 1998 addition.) Single copies of a summary of the publication, The Guide for Researchers and Clinicians: The Nation's Investment in Cancer Research, may be obtained by calling NCI's Cancer Information Service, 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).

7. World Wide Web Access to NCI Press Releases

The NCI makes its press releases, fact sheets, and statements available on the Web at http://rex.nci.nih.gov, click on "Mass Media," and then choose from several selections, such as "What's New," "Press Releases," and "Background on Cancer." Under these headings are such titles as "Cigar Smoking Causes Several Cancers and Lung and Heart Disease" (announcement of a new monograph titled Cigars: Health Effects and Trends), "Breast Cancer Prevention Trial Shows Major Benefit, Some Risk," "Study in Finland Suggests Vitamin E Prevents Prostate Cancer," "New Report on Declining Cancer Incidence and Death Rates," and "Magnetic Fields Associated with Electrical Appliances are Considered Unlikely to Increase the Risk of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia."