Subject: RFA NR-9l-02 NIH Guide 3/22/9l
From: Dot Baker <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 91 14:58 EST

Hi Paul,
   This looks like the last for today.   Please post this one to the
NIH Listserver as:  RFANR-91-02.910301
   Thanks.  Please let me know when posted.   Thanks.
                   dottie
 ---------------------------- Text of forwarded message -----------------------
 
$$XID RFA NR9102 NR-91-02 P1O1 *****************************************
 
EXPLORATORY CENTERS FOR HEALTH BEHAVIOR RESEARCH WITH
CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
 
RFA AVAILABLE:  NR-91-02
 
P.T. 34, AA; K.W. 0404000, 0715020, 0745035
 
National Center for Nursing Research
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Institute of Mental Health
 
Letter of Intent Receipt Date:  April 15, 1991
Application Receipt Date:  May 20, 1991
 
PURPOSE
 
The National Center for Nursing Research (NCNR), the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) invite applications
from interested institutions to establish
multidisciplinary exploratory centers to investigate
health behavior development in children and adolescents
(ages 8-18).
 
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 RFA,
"Exploratory Centers for Health Behavior Research with Children and
Adolescents," is related to the priority area of the development of
several health promotion behaviors.  Potential applicants may obtain a
copy of Healthy People 2000 (Full Report:  Stock No. 017-001-00474-0) or
Healthy People 2000 (Summary Report:  Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through
the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington,
D.C. 20402-9325 (Telephone 202-783-3238).
 
BACKGROUND
 
Recent governmental and non-governmental reports (1-4)
highlight the significance of behaviors which compromise
health in the short term and have major long-range
implications for the onset of chronic diseases including
cardiovascular disease and cancer.  These patterns of
behaviors including diet, physical activity, alcohol and
tobacco use, risk taking, and sexual behaviors begin in
childhood and adolescence and continue into adulthood.
Although the immediate as well as lifelong adverse
consequences of adolescent behaviors is well recognized,
little is known about the natural history of such
behaviors and the specific needs fulfilled by different
types of behaviors.  Healthy alternatives to meeting the
needs of adolescents need to be identified and tested.
 
During the last decade overwhelming improvements in health
due to the control of epidemic and endemic infections have
led to the emergence of injuries, diseases, and conditions
which adversely affect health patterns generated by
living and behavioral factors.  Of the ten leading causes
of death in the United States, each is in part
behaviorally determined and can be significantly reduced
through changes in behavior.  Children and adolescents
within our society are of special concern, because this
period in life is critical in the development of health
compromising and health promoting behaviors.  Nurses and
other health care providers work with children,
adolescents and their families to assist them in achieving
essential developmental tasks, providing anticipatory
guidance in thinking through difficult situations and
implications of high risk behaviors.  There has been
little work to delineate strategies or environments that
foster optimal psychosocial and biological development or
that examines successful adaptation and coping with
adversity.
 
All of the referral reports 1-4 refer to numerous concerns
for the health of children and adolescents.  Of high
school seniors who smoke, 75 percent report that they
smoked their first cigarette by grade 9.  Among adolescent
boys aged 12-17, nearly 7 percent had used some form of
smokeless tobacco within the last month.  Although the
average age of first use of alcohol and marijuana is 13,
pressure to begin use starts at even younger ages.
 
Lifetime diet and exercise patterns are often established
in childhood and continue into adolescence and adulthood.
Fat makes up more than 36 percent of the calories in the
average American diet.  A comparison of body composition
among children between 1965 and 1985 showed a steady
increase in skinfold thickness. Only 32 percent of
children in grades 1-6 and 44 percent of those in grades
7-9 participate in daily physical education programs, and
only one state requires daily physical education from
kindergarten through grade 12.
 
Alcohol is a major contributor to both motor vehicle
accidents and other health compromising behaviors.  More
that 50 percent of young people have already used alcohol
before entering high school.  In 1989, about 60 percent of
high school seniors reported drinking alcohol in the
previous month, and 33 percent reported occasions of heavy
drinking (having five or more drinks on one occasion in
the last 2 weeks).  In a 1987 national survey, 28 percent
of 8th graders and 38 percent of 10th graders reported
multiple occasions of heavy drinking.
 
