Slots: 1
Deadlines
Internal Deadline: Contact RII.
LOI: February 10, 2023
External Deadline: March 10, 2023
Award Information
Award Type: Grant
Estimated Number of Awards: 11
Anticipated Award Amount: $3,765,960
Who May Serve as PI: Institutions may apply for both the Summer Institute (RFA-HL-24-004) and CC components of this program. However, the PD(s)/PI(s) for the CC must not be the same PD(s)/PI(s) for the Summer Institute application.
Link to Award: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HL-24-004.html
Process for Limited Submissions
PIs must submit their application as a Limited Submission through the Research Initiatives and Infrastructure (RII) Application Portal: https://rii.usc.edu/oor-portal/.
Materials to submit include:
- (1) Single Page Proposal Summary (0.5” margins; single-spaced; font type: Arial, Helvetica, or Georgia typeface; font size: 11 pt). Page limit includes references and illustrations. Pages that exceed the 1-page limit will be excluded from review.
- (2) CV – (5 pages maximum)
Note: The portal requires information about the PIs and Co-PIs in addition to department and contact information, including the 10-digit USC ID#, Gender, and Ethnicity. Please have this material prepared before beginning this application.
Purpose
The primary goal of the Summer Institutes (SIs) of the PRIDE program is to establish long-term mentoring that will enable junior faculty and transitioning postdoctoral students from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical sciences, to develop a research program and work with their home institutions to obtain NIH funding. Through active involvement in research education and mentorship activities, program participants will further develop their skills and gain experience in advanced methods and experimental approaches in the basic and applied sciences relevant to the NHLBI. Ultimately, the enhanced skills gained from participation in the PRIDE program will contribute to mentees’ career development as faculty members and scientists. SI programs have demonstrated efficacy for furtherance of participants’ research careers.
This FOA specifically invites applications that would support senior faculty, established researchers, and experienced mentors to develop and direct SIs that will provide opportunities for skills development, research experiences, and mentoring to promising junior faculty and transitioning postdoctoral scientists from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical sciences, who have received a formal, full-time, faculty appointment letter in hand by the time the SI program to which they are recruited is convened. In this FOA, ‘applicant’ refers to the Principal Investigator(s) of the SI program, and ‘mentees’ refers to the junior faculty/transitioning post-doctoral scientists.
To facilitate coordination of the research education and evaluation activities among and between SI awardees and the NHLBI, this FOA runs in parallel with a separate FOA soliciting applications for a Coordination Center (CC) for the PRIDE program (described in detail in RFA-HL-24-003). SI applicants may apply to the CC FOA (RFA-HL-24-003) and vice versa; however, the PD/PI for the SI application must be different than the PD/PI for the CC application.
Research Education Objectives
This FOA will support the development, organization, and implementation of NHLBI mission-focused SI programs. The SI programs must be open nationwide to individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups that are identified by the National Institutes of Health as nationally underrepresented in the biomedical research workforce. SI applications must describe plans to support enhancement of mentees’ skills through focused research education and mentoring activities in NHLBI mission-relevant areas. NHLBI’s mission-oriented goals are at the center of the NHLBI Strategic Vision and are discussed on the Strategic Goals and Objectives web page. It is intended that the SIs will be structured to provide research education activities related to research design, methodologies, skills and strategies important to preparing NIH research grants, as well as to provide mentorship on strategies for success and tips for obtaining external research funding related to HLBS disorders.
Applications submitted in response to this FOA must propose to develop an NHLBI mission-focused research education and mentoring SI program during the last quarter of 2023 and early part of 2024, and to implement the proposed SI program during the summers of 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028 with appropriate modifications or refinements following each of the prior years. The CC will support the SI program as detailed in RFA-HL-24-003 and will facilitate cross-site collaborative activities.
This FOA therefore intends to support applicants who offer mentoring and research education experiences in one of the NHLBI mission-relevant disease areas (i.e., heart, lung, blood, or sleep conditions), or cross-cutting HLBS areas such as health disparities or implementation science. Applications characterized by innovation, scholarship, and responsiveness to the priorities and/or changing needs of the NHLBI in meeting its objectives as described in its Strategic Vision are of high programmatic interest.
Examples of relevant topic areas and research approaches include but are not limited to:
- Basic and clinical aspects of the mechanisms of and treatment for HLBS conditions
- Research to mitigate health or health care disparities in HLBS conditions in the United States and abroad
- Health services research focused on treatment optimizing the care for HLBS conditions
- Implementation science research to facilitate adoption of proven-effective interventions to treat and prevent HLBS related diseases
- Intervention research methods, such as adaptive and pragmatic trials, to enhance the efficiency and applicability to populations with HLBS conditions
- Behavioral and social science research targeted at the prevention and treatment of HLBS conditions in areas such as health communication, adherence, behavioral economics, and social and structural determinants of health
- Emerging technology and informatics, such as artificial intelligence/machine learning and integration of wearable technology in research and clinical care of HLBS conditions
- Genomics, “populomics”, and precision health to advance the science of tailored treatment approaches for HLBS conditions
Applications must contain the following to be considered responsive to this FOA. Non-responsive applications will not proceed to review.
