Constance D. Baldwin, Ph.D. Professor of Pediatrics, University of Rochester Medical Center

1. Make Every Word Count Twice: Constance D. Baldwin, Ph.D. Professor of Pediatrics, University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester, NY How to squeeze your NIH proposal into half the space

2. Do the new formats make you feel squeezed?

3. Revised Outline of NIH Research Plan

4. New NIH Format: Suggested Page Allocations • Specific Aims (1 page) • Research Strategy (12 pages) • Significance (~2 p) • Innovation (~1 p) • Approach (includes Preliminary Studies/Progress Report) (~9 p) • K-awards: 1+12 p for Candidate Background, Career Devel Plan, and Research Strategy • For R03s, R21s: 1+6 p

5. K-proposal: Suggested Page Allocations • Candidate Statement (~ 4pp) • Specific Aims (1 p) • Approach (~8 pp) • Significance (1.5 pp) • Innovation (.5 p) • Approach (includes Preliminary Studies/Progress Report) (6 pp) Total length= 13 pages

6. In the “enhanced” NIH world: Is smallerbetter?

7. Make every word count twice: Fly high! • Work to achieve the 30,000 ft perspective • Practice your “Big Picture” skills • Develop your elevator speech • Tell it to your Mom • Craft a 30,000 ft and a 5,000 ft summary statement and refer to these as you write • Practice focus on design > methods, approach > techniques • Create the context (big picture) carefully, add details only as needed for clarification (e.g. as examples)

8. Make every word count twice: Fight for brevity! • Practice the rules of brevity: • Build sentences around the best subject • Choose verbs for compact power of expression • Use active voice to simplify sentences • Avoid abstractions and long-winded sentences • Avoid empty phrases (“due to the fact that…”) • Use controlled parallel constructions to embed lists Writing tutorial available at: http://www.academicpeds.org/espauthoring/page_01.htm • Make your pictures worth 1000 words: use figures and tables to reduce need for narrative • Use smart formatting to: • Simplify navigation around the proposal • Emphasize critical phrases • When you repeat for emphasis, use new words to give a new spin or point of emphasis

9. Diabetes Abdominal Obesity Cardiovascular Disease Proposed Metabolic Syndrome Factors in the Life Course from Obesity to Cardiovascular Disease Genetics, Perinatal, Puberty, Diet, Physical Activity Potential Precursors: Adiponectin Other inflammatory cytokines • Dyslipidemia • Elevated BP • Abnormal glucose-insulin metabolism • Pro-inflammatory factors • Pro-thrombotic factors Tobacco use/exposure Childhood Adolescence Adulthood Bold = factors included in this study

10. SUMMARY OF STUDY DESIGN STUDY 1: Longitudinal Aim 1A Study Population 9-10 yr olds (Monroe County n ~20,000) Practice-based and School Recruitment Subject Screening School Recruitment Pool n=5,300 Practice Recruitment Pool n=4,200 Family Meetings at Schools Consent to contact PCP Verbal tobacco screening Chart Review: BMI 50th to 98th percentile Subject Enrollment and Initial Consent Chart Review: BMI 50th to 98th percentile Mailing from Practices about Study Phone Screening: Tobacco Exposure STUDY 1: Aim 1B Written Consent and Assent (n = 240) Complete Body composition Serum History Measures Measures STUDY 2: Cross-sectional Aim 2 Baseline Data Collection & Analysis Phone contact @ 6mo • Study population • (Subset of Study 1 sample) • n=30 No tobacco exposure • n=30 High tobacco exposure Visit at 12 mo Repeat measure of Athropometric, body fat, cotinine and serum markers Longitudinal Data Collection and Analysis Phone contact @ 18m • Measurements: • Regional Fat by MRI • Insulin sensitivity by FSGTT Visit at 24 mo Phone contact @ 30m Cross-sectional Data Collection and Analysis Visit at 36 mo

11. Make every word count twice: Exploit those supplements! • Use Letters of Support to amplify on institutional support, career development activities, and methods • Use Bio Sketches (all of them!) to highlight your skills, and clarify roles of your collaborators and mentors • Use Resources to build your image while reinforcing institutional commitment • Use Appendices to supplement Preliminary Studies

12. In some worlds, smaller really is better

13. In other worlds, beauty comes in all sizes