The risks of early sexual activity include not only
unwanted pregnancy but also infection by sexually
transmitted diseases.  Of the approximately 1.1 million
girls aged 15-19 who become pregnant each year, an
estimated 84 percent did not intend pregnancies.  Only
one third of the sexually active adolescents report using
contraceptives regularly.
 
Unintentional injuries have now replaced infectious
diseases as the cause of greatest morbidity and mortality
for children and adolescents.  After the first birthday,
injuries cause more fatalities than all diseases combined.
The highest rate of injuries occur in the teen years when
multiple risk behaviors are combined with emerging
independence and experimentation.
 
Of special concern are children and adolescents belonging
in high risk population groups that experience above
average incidences of death, disease, and disability.
These include those with low incomes, members of racial or
ethnic minority groups, and those with disabilities.
 
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES AND AREAS OF INTEREST
 
The mission of the NCNR is to support basic and clinical
research and research training in patient care relevant to
nursing.  Nurses work in a variety of settings including
the community, clinics, hospitals and schools, where they
have the opportunity to influence childhood and adolescent
behaviors at critical points in time.  This RFA seeks
empirically-based research that will form the foundation
for nursing interventions in health promotion and disease
prevention, and facilitate health-enhancing patterns of
behavior in children and adolescents.
 
The mission of the NIMH is to support research to increase
knowledge and improve research methods on mental and behavioral
disorders; to generate information regarding basic biological and
behavioral processes underlying these disorders and the
maintenance of mental health.  This RFA seeks empirically based
multidisciplinary research that will form the foundation for
biomedical and behavioral interventions to facilitate health-
enhancing patterns of behavior in children and adolescents.
 
The mission of the NICHD is to support biomedical and
behavioral research and research training programs to
increase basic and clinical knowledge and understanding of
the biological and behavioral factors that influence and
optimize health and development from conception through
infancy, childhood, adolescence and parenthood.  This RFA
seeks empirically based multidisciplinary research that
will form the foundation for biomedical and behavioral
interventions and prevention strategies with children and
adolescents.
 
There is a need for studies that will develop and test
theory based interventions critical for health
professionals working with children in schools and other
settings that encompass knowledge of behavior, learning,
and psychological and cognitive development.  The
implications of these interventions on health status will
need to be evaluated.  A recent paper on Health and
Behavior Research (5) listed three categories of
biobehavioral research which provides a useful framework
for categorizing questions of interest.  Utilizing these
categories with child and adolescent populations,
applicants are invited to apply for support of projects to
address issues including but not limited to:
 
Category 1: Behavioral Epidemiology-Identification and
Distribution of Behavioral Risk Factors.
 
o  What are the physiological, psychological and social
factors which may interact with and modify known risk
factors in children and adolescents?
 
o  How can one develop and test models of physical,
psychological and social determinants of risk behaviors
among children and adolescents?
 
o  What are the variations in health behaviors and
confounding problems related to race, gender, ethnic and
cultural groups or socioeconomic status?
 
o  What is the relationship of clusters of other behaviors
to those that compromise health, and how do they interact?
 
o  What are the psychosocial and environmental risk
factors and early signal events that convey differential
readiness to engage in health compromising or risk
behaviors and how do they differ across cultures, ethnic
groups and transition periods?
 
Category 2: Establishment, Change and Maintenance of
Health Related Behaviors.
 
o  What are the antecedent and consequent factors which
foster the development, maintenance and modification of
health threatening or health promoting behaviors in
children and adolescents over time?
 
o  What are the mechanisms and strategies by which
deleterious behavior patterns associated with risk for
disease or injury can be changed or prevented?
 
o  How do children and adolescents acquire, comprehend and
incorporate health values and health information
(including what they see and hear in mass media) into
their daily lives?
 
o  What are the cognitive, perceptual and physiologic
factors that affect health promoting behaviors and how do
they differ by culture, gender and ethnicity?
 
o  What is the relationship of transition periods of
growth to health compromising and health promoting
behavior?
 
o  How can intervention programs with adolescents
accommodate multiple risk behaviors simultaneously and
deal with the common function and the linkages between
them?
 
o  How can alternative strategies (e.g. minimization,
substitution, insulation, and delay of onset) acknowledge
and be integrated into the experimentation and exploration
of risk behaviors that occur as an important part of
normal adolescent development?
 
