Fundamentals of NLM Grants

1. Fundamentals of NLM Grants National Library of Medicine Extramural Programs Updated Dec 2009

2. Contents of this slide set • NLM grant programs overview • Grant review & approval process • Tips for successful applications • Electronic Grants Administration • Contact information

3. Informatics Funding at NIH • Informatics is NLM’s research domain • Computer/information sciences applied to medicine, biology/biochemistry or public health domain • Basic & applied research • NLM grants & training $66 million in FY2005 • Other NIH institutes also support biomedical informatics, e.g., NIBIB, NCRR, NIGMS, NHGRI, NIMH, NCI

4. Types of NLM Grant Programs • Research grants – investigator initiated research • Resource grants – infrastructure & applied informatics • Training support – informatics research training at academic centers • Career development support – career support and educational loan repayment • Grants for small businesses – commercialize good ideas

5. Research Grants • Focus on research & development in biomedical or public health informatics, or bioinformatics • Traditional investigator-initiated research grants (R01) • Experimental/developmental research grants (R21) • Conference Grants (R13)

6. Career Support Awards • Focus on building the supply of researcher investigators in biomedical/ public health informatics or bioinformatics • NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) • Loan Repayment Program (L30) (restricted to biomedical informatics)

7. Resource Grants • Focus on optimizing the management & use of health-related information • Knowledge Management & Applied Informatics Grants (G08) • Grants for Scholarly Works in Biomedicine & Health (G13)

8. Training & Fellowships • 18 University-based medical Informatics research training programs

9. Grants for Small Businesses • SBIR phase 1 and 2 grants for companies that want to bring a product to market • Fast-track – combine phase 1 and 2 in a single application. Requires prior approval by NLM staff • Priorities are the same as for research grants in biomedical informatics

10. Multi-Institute Grant Programs • NLM also partners with other NIH organizations on grant programs. Examples: • Innovations in Biomedical Science & Technology (BISTI) • Understanding and Promoting Health Literacy • See http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ep Grant Programs listing

11. NLM Grant Deadlines • Open programs are the same as for other NIH Research Grants • see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-001.html for dates • RFA deadlines are published in the grant funding announcement, in the NIH Guide

12. Peer Review for NLM Grants • Center for Scientific Review (CSR) receives all applications, assigns them to a study section and a funding Institute • NLM study sections review most of NLM’s grants • Biomedical Library & Informatics Review Committee (BLIRC) • Special Emphasis Panels (SEP) for some NLM grants • Multi-Institute grants in which NLM is a participant, such as SBIR grants, are reviewed by CSR study sections

13. REVIEW STEP Received at CSR  1st Review by BLIRC  2nd Review by BOR  Final Decision, NLM  TIMETABLE Feb 5 June – in NIH Commons Priority scores @ 2 days Summary statements @ 30 days Sept @ Nov (Apr, Aug) Exact date varies Review Steps for Grants - Example

14. PRIORITY SCORES 10 -30 (most likely to be funded) 30-45 (sometimes funded, esp new investigator or early stage investigators R01, or K99 grants) Greater than 45: rarely funded Grant Review Outcomes

15. NIH Review Criteria for Research Grants

16. NIH Review Criteria for Resource Grants

17. Components of Good Proposals • Responsive to the program announcement and NLM stated priorities • Clearly-stated goals and methodology • A detailed work plan that fits the stated project goals • A timeline and milestones • References to publications, placing the work in context of other, similar work and state of the art

18. Components of Good Proposals • Evidence of advance planning, e.g., pilot data or user needs assessment • Key personnel with relevant expertise and adequate FTE dedicated to the work • Evidence that problems & contingencies have been considered • Letters of agreement from named collaborators & consultants

19. DO Contact program officer with questions Name the grant program (e.g., PAR 03-108 ) on box 2 of face page Register with NIH Commons and grants.gov Use most recent application form & instructions – watch for transitions to electronic application!!! DON’T Put information in appendix that is needed to judge merit Request more than $500K/yr without prior written approval by NLM Send the same application to 2 institutes Send the same application at 2 different deadlines Other Helpful Hints

20. Electronic Grants Administration • Register with the NIH eRA Commons for access to priority scores and summary statements • Register at https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/ • Both PI and Institutional Official need Commons accounts • eRA Commons registration is REQUIRED for electronic submissions through Grants.gov • All NIH grant programs are moving to electronic grant submission. Institution MUST register at Grants.gov at least 2 weeks before the grant deadline. The transition to online applications began in December 2005. Full details at http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/

21. Program points of contact • Dr. Valerie Florance – General overall program directions, Informatics training programs and special initiatives. • Dr. Hua-Chuan Sim – Clinical and public health informatics in research grants (R01), exploratory/developmental grants (R21), conference grants, and Pathway to Independence grants (K99). Also responsible for Knowledge Management & Applied Informatics grants, Scholarly Works grants and the Loan Repayment Program. • Dr. Jane Ye – Bioinformatics and computational biology in research grants (R01), exploratory/developmental grants (R21), conference grants, and Pathway to Independence grants (K99). Also responsible for SBIR/STTR grants.

22. For more information • Program: 301-594-4882 for Sim, & Ye;301-496-4621 for Florance • http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ep program announcements, links to application forms • http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ep/faq.html answers many specific questions • http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ep/funded.html for list of funded projects • http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/ for electronic applications information