- Evidence of a planned program that occurs during the summer for no less than the minimum required time specified (i.e., 10 days) and for two consecutive summers for each cohort
- The number and positions of the intended participants (specifically HLBS-oriented junior faculty or transitioning post-docs, including those from underrepresented groups) with intent to recruit nationally
- A research education program focusing on NHLBI mission-relevant areas
- An evaluation protocol to assess mentees’ progress and program goals
- A detailed account of experiences of the previously awarded program (applicable to renewal applications only)
- Evidence of ability to subcontract small research project (SRP) awards to mentees’ institutions, including appropriate letter(s) of support demonstrating the ability to subcontract or the intent to develop appropriate subcontracting relationships with institutions of higher education from which mentees may come
- A proposed budget within the limit specified in the FOA
Program Structure
Summer Institutes (SIs)
While the specifics of the SI program will be left to the applicant, this FOA will support a four-component program consisting of two consecutive summers of research enhancement and skills development activities, supplemented by mentoring and relevant research experiences occurring throughout the intervening and follow-up academic year.
First Component: First Summer Institute (SI-1)
The first component must be an initial summer session lasting from 10-28 days, which may be divided into more than one segment with mentees participating in multiple segments. The segments may involve classroom, laboratory, and/or field research activities. Topics for consideration may include instructional segments about the unique challenges related to conducting research and obtaining funding faced by researchers, including those from underrepresented groups, reviewing manuscripts, participating on grant review committees, research project management, and budgeting for research proposals. It is preferred that these are an in-person format, but allow flexibility for hybrid or fully virtual formats as needed.
Second Component: Longitudinal Mentoring and Networking
The second component must consist of mentoring and networking activities that occur throughout the academic year following the first summer session. It is recommended that mentees plan to commit at least 5% effort between the first and second year to mentoring and networking activities and research experiences. It is anticipated that, with the assistance of the CC, a mentorship committee tailored to the research pursuits of mentees will be developed for each individual mentee. The mentorship committee would ideally consist of experienced or senior faculty from the mentee’s institution, from the SI, and/or other thought leaders, nationally. Applicants may want to consider how to leverage existing mentoring resources such as the NIH-funded National Research Mentoring Network, professional society supported mentoring and/or career development programs, or other similar resources to enhance the required mentoring committee. Mentoring plans can be designed for virtual, telephone, and/or in-person interactions. Mentoring activities may include assistance with career goal-setting, research design and statistical analysis, external funding, proposal development for submission, and mentored visits to the laboratory or research site of a mentor during the academic year.
It is anticipated that applications will propose at least one in-person mid-year mentoring meeting that can be held either during intervals between semesters, in conjunction with a conference, a three-day weekend during the winter, or at another appropriate time and location. Additional mentoring activities that could occur during the mid-year meeting include identifying appropriate grant mechanisms and funding agencies, review and feedback on draft research concepts or unfunded applications, and progress on funded and ongoing research projects.
Third Component: Second Summer Institute (SI-2)
The third component is a follow-up session that will be held the following summer (Summer Session 2) as a continuation of the first component of the program. It may be of a different duration than the first summer session. This second summer session could be held either at one location for all mentors and mentees, or each mentee could attend a summer session at the laboratory of their mentor(s). Activities could include developing and writing a grant application, holding a mock study section meeting, additional coursework on relevant topic areas, focused mentoring, or research projects progress updates. It is preferred that these are an in-person format, but allow flexibility for hybrid or fully virtual formats as needed.
Fourth Component: Small Research Program (SRP)
A fourth component will be supported through a separate administrative supplement specifically for PRIDE mentees to support mentee-proposed small research projects (SRPs) to facilitate transition to research independence and possibly lead to support from subsequent NIH research grant applications. Briefly, in collaboration with their host PRIDE Summer Institute, mentees in an active cohort will be eligible to apply for an SRP administrative supplement during or following their first summer institute. Oversight of this component would occur throughout the intervening year between Summer 1 and Summer 2, and updates on projects could be provided at the mid-year meetings or at Summer Session 2. Mentees could also present their research progress and findings at the consortium-wide PRIDE Annual Meetings. Details about the eligibility, application, and administration of the SRP are available in NOT-HL-22-039.
NOTE: Pending scheduling, an optional informational webinar session will be held for applicants prior to application submission and a Notice will be published in the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts.
Research education programs may complement ongoing research training and education occurring at the applicant institution, but the proposed educational experiences must be distinct from those training and education programs currently receiving Federal support. R25 programs may augment institutional research training programs (e.g., T32, T90) but cannot be used to replace or circumvent Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) programs.
Visit our Institutionally Limited Submission webpage for more updates and other announcements.