Category 3: Basic Behavioral Biological Mechanisms.
 
o  How do behavioral mechanisms or processes in children
and adolescents mediate or alter biological processes that
produce health or illness outcomes?
 
o  What is the neuro-endocrinologic basis of the
gendertypic stress response?
 
o  How do neuro-hormonal influences interact with
environmental socialization?
 
o  How can learning and other behavioral factors (e.g.
stressors) exert an influence on the adolescents immune
system?
 
o  How do genetic factors influence or interact with
physiologic, behavioral and social development throughout
childhood and adolescence?
 
ELIGIBILITY
 
Institutions or consortia of institutions are eligible to
apply if they have at least two Principal Investigators
with any PHS agency or comparable peer reviewed research
project (R01) grants that are currently active. These
grants must be in Health and Behavior Research (6).  Each
application originating from a college or department of
nursing must include collaboration with other behavioral
and/or clinical scientists in other departments or
colleges.  Each application originating from behavioral
scientists and/or other clinical scientists must include
collaboration with nurse scientists.  Schools of nursing
currently funded for Centers Programs (P50, P20) are not
eligible.
 
The NIH Working Group on Health and Behavior has
developed the following statement on health and behavior
research as a guide.
 
As life style and behavioral factors have been identified
as the major causes of death in the U.S. and as the
interactions of psychosocial and behavioral variables on
biological processes have come to be recognized, social
and behavioral sciences are making increasingly important
contributions to understanding the promotion of health and
effective functioning and the prevention, treatment, and
cure of disease.  Many medical problems, including heart
disease and cancer, appear to be influenced by behavioral
and social variables, such as habits of living; by social
environments (work, family, community); and by what has
been termed "psychosocial stress."  Examples of processes
linking behavior to physical health are:  1) habits and
life styles, such as smoking, heavy drinking, physical or
social activity, diet, and hygienic practices that
influence health and functioning; 2) reactions to illness
by both health care providers and patients (e.g., denying
or minimizing the significance of symptoms, delay in
medical care, failure to prescribe treatment or to comply
with treatment and rehabilitation regimens); 3) direct
alterations in tissue function, as through the brain's
influence on hormone production, or through physiological
responses to psychosocial stimuli (e.g., stress); and 4)
influence of health and functioning on psychological,
behavioral, and social processes and outcomes.  (Revised
3/90)
 
EXPLORATORY CENTER GRANT
 
Description and Goals
 
The Exploratory Center Grant provides an environment which
will strengthen the research, increase productivity,
assist in the development and application of innovative
research methodologies, and generate new ideas through
formal interdisciplinary collaborative efforts in health
and behavior research targeted at children and
adolescents.  The focus may be clinical research, basic
research or a combination.  The implications of these
preliminary studies to future interventions needs to be
clearly articulated.
 
The goals of the Exploratory Center Grant Program are to encourage
groups to:  demonstrate the feasibility of developing and initiating
multidisciplinary studies of health behavior in children and
adolescents; effectively compete for support of multidisciplinary
centers if demonstrated to be feasible and monies are available; and/or
effectively compete for support for individual research grants of health
behavior development in children and adolescents.
 
MECHANISM OF SUPPORT
 
The support mechanism for this RFA is the Exploratory
Center Grant (P20).  The Exploratory Center Grant should
consist of (1) an administrative and planning core
providing administrative, coordinating, planning,
logistical, and/or methodological (e.g., research design,
data analysis) support and (2) small-scale studies.  The
initial award period is for three years, and the award may
not be renewed.  Grants will be administered in accordance
with the PHS Grants Policy Statement (10/01/90).
 
Applicants for Exploratory Center Grants may request up to
three years of support at a maximum of $100,000 dollars
total costs for each year.
 
1  The Administrative and Planning Core
 
The Core manages the overall activities of the Center and
should include a specified Center Director and a discrete
administrative structure (including an Advisory
Committee).  The Core may also include the administration
of shared resources, such as data sets, community or
clinical research facilities, or provide research design
and data analysis/statistical services.
 
