Full Text PAR-96-003 INDIVIDUAL PREDOCTORAL NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS FOR M.D./PH.D. FELLOWSHIPS NIH GUIDE, Volume 24, Number 37, October 20, 1995 PA NUMBER: PAR-96-003 P.T. 22 Keywords: Biomedical Research Training Alcohol/Alcoholism Drugs/Drug Abuse Mental Disorders National Institute of Mental Health National Institute on Drug Abuse National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism PURPOSE The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) provide National Research Service Awards (NRSAs) to individuals for research training in specified areas of biomedical and behavioral research. The purpose of the combined M.D./Ph.D. program described in this Program Announcement (PA) is to help ensure that highly trained physician/scientists will be available in adequate numbers and in the appropriate research areas and fields to meet the Nation's mental health, drug abuse and addiction, and alcohol abuse research needs. This PA supersedes and replaces the previous announcement of the Predoctoral Individual M.D./Ph.D. Fellowship (March 1989). HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000 The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000," a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. This PA, Individual Predoctoral National Research Service Award for M.D./Ph.D. Fellowships, is related to the priority area of human resource development. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full Report: Stock No. 017-001-00474-0 or Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202-512-1800). ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Applicants must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States, or have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence and have in their possession an Alien Registration Receipt Card (1-551) at the time of application. Noncitizen nationals are persons born in lands that are not States, but are under United States sovereignty, jurisdiction, or administration (e.g., American Samoa). Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible. Racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. An applicant for an NIMH, NIDA, or NIAAA NRSA M.D./Ph.D. individual fellowship must show evidence of both high academic performance in the sciences and significant interest in research. The applicant must be enrolled in an M.D./Ph.D. program at an approved medical school, accepted in a related scientific Ph.D. program, and supervised by a mentor in that scientific discipline when the application is submitted. The typical applicant will apply during the first year of medical school for funding to begin in the second year; however, applications may be submitted at any stage of medical school. An individual may not have more than one NRSA competing application pending with PHS concurrently. Applicants must propose to conduct research in areas of demonstrable mental health, drug abuse and addiction, or alcohol abuse relevance and document that the proposed graduate program offers them an opportunity to develop expert research skills and knowledge. Although NRSAs are not usually made for study leading to the M.D., D.O., D.D.S., or similar professional degrees, or for study that is part of residency training leading to a medical specialty, this program is specifically designed to support training in an established, combined M.D./Ph.D. program. The institutional setting must be a domestic, nonprofit private or public institution. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT Awards made under this PA will use the Individual National Research Service Award (NRSA) for M.D./Ph.D. Fellowship (F30) mechanism to provide combined medical school and predoctoral Ph.D. support for a maximum of six years; no other predoctoral NRSA support may be received during this time. Any exception to these limitations requires a waiver from the Director of the awarding Institute based on a review of the justification provided by the individual awardee and his or her sponsor. Continued support beyond the first year is dependent upon satisfactory progress toward the combined degree. Annual reports are to be provided by the fellow, the Ph.D. department and sponsor, and the medical school. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The NRSA legislation requires that the Nation's overall need for biomedical research personnel be taken into account by giving special consideration to training physicians who propose to become active biomedical researchers. The NIMH, NIDA, and NIAAA recognize the critical importance of training physicians to become researchers and is thus providing M.D./Ph.D. students with the opportunity for training through this fellowship mechanism. The enormous complexity of biomedical and behavioral science today prevents the standard course of study at most medical schools from providing the experience necessary to develop researchers. Since scientists who are both medical doctors and trained investigators play a vital role in helping to bring the highest scientific standards into basic, clinical, epidemiologic, prevention, and services research settings, integrated curricula that combine training for the M.D. degree with extensive research experience