MINORITY UNDERGRADUATE BIOMEDICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM Release Date: January 5, 2001 RFA: RFA-HL-01-008 (See update, NOT-HL-05-109) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov) Office of Research on Minority Health (http://ncmhd.nih.gov) Letter of Intent: February 21, 2001 Application Receipt Date: March 30, 2001 PURPOSE The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) invites applications for the Minority Undergraduate Biomedical Education Program. The purpose of this program is to develop pilot demonstration programs at minority undergraduate educational institutions that will encourage the recruitment and retention of talented undergraduate students in the biomedical sciences. The program is designed to increase the number of minority students who enter and succeed in undergraduate and, ultimately, graduate and professional programs in the biomedical and behavioral sciences. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2010 The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2010," a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. This RFA, Minority Undergraduate Biomedical Education Program, is related to one or more of the priority areas. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2010" at http://www.health.gov/healthypeople/. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Applications may be submitted by domestic for-profit and non-profit minority undergraduate educational institutions that currently offer baccalaureate degrees. Minority institutions are defined as academic institutions in which 1) students from minority groups, underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences (e.g., African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native U.S. Pacific Islanders), comprise a significant proportion (greater than 50 percent) of the total student enrollment and 2) have a track record of commitment to the special encouragement of minority faculty and students. Foreign institutions are not eligible for these grants. The Program Director of a Minority Undergraduate Biomedical Education Program award must be engaged in undergraduate educational activities, preferably in the life sciences, with the experience to administer and integrate the components of the program. The Program Director will assume responsibility for the overall direction of the program and is expected to devote a minimum of 25 percent effort to the program. Racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply as Program Director. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT The administrative and funding instrument to be used for this program will be the education (R25) grant. Responsibility for the planning, direction, and execution of the proposed program will be solely that of the applicant. The total requested project period for applications submitted in response to this RFA may not exceed five years. Facilities and administrative (F&A) costs will be paid at a rate of 8%. A budget for each year must be provided. FUNDS AVAILABLE The NHLBI intends to commit approximately $800,000 total costs in FY 2001 to fund up to 2 new pilot programs in response to this RFA. An applicant may request a project period of 5 or fewer years and a budget of up to $400,000 total costs for the first and second year and up to $ 500,000 total costs per year for all subsequent years, excluding Facilities and Administrative costs (F&A) on consortium arrangements. Although the financial plans of the NHLBI provide support for this program, awards pursuant to this RFA are contingent upon the availability of funds and the receipt of a sufficient number of meritorious applications. Allowable costs for a pilot demonstration program may include, but are not limited to: o Costs for managing the pilot program including salary of key personnel and supplies and materials to support an administrative structure o Ancillary support for pre and post undergraduate student preparation, including retreats, seminars, exchange programs, the development of partnership and collaborative activities, and other activities deemed to enhance the goals of the program o Faculty development costs including support for summer research projects, release time, retreats, and exchange programs o Student remuneration including the provision of tuition and salary/wages and /or other forms of compensation. o Student travel for presentation at scientific meetings. Funds may NOT be used to purchase equipment and supplies unless included as part of a faculty research project to be used for student research experiences. (In this case, the maximum allowable costs for equipment items cannot exceed $10,000 for research purposes without prior approval by the NHLBI.) Undergraduate recruitment expenses of any kind, other than expenses classified as preparatory educational activities are not allowable under this program. Support for incentives, memberships, and Internet subscriptions are not allowable. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Background Despite remarkable progress in health care over the last few decades, minorities still bear a disproportionate share of premature disability. Given the disproportionate burden of disease among racial/ethnic minorities and the unique sociocultural issues involved in disease pathogenesis and management among minorities, it is critical that more minority individuals be brought into the biomedical research workforce. It is not clear why minority individuals continue to be underrepresented in biomedical research. At the undergraduate level, an increase in college enrollment by underrepresented minorities has persisted for over a decade. Black college enrollment increased at a rate of 3.6 percent per year in the 1990s and Hispanic enrollment grew at an even higher rate (7.1 percent annually.) Moreover, in 1996, approximately 17 percent of minority freshmen reported plans to major in biological sciences, up from 10 percent in 1976 and 1986. Despite these intentions, the number of baccalaureate degrees in the biological sciences awarded to underrepresented minority individuals has not appreciably increased in the last decade. While 10 percent of Black freshman college students express an intent to study a field of natural science, only 5 percent actually earn bachelor's degrees in natural science. Of the college students who receive a degree in the natural sciences, only about 11 percent are underrepresented minority students. Thus, a number of underrepresented minority individuals are lost to biomedical science during their undergraduate college education. One means of countering this trend is to improve the ability of educational institutions that educate a disproportionate share of minority undergraduates to attract, train and graduate promising underrepresented minority students in the biomedical sciences, including the behavioral, physical and quantitative sciences. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) continue to play an important role in educating and producing minority bachelor's degree recipients in the sciences. Thirty-one percent of African-Americans awarded baccalaureate degrees in science and engineering in 1996 earned their degrees at HBCUs. Approximately two-thirds of the 25 institutions that awarded the largest number of science and engineering bachelor's degrees to African- American males and females were HBCUs. Hispanics are also likely to earn bachelor's degrees from colleges and universities in regions of the country where they are most concentrated, such as California, Texas, and Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico awarded 21 percent of the science and engineering bachelor's degrees received by Hispanics in 1990 and 15 percent in 1996. Thus, there is an impetus to focus on those institutions with the most experience and success in educating minority undergraduate students in the sciences. Other The pilot programs will be awarded to minority undergraduate educational institutions, where special circumstances exist for achieving the objectives of the initiative. The long-term goal is to develop educational programs that could serve as models and be disseminated on a national basis to increase the number of minority undergraduate students graduating with baccalaureate degrees in the life sciences. Applicants for the Minority Undergraduate Biomedical Education Program should develop pilot programs for recruiting and retaining minority undergraduate students in the biomedical sciences based on local conditions and resources available. Proposed pilot programs may be based at a single minority academic institution or incorporate cooperative and integrated efforts among institutions, as a result of geographic proximity or a demonstrated history of cooperation. Typical implementation strategies for pilot demonstration projects may include development of presentations, course and curricular reform and enhancement, college preparation activities, supervised research and other active learning experiences, faculty professional development, and other strategies that address the needs of the institution(s) and students. While the primary focus of the Minority Undergraduate Biomedical Education Program is at the undergraduate level, projects may include activities that affect student advancement through the critical transition points during college education - the transition between high school and college, 2- and 4-year colleges, and undergraduate and graduate school. Examples of activities that might comprise a pilot demonstration program include plans to: o implement college activities for high school and 2-year college students that acquaint them with and prepare them for baccalaureate programs in the life sciences; o strengthen and restructure the life science curricula, courses, and laboratories through the incorporation of advances in scientific knowledge, research-based teaching, and learning techniques and practices; o integrate student research and other active learning processes into the curriculum; o implement strategies to ensure that students are aware of, and well prepared for, graduate school matriculation, including an understanding of non-academic factors that are critical to success in graduate school; o offer sabbaticals and exchange programs for faculty to enhance research competencies and knowledge of recent technological developments; o provide faculty release time to participate in appropriate course and curricular reform activities, and develop mentoring skills; o allow opportunities for faculty to participate in research and direct student research projects during the academic year or the summer; o develop appropriate partnerships with other academic institutions, industrial laboratories, national laboratories, and Federally-supported research centers to ensure quality student research experiences that complement academic studies (research experiences may be on campus with local investigators or at off-campus sites); o provide meaningful internships or cooperative education opportunities related to students' skill development at appropriate off-campus sites; o support special seminars to enhance disciplinary knowledge. o provide activities to improve technical skills of students such as writing. Applicants are encouraged to propose other topics that address the overall goals of this initiative. The development and structure of the final pilot demonstration program is up to the applicants. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Project Evaluation and Assessment An evaluation and assessment plan is required so that project development and implementation can be monitored at all stages. One of the key objectives of the Minority Undergraduate Biomedical Education Program is to develop educational programs that lead to the recruitment and retention of undergraduate students in the life sciences and to increase the number of minority students receiving baccalaureate degrees in the life sciences. Accordingly, both intermediate and long-term evaluation and assessment plans should be proposed that include indicators of progress of the pilot program towards achieving these goals. Intermediate goals should compare data or indicators prior to and after establishment of the program and include, but not be limited to: (1) the number of minority students pursuing majors in the life sciences; (2) the number of minority life science majors involved in faculty-supervised research and other active learning activities; (3) student retention in life sciences disciplines; and (4) new educational or ancillary activities established as a result of the program. Long-term measures should include: (1) the number of minority life science graduates with Grade Point Averages of 3.0 or higher; (2) number of minority life science graduates entering graduate or professional school; and, (3) number of minority graduates that enter the biomedical workforce. Where appropriate, an evaluation plan may include comparison groups. URLS IN NIH GRANT APPLICATIONS OR APPENDICES All applications and proposals for NIH funding must be self-contained within specified page limitations. Unless otherwise specified in an NIH solicitation, internet addresses (URLs) should not be used to provide information necessary to the review because reviewers are under no obligation to view the Internet sites. Reviewers are cautioned that their anonymity may be compromised when they directly access an Internet site. LETTER OF INTENT Prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes a descriptive title of the proposed program, the name, address, and telephone number of the Program Director, the identities of other key personnel and participating institutions, and the number and title of the RFA in response to which the application may be submitted. Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows NHLBI staff to estimate the potential review workload and plan the review. The letter of intent is to be sent to Dr. Deborah Beebe, at the address listed under INQUIRIES by February 21, 2001. APPLICATION PROCEDURES The research grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 4/98) is to be used in applying for these grants. These forms are available at most institutional offices of sponsored research and from the Division of Extramural Outreach and Information Resources, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7910, Bethesda, MD 20892-7910, telephone 301/710-0267, email: GrantsInfo@nih.gov. The RFA label available in the PHS 398 (rev. 4/98) application form must be affixed to the bottom of the face page of the application. Type the RFA number on the label. Failure to use this label could result in delayed processing of the application such that it may not reach the review committee in time for review. In addition, the RFA title and number must be typed on line 2 of the face page of the application form and the YES box must be marked. The sample RFA label available at: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/label-bk.pdf has been modified to allow for this change. Please note this is in pdf format. Submit a signed, typewritten original of the application, including the Checklist, and three signed, photocopies, in one package to: CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC REVIEW NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH 6701 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE, ROOM 1040, MSC 7710 BETHESDA, MD 20892-7710 BETHESDA, MD 20817 (for express/courier service) At the time of submission, two additional copies of the application must be sent to Dr. Deborah Beebe at the address listed under INQUIRIES. Applications must be received by the application receipt date listed in the heading of this RFA. If an application is received after that date, it will be returned to the applicant without review. The Center for Scientific Review (CSR) will not accept any application in response to this RFA that is essentially the same as one currently pending initial review, unless the applicant withdraws the pending application. The CSR will not accept any application that is essentially the same as one already reviewed. This does not preclude the submission of substantial revisions of applications already reviewed, but such applications must include an introduction addressing the previous critique. APPLICATION CONTENT The Minority Undergraduate Biomedical Education Program is designed to encourage the development of innovative pilot programs that might be implemented on a national level to increase the number of minority students entering the biomedical sciences. The application should propose an integrated program whose component parts work together to support the overall goals and objectives of the proposed program. The application layout and organization should reflect the overall goal of the program, but be presented as an integrated set of activities based on local conditions and resources. In general, the overall goals and specific measurable objectives (including anticipated milestones) should reflect what the institution expects to accomplish as a result of implementing the activities described in the application. The Proposed Program Applicants should describe their proposed program in detail. They should explain how the program will meet their institutional goals and specific measurable objectives and how meeting these institutional goals will fulfill the objectives of this initiative. Applicants should describe the institution's experience in training minority undergraduate students in the life sciences. In this section, applicants should include information on the number of minority students enrolled and receiving baccalaureate degrees, both total and in the life sciences, and data on the subsequent careers or education plans of the institution's minority graduates. The application should typically include: o Overall project goals, objectives, and a timeline for proposed activities with an indication of their anticipated impact; o Rationale for and feasibility of the approach chosen; o Expected impact of the project across the life science offerings of the institution; o Overall evaluation plan with process and outcome evaluation components to guide project development and demonstrate project impact, including the methods, expertise available, and the criteria to be used for program evaluation. In this context, the institutional data for the previous four years of minority undergraduate student education in the life sciences may serve as a baseline for the specific measurable objectives; o Information on student pool available to the program, and a plan for attracting and retaining the desired student pool; o The criteria to be used in the selection of, and steps taken to recruit and retain, the student participants in this program; o Credentials of participating teaching and research faculty; o Evidence of the commitment of the proposing institution to the improvement of undergraduate education in the life sciences including plans and resource alignment strategies to continue elements of the project after funding ends. Key Personnel The Program Director is responsible for the overall execution of the program. Unless otherwise stated in the application, the Program Director will have the overall responsibility for all projects/activities (e.g., mentoring activities, organization of communications skills programs, special methods workshops etc.) and as well as student career tracking plans. The names and qualifications of the Program Director, the directors of individual projects within the program (where appropriate), and any other key personnel, should be listed in the application under Key Personnel and their Biographical Sketches should be included. Other Support and Resources Applicants should describe the other type(s) of support available for the scientific development of minority undergraduate students at their institution(s). Applications from academic institutions with Federal or private funding for student development programs in the life sciences should define the relationship between those programs and the Minority Undergraduate Biomedical Education Program. REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed for completeness by the CSR and responsiveness by the NHLBI. Incomplete and/or non-responsive applications will be returned to the applicant without further consideration. Applications that are complete and responsive to the RFA will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by an appropriate peer review group convened by the NHLBI in accordance with the review criteria stated below. As part of the initial merit review, all applications will receive a written critique and undergo a process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific merit, generally the top half of the applications under review, will be discussed, assigned a priority score, and receive a second level review by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council. Review Criteria The anticipated effectiveness of the program in making a difference relative to the current educational activities will be assessed; some of the factors considered include: o Overall Goals and Specific Objectives -Suitability of overall goal(s) and specific objectives in relation to the applicant institution's academic strengths; -The rationale for the educational/research activities to increase students' interest in biomedical scientific careers; -The extent to which the program's plan may be expected to meet the stated goals and objectives and its suitability to be implemented at other institutions; o Evaluation Plan -The appropriateness of the applicant's plan for the evaluation of the impact of the programmatic activities, including appropriate baseline data and milestones for accomplishments; o Availability of Students -The availability of significant numbers of underrepresented minority students in the participating science department(s) who are potentially interested in research careers in biomedical and health-related fields; o Program Director and Designated Preceptors -The qualifications and experience of the Program Director, faculty and staff to carry out the proposed program; -The past training record of designated preceptors, measured by the success of former trainees of any ethnic group, in establishing independent and productive research careers and serving as mentors; -The caliber of the proposed preceptors as researchers, including their successful competition for research support; o Institutional Commitment -Evidence of institutional commitment, and strength of the efforts of the institution(s), to foster the professional development of underrepresented minority scientists. o Integration and Partnerships -Integration with other programs within the institution(s); -Partnerships with graduate, medical, or research institutions for the purpose of placing students. In addition to the above criteria, in accordance with NIH policy, all applications will also be reviewed with respect to the following: o The reasonableness of the proposed budget and duration in relation to the proposed program. Other Considerations o The budget and cost-effectiveness of the program, including its appropriateness to the scope of the program, and the number of students involved; o Integration with other programs within the institution(s); o Partnerships with graduate, medical, or research institutions for the purpose of placing students. Schedule Letter of Intent Receipt Date: February, 21, 2001 Application Receipt Date: March 30, 2001 Peer Review Date: July, 2001 Council Review: September, 2001 Earliest Anticipated Start Date: September 30, 2001 AWARD CRITERIA Criteria that will be used to make award decisions include: o scientific/technical merit (as determined by peer review); o availability of funds; o programmatic priorities. INQUIRIES Inquiries concerning this RFA are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or answer questions from potential applicants is welcome. Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to: John Fakunding, Ph.D. Division of Heart and Vascular Diseases National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Rockledge Building, Room 9170 Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 435-0544 FAX: (301) 480-1336 Email: Fakundij@nih.gov Direct inquiries regarding review issues to: Dr. Deborah Beebe Division of Extramural Affairs National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Rockledge Building, Room 7178, MSC 7924 Bethesda, MD 20892-7924 Bethesda, MD 20817 (for express/courier service) Telephone: (301) 435-0270 FAX: (301) 480-3541 Email: beebed@nhlbi.nih.gov Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to: Owen Bobbit Grants Operations Branch Division of Extramural Affairs National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Rockledge 2, Room 7134 Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 435-0184 FAX: (301) 480-3310 Email: bobbitto@nhlbi.nih.gov AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93.3837. Awards are made under authorization of Sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and administered under NIH grants policies and Federal Regulations 42 CFR 52 and 45 CFR Parts 74 and 92. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review. The PHS strongly encourages all grant recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products. In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any portion of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library, day care, health care, or early childhood development services are provided to children. This is consistent with the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American people.
Weekly TOC for this Announcement
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices
Office of Extramural Research (OER) |
National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892 |
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) |
||||||||
Note: For help accessing PDF, RTF, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Audio or Video files, see Help Downloading Files. |