Each applicant institution should name a Center Director
who will be the key figure in the scientific
administration and management of the Exploratory Center
grant.  The Director should be an experienced researcher
with demonstrated leadership appropriate to the
coordination and development of the Center.
 
The Center's Administrative and Planning Core should
accomplish the following:
 
o  Coordinate and integrate the Center's activities.
 
o  Review the utilization of funds, including funds for
the small-scale or pilot studies.
 
o  Advise the Center Director on the activities of the
Center.
 
This includes providing advice to the Director regarding
(a) small-scale studies (see Advisory Committee below) and
(b) a long-range research agenda in health behavior
research with children and adolescents, and assistance in
the preparation of research grant applications to
implement this agenda.  The application should include an
initial description of such a long-range research agenda.
 
While the final administrative structure of the Center
will be left up to the discretion of the applicant
institution, experience demonstrates that effective
development of Center programs requires interaction among
the Director, the Principal Investigators of the small-
scale studies, appropriate institutional administrative
personnel, and the staff of the NIH funding units.  Like
other multidisciplinary grant programs, the success of the
Center is dependent upon the involvement of scientific and
professional personnel representing a variety of
disciplines who must be willing to relate to and
collaborate with each other in order to facilitate the
development of new knowledge.  Moreover, it is important
that a person with institutional management expertise and
experience be directly involved with the fiscal aspects of
the application and grant.
 
The Advisory Committee should be established to assist the
Director in making the scientific and administrative
decisions relating to the Center.  It will also assist the
Director and scientists in the identification and securing
of additional funding to promote the collaborative
research and teaching activities of the Center.  With the
Director, the Advisory Committee will be responsible for
the allocation of Center funds as well as the
identification and selection of personnel, should this be
necessary during the grant period.  It will have the
responsibility of evaluating the small-scale studies
proposed in the initial application and to be developed
during subsequent years.  It may perform other duties as
deemed appropriate by the applicant institution.  The
committee should be composed of scientists and
administrators with expertise and experience relevant to
the Center's scientific program.  Members may be employees
of the grantee institution or of other institutions.
However, at least one member of this committee must be
from outside the Center or college (i.e., either at the
applicant institution or another institution).
 
2  Small-scale Studies
 
The small-scale studies consist of pilot topics in two of
the three categories, or preliminary research relevant to
the three broad topic areas (categories) described in
Section III.  While an application cannot address all
topic areas, it should include at least two of them.  This
funding mechanism is intended to furnish modest support
that will allow an institution the opportunity to develop
preliminary data sufficient to provide the basis for
applications for independent research through conventional
granting mechanisms.  Small-scale studies are typically
limited to a nonrenewable period of one to two years.
Applications submitted in response to this RFA must
propose a minimum of two, (but three is encouraged) small-
scale studies to be supported during at least the first
year of the award.  Subsequent preliminary research
projects (a minimum of two on-going each year) may be
developed during the course of the award and must be
submitted to the Advisory Group for approval and discussed
as part of the annual continuation application and
progress report.  The research plan and results of each
small-scale study must be reported in the Center's annual
progress reports to the specific NIH ICD.
 
Basic psycho-social, demographic, behavioral, and
biobehavioral research may be supported to the extent that
it is relevant to the study of Health Promotion/Disease
Prevention or the interrelation between health behavior
development in children and adolescents.  Some, but not
all of the proposed research, may address the translation
of existing and resulting research findings into applied
intervention and demonstration programs for improving the
health, effective functioning, and well-being of children
and adolescents through the promotion of health as well as
the prevention of disease.
 
Consortium Arrangements
 
If consortium arrangements are contemplated, the following
information should be provided in the application:
 
o  A list of all proposed performance sites both at the
applicant institution and at the collaborating
institutions:
 
o  A separate, detailed budget for the initial and future
years for each institution and, where appropriate, for
each unit of activity at each institution;
 
o  A composite budget for all units of activity at each
institution for each year, as well as a composite budget
for the total proposed budget for each year; and
 
o  An explanation of the programmatic, fiscal, and
administrative arrangements made between the grantee
institution and the collaborating institutions.
 
o  Signature of both the Principal Investigator(s) and
business representative(s) of the consortia applicants
indicating agreement with preliminary arrangements.
 