have been developed. There is a critical need in the mental health, drug abuse and addiction, and alcohol abuse research arena for physician/scientists with the medical training to investigate problems of disease in humans. The graduates of an M.D./Ph.D. program differ from most other clinicians in having had research experience in basic science to foster fundamental scientific knowledge and insight into basic, clinical, epidemiologic, prevention, and services investigations. The NIMH, NIDA and NIAAA expect the fellows trained under this program to become outstanding scientists interested in research on mental health and mental illness, drug abuse and addiction, and alcohol abuse both as members of interdisciplinary teams and as individuals able to design, interpret, and analyze a sophisticated program of research. There is a critical need for investigators at the basic/clinical/epidemiologic/prevention/services interface. New developments (for example, in neuroscience, especially molecular and cellular neurobiology, neurophysiology, neuroimaging, and neural modeling) have made it possible to study underlying mechanisms of etiology and pathophysiology of mental disorders, drug abuse and addiction, and alcohol-related disorders. Clinical and epidemiologic research now involves linkage studies to determine the genetic locus of abnormal genes in a mental disorder, differential hybridization methods to detect possible abnormalities in genomic regulation, and other basic science methods in clinically and epidemiologically driven research. In like fashion, major changes in research direction and paradigms have fostered the development of health services and prevention research in NIMH, NIDA, and NIAAA. Because of an acute shortage of physician/scientists in these critical research areas, potential applicants who are interested in such careers are especially encouraged to apply. INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS It is the policy of the NIH that women and members of minority groups and their subpopulations must be included in all NIH supported biomedical and behavioral research projects involving human subjects, unless a clear and compelling rationale and justification is provided that inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of the research. This new policy results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law 103-43) and supersedes and strengthens the previous policies (Concerning the Inclusion of Women in Study Populations, and Concerning the Inclusion of Minorities in Study Populations), which have been in effect since 1990. The new policy contains some provisions that are substantially different from the 1990 policies. All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the "NIH Guidelines For Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research," which have been published in the Federal Register of March 28, 1994 (FR 59 14508-14513) and reprinted in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Volume 23, Number 11, March 18, 1994. Investigators also may obtain copies of the policy from the program staff listed under INQUIRIES. Program staff may also provide additional relevant information concerning the policy. APPLICATION PROCEDURES Applications are to be submitted on the Individual NRSA grant application form PHS 416-1. Application kits are available at most institutional offices of sponsored research and may be obtained from the Office of Grants Information, Division of Research Grants, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 3034 - MSC 7762, Bethesda, MD 20892-7762, telephone 301/710-0267, email: GIRG@DRGPO.DRG.NIH.GOV. The title and number of the program announcement must be typed in Section 2 on the face page of the application. At least three completed sealed letters of reference must be submitted with the application (see Part 1 F of PHS 416-1). Applications without the required number of reference letters will be returned without review. Non-citizen applicants must include a notarized statement of permanent residence indicating possession of an Alien Registration Receipt Card. Applicants are advised to pay special attention to the following important items in PHS 416-1: Part I (Prepared by Applicant): Item 3. Program Announcement Area. The applicant should type in "NIMH (or NIDA) (or NIAAA) M.D./Ph.D. Predoctoral Fellowship Program." Item 5. Training Under Proposed Award. Identify the Ph.D. discipline according to the NIH Lexicon of NRSA disciplines on page 27 of the instructions. Candidates who expect to receive a Ph.D. in Neuroscience should enter a code number of 188 (Neurobiology). Item 29a. Activities Under Award. Typically, an M.D./Ph.D. student spends the first 2 years of the program in medical school courses with a limited amount of time devoted to Ph.D. work; the third, fourth, and fifth years of support are spent on Ph.D. work; and the last 2 years are used to complete medical school. Applicants should describe how they expect to divide their time between medical and graduate school, e.g., medical school courses, graduate school courses, research, research training, etc., during both the school year and the summer for each year of the program. Item 29b. Research Proposal. All applicants