Institutions with General Clinical Research Centers
 
o  Applicants from institutions which have a General
Clinical Research Center (GCRC) funded by the NIH National
Center for Research Resources may wish to identify the
GCRC as a resource for conducting the proposed research.
In such a case, a letter of agreement from either the GCRC
Program Director or Principal Investigator should be
included with the application.
 
INCLUSION OF MINORITIES AND WOMEN
 
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS REGARDING
IMPLEMENTATION OF NIH POLICIES CONCERNING INCLUSION OF
WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN CLINICAL RESEARCH STUDY
POPULATIONS
 
NIH and ADAMHA policy is that applicants for NIH/ADAMHA
clinical research grants and cooperative agreements will
be required to include minorities and women in study
populations so that research findings can be of benefit to
all persons at risk of the disease, disorder, or condition
under study; special emphasis should be placed on the need
for inclusion of minorities and women in studies of
diseases, disorders, and conditions which
disproportionately affect them.  This policy is intended
to apply to males and females of all ages.  If women and
minorities are excluded or inadequately represented in
clinical research, particularly in proposed population-
based studies, a clear compelling rationale should be
provided.
 
The composition of the proposed study population must be
described in terms of gender and racial/ethnic group.  In
addition, gender and racial/ethnic issues should be
addressed in developing a research design and sample size
appropriate for the scientific objectives of the study.
This information should be included in the form PHS 398 in
Section 2, A-D of the Research Plan AND summarized in
Section 2, E, Human Subjects.  Applicants/offerors are
urged to assess carefully the feasibility of including the
broadest possible representation of minority groups.
However, NIH recognizes that it may not be feasible or
appropriate in all research projects to include
representation of the full array of United States
racial/ethnic minority populations (i.e., Native Americans
(including American Indians or Alaskan Natives),
Asian/Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Hispanics).
 
The rationale for studies on single minority populations
groups should be provided.
 
For the purpose of this policy, clinical research includes
human biomedical and behavioral studies of etiology,
epidemiology, prevention (and preventive strategies),
diagnosis, or treatment of diseases, disorders or
conditions, including but limited to clinical trials.
 
The usual NIH policies concerning research on human
subjects also apply.  Basic research or clinical studies
in which human tissues cannot be identified or linked to
individuals are excluded.  However, every effort should be
made to include human tissues from women and racial/ethnic
minorities when it is important to apply the results of
the study broadly, and this should be addressed by
applicants.
 
For foreign awards, the policy on inclusion of women
applies fully;  since the definition of minority differs
in other countries, the applicant must discuss the
relevance of research involving foreign population groups
to the United States' populations, including minorities.
 
If the required information is not contained within the
application, the application will be returned.
Peer reviewers will address specifically whether the
research plan in the application conforms to these
policies.  If the representation of women and minorities
in a study design is inadequate to answer the scientific
question(s) addressed AND the justification for the
selected study population is inadequate, it will be
considered a scientific weakness or deficiency in the
study design and will be reflected in assigning the
priority score to the application.
 
All applications for clinical research submitted to the
NIH are required to address these policies.  NIH funding
components will not award grants or cooperative agreements
that do not comply with these policies.
 
METHOD OF APPLYING
 
Pre-Application Process
 
Prior to submission of the formal application, consultation with NCNR,
NICHD or NIMH staff concerning the technical and substantive aspects of
preparing the application is recommended.  Applicants should contact
staff by phone early in the preparation of the application.  However,
applicants should understand that advice given by staff is independent
from and has no influence on the review process.
 
Potential
applicants are encouraged to submit to designated staff a
non-binding letter of intent by April 15, 1991.  The
letter of intent neither influences review nor funding
decisions, but it enables the staff to plan the review and
to ensure that each potential applicant receives relevant
program information prior to preparation of the
application.
 