should provide a research plan, including a description of a research proposal in which they will be involved as part of their training. The plan should include substantive detail that adds to the information about time allocations requested in Item 29a. In addition to the above items, applicants should provide scores for MCAT, GRE, and other exams relevant to medical and graduate school that they have taken recently. Part II (Prepared by Sponsor): Items 32 and 33. Sponsor's Previous Fellows/Trainees, Training Plan, Environment, and Research Facilities. The sponsor must currently be funded to conduct independent research (e.g., Principal Investigator on an R01 or equivalent) and must describe past experience in the guidance of other research trainees and fellows. In addition, the sponsor must describe in detail his/her commitment to and proposed role in guiding the individual applicant. The chairman of the graduate committee for the Ph.D. program must also describe the department's commitment to and proposed role in guiding the individual applicant and any modifications to the department's usual Ph.D. requirements that are necessary to facilitate this trainee's special needs. The application must include evidence that training in the principles of responsible conduct of research will be incorporated in the research experience of each fellow. This should be presented under Item 33. Issues such as conflict of interest, data recording and retention, professional standards and codes of conduct, responsible authorship, and ethics in biological and behavioral research can provide the substantive base of such training. Application Receipt and Review Schedule Applications for the NIMH, NIDA or NIAAA M.D./Ph.D. predoctoral fellowship will be accepted and reviewed three times a year according to the following schedule: Application Receipt Date: Apr 5 Aug 5 Dec 5 Review Meeting: Jun/Jul Oct/Nov Feb/Mar Notification: Aug/Sep Dec/Jan Apr/May Earliest Possible Start Date: Sep Jan May The completed original and two legible copies of the application must be sent or delivered to: DIVISION OF RESEARCH GRANTS NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH 6701 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE, ROOM 1040 - MSC 7710 BETHESDA, MD 20892-7710 BETHESDA, MD 20817 (for courier/overnight service) REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS Applications will be assigned on the basis of established PHS referral guidelines. Applications that are complete will be evaluated for educational, scientific and technical merit by an appropriate peer review group convened in accordance with the standard NIH peer review procedures. 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 applications under review, will be discussed and assigned a priority score. Only these scored applications will receive subsequent consideration for funding by Institute staff. Review Criteria It is important to emphasize that the F30 program is a training mechanism and not a research mechanism. The central issues in review are the applicant's potential for a productive scientific career, the role of the sponsor in the research training that is proposed, the record of the sponsor and the Ph.D. program in producing active, funded research scientists, and the probability that the graduate training will enable the fellow to engage in research with mental health or drug abuse and addiction relevance. Detailed review criteria are listed below: Applicant: o evidence of the applicant's commitment to a career in research o the applicant's demonstrated potential for a productive research career o quality of the applicant's academic record, awards, and honors o extent and quality of applicant's previous research and/or clinical training Research Training Plan: o specificity and clarity of the description of the research skills and knowledge to be acquired o overall coherence and potential of the research training plan to provide the fellow with individualized supervised experiences that will foster research skills o clarity, completeness, originality, and significance of the goals of the proposed research training plans o adequacy of knowledge of relevant literature and current methods in the proposed research area o adequacy of plans for the protection of human subjects and/or care of animals, if applicable o adequacy of plans to include women and minorities as subjects in research, if applicable o adequacy of plans for training in the responsible conduct of research Sponsor: o adequacy and relevance of sponsor's academic and research qualifications and experience in providing guidance to fellows and trainees o evidence of the proposed sponsor's understanding of and commitment to fulfilling the role of sponsor o evidence of an understanding of the applicant's research training needs and a demonstrated ability, on the part of the sponsor, to assist in meeting these needs o adequacy of the sponsor's ongoing research program as a context for the expected research training Environment: o evidence that there is an established M.D./Ph.D. program o access to facilities and related resources (e.g., equipment, laboratory space, computer time, subject populations) necessary to provide the applicant a high-quality training environment o strength of the institution's commitment to research training as demonstrated by ongoing programs, experienced faculty, and, in particular, commitment to the proposed M.D./Ph.D. student o track record of the department and sponsor in training students who become active researchers o track record of the department in training and graduating women and racial/ethnic minorities References: o strength and specificity of the proposed sponsor's endorsement of the applicant, including identification of the applicant's strengths and weaknesses o strength and specificity of additional references as well as adequacy of these reports based on the referee's opportunity to observe and evaluate the applicant's potential as a research scientist AWARD CRITERIA Applications will compete for available funds with all other approved applications assigned to NIMH, NIDA or NIAAA. The following will be considered in making funding decisions: Quality of the application as determined by peer review, availability of funds, program priority, and balance among types of research training supported by NIMH, NIDA or NIAAA. Terms and Conditions Revision of Requirement for Payback The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Revitalization Act of 1993, signed into law on June 10, 1993, includes provisions that substantially modify the service payback for individuals supported as NRSA predoctoral fellows. Predoctoral fellowship awards activated on or after June 10, 1993 DO NOT incur a service payback obligation. Conditions of Award Awards are made for full-time efforts to achieve the M.D./Ph.D. Fellows are expected to use their time in course studies, clinical duties, research training, research, and other necessary and relevant activities in such a way as to optimize their training experience. Awardees in academic institutions are not entitled to vacations as such. They are, however, entitled to the normal short student holidays observed by their training institution. The time between the spring and fall semester is to be used as an active part of the training period. An NRSA may not be held concurrently with another Federally sponsored fellowship or similar Federal award that provides a stipend or otherwise duplicates provisions of the NRSA. An NRSA recipient may, however, accept concurrent educational remuneration from the Veterans Administration and loans from Federal funds. No funds may be disbursed until the individual has started training under the award and an Activation Notice (PHS-416-5) has been submitted to PHS. At the end of the total support period, the individual fellow must submit a Termination Notice (PHS-416-7) to NIMH, NIDA or NIAAA in order to ensure proper documentation of the fellow's records. Tuition and Fees The applicant may request funds for tuition and fees. Up to four years of medical school tuition and up to four years of graduate school tuition and fees may be requested under this fellowship, but no more than six years of tuition and fees support in the aggregate can be awarded. Annual Stipends The annual stipend for predoctoral fellows at all levels is $10,008. The stipend is intended to help provide for the fellow's living expenses during the period of training. The stipend is not a payment for services performed. Fellows supported under individual awards are not considered to be employees either of the Public Health Service (PHS) or their sponsoring institution, even though the payment of the stipend is made through the sponsoring institution. Additional support may be provided to the fellow without obligation by the sponsoring institution or may be conditioned on his or her performance of certain services such as teaching or serving as a laboratory assistant. Under no circumstances, however, may the service requirements detract from or prolong the training. Tax Liability: The Tax Reform Act of 1986, Public Law 99-514, affects the tax liability of all individuals supported under the NRSA program. NIH is not in a position to advise students or institutions about tax liability. Stipends are subject to State and Federal income tax. The taxability of stipends, however, in no way alters the relationship between NRSA fellows and institutions. NRSA stipends are not salaries. NRSA fellows are not in an employee-employer relationship with the institution in which they are pursuing research training, nor are they considered to be self-employed. Stipends are not subject to self-employment tax (FICA). Degree candidates may exclude from gross income reported for tax purposes any amount used for tuition and related expenses such as fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for courses of instruction at their sponsoring institution. The business office of the sponsoring institution will be responsible for the annual preparation and issuance of the IRS form 1099 for fellows paid through the institution. NIH will issue the form for all fellows paid directly by them (fellows training at Federal laboratories). Institutional Allowance Upon request, the awarding Institute will provide an allowance of $2,000 per fellow per 12-month period to the non-Federal sponsoring institution to help defray such expenses as research supplies, equipment, travel to scientific meetings, and related items. Funds will not be provided to cover the cost of travel between the fellow's place of residence and the training institution, except that the institution may authorize from the institutional allowance a one-way travel allowance in a case of extreme need or hardship. The sponsoring institution shall be entitled to the approved institutional allowance only upon official activation of the award. However, if the fellow is not enrolled or engaged in training for more than 6 months of any award year, only one-half of that year's allowance may be charged to the grant. The notice of grant award will be revised and the balance must be refunded to the awarding Institute. INQUIRIES Inquiries are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome. Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to: Mary Curvey Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Science National Institute of Mental Health 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 11-103 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-3107 FAX: (301) 443-1731 Email: mcurvey@nih.gov Henry Khachaturian, Ph.D. Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Science National Institute of Mental Health 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 11-103 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-8033 FAX: (301) 443-1731 Email: hkhach@helix.nih.gov Kenneth G. Lutterman, Ph.D. Division of Epidemiology and Services Research National Institute of Mental Health 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 10-95 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-3373 FAX: (301) 443-4045 Email: klutterm@nih.gov George Niederehe, Ph.D. Division of Clinical and Treatment Research National Institute of Mental Health 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 18-105 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-3264 FAX: (301) 594-6784 Email: gniedere@aoamh4.ssw.dhhs.gov Charles W. Sharp, Ph.D. Division of Basic Research National Institute on Drug Abuse 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 10A-31 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-1887 FAX: (301) 594-6043 Email: cs107m@nih.gov Arthur Horton, Ed.D. Division of Clinical and Services Research National Institute on Drug Abuse 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 10A-30 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-4060 FAX: (301) 443-2317 Email: ah61x@nih.gov Ann Blanken Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research National Institute on Drug Abuse 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 9A-55 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-6543 FAX: (301) 443-9847 Email: ab108v@nih.gov Jamie Biswas, Ph.D. Medications Development Division National Institute on Drug Abuse 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 11A-55 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-5280 FAX: (301) 443-2599 Email: jb168r@nih.gov Timothy P. Condon, Ph.D. Office of Science Policy and Communications National Institute on Drug Abuse 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 10A-55 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-6072 FAX: (301) 443-6277 Email: tc52x@nih.gov Ernestine Vanderveen, Ph.D Division of Basic Research National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 6000 Executive Boulevard, Suite 402 MSC 7003 Bethesda, MD 20892-7003 Telephone: (301) 443-1273 FAX: (301) 594-0673 Email: tvanderv@wilco.niaaa.nih.gov Ms. Frances Cotter Division of Clinical and Prevention Research National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 6000 Executive Boulevard, Suite 505 MSC 7003 Bethesda, MD 20892-7003 Telephone: (301) 443-1207 FAX: (301) 443-8744 Email: fcotter@wilco.niaaa.nih.gov Mary C. Dufour, M.D., M.P.H. Deputy Director National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 6000 Executive Boulevard, Suite 400 MSC 7003 Bethesda, MD 20892-7003 Telephone: (301) 443-3851 FAX: (301) 443-7043 Email: mdufour@willco.niaaa.nih.gov Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to: Diana S. Trunnell Grants Management Branch National Institute of Mental Health 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 7C-08 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-3065 FAX: (301) 443-6885 Email: diana_trunnell@nih.gov Gary P. Fleming, J.D. Grants Management Branch National Institute on Drug Abuse 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 8A-54 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-6710 FAX: (301) 594-6847 Email: gf6s@nih.gov AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93.282. Awards are made under authorization of the Public Health Service Act, Title IV, Part A (Public Law 78-410, as amended by Public Law 99-158, 42 USC 241 and 285) and administered under PHS grants policies and Federal Regulations 42 CFR 66 and 45 CFR Part 74. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review. Awards will be administered under PHS grants policy as stated in the Public Health Service Grants Policy Statement (April 1, 1994). The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the nonuse 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. .
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