Letters of intent should be directed to:
 
NCNR
John Chah, Ph.D.
Executive Secretary, Nursing Science Review Committee
National Center for Nursing Research, NIH
Building 31, Room 5B19
Bethesda, MD  20892
 
Inquiries should be directed to:
 
NCNR
Sharlene M. Weiss, Ph.D., R.N.
Chief, Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Branch
National Center for Nursing Research, NIH
Building 31, Room 5B09
Bethesda, MD  20892
Telephone:  (301) 496-0523
 
NICHD
Peter Scheidt, M.D., M.P.H.
Medical Officer
Human Learning and Behavior Branch
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
9000 Rockville Pike, EPN
Bethesda, MD  20892
Telephone:  (301) 496-6591
 
NIMH
Leonard Mitnick, Ph.D.
Chief, Basic Prevention and Behavioral Medicine Research Branch
National Institute of Mental Health
Parklawn Building, Room 11C-06
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD  20857
Telephone:  (301) 443-4337
 
For fiscal and administration matters, contact:
 
Sally A. Nichols
Grants Management Officer
Office of Administrative Management
National Center for Nursing Research
Building 31, Room 5B06
Bethesda, MD  20892
Telephone:  (301) 496-0523
 
Application Procedures
 
The application must be submitted on PHS Form 398 (revised
10/88).  Application kits (Form 398) may be obtained from
institutional offices of grants and contracts and from:
 
Office of Grants Inquiries
DRG, NIH
Westwood Building, Room 449
5333 Westbard Avenue
Bethesda, MD  20892
 
The receipt date for applications by the NIH Division of
Research Grants is May 20, 1991.  Mail the complete
original application and four copies to:
 
DRG, NIH
Westwood Building, Room 240
Bethesda, MD  20892**
 
To expedite review, two copies should also be sent to:
 
Executive Secretary, NRRC, NCNR, NIH
Building 31, Room 5B19
Bethesda, MD  20892
 
All human subjects, animal welfare and misconduct
assurances must be complete for a proposal to be reviewed.
All follow-up assurances and approvals submitted as
pending must be received within 60 days of the application
receipt deadline or the application will not be reviewed.
 
Special Application Instructions
 
The written application is the basis for the merit review.
Particular attention should be given to the format of the
application.  The standard instructions provided with Form
PHS 398 are designed primarily for applications for single
research projects.  Exploratory Center Grant applications
require additional information as outlined below.  Page
limitations presented in the Form 398 Instructions should
be followed closely unless otherwise noted.
 
1  Face Page
 
To identify the application as being in response to this
RFA, check YES on item 2 of page 1 of the Form 398 and
enter the title ("Exploratory Centers...").  The RFA label
available in the PHS 398 kit must be affixed to the bottom
of the face page.  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.  This is page 1 of the
application; all succeeding pages should be numbered
consecutively.
 
2  Description and Key Personnel (PHS 398, page 2)
 
This section should concisely state the overall goals of
the entire Exploratory Center and clearly state the
contribution of each component to the overall goals.  Key
personnel for the entire Exploratory Center, including
consultants and consortium collaborators, if any, should
be listed alphabetically.
 
3  Detailed Budget for First 12-Month Period (PHS 398,
page 4)
 
Present a detailed composite budget for all requested
support for the first year.  In addition, provide separate
budgets in the same format and budget justifications for
each component  of the Center.  If collaborative efforts
involving other institutions or organizations are
anticipated, itemize all costs associated with such third-
party participation, including any applicable indirect
costs on a separate budget page and enter the total under
the "Consortium/Contractual Costs" direct costs budget
category of the composite budget. (See "Policy for
Establishing Consortium Grants," NIH Guide for Grants and
Contracts, Vol. 14, No. 7, June 21, 1985.)  The annual
budget (direct and indirect costs combined) for the first
year of requested support may not exceed $100,000.
 
4  Budget Estimate for Each Year of Requested Support (PHS
398, page 5)
 
Generally, future years should be limited to increments of
4 percent.  Include estimates for future small-scale
studies.
 
5  Biographical Sketches (PHS 398, Form Page "Biographical
Sketch" and Continuation Page)
 
Biographical sketches for each professional personnel, as per PHS 398
instructions, must not exceed two pages.  Therefore, cite only the most
relevant publications.  Sketches are required for all professional
personnel participating in the Administrative and Planning Core the
small-scale studies and for all consultants.
 
6  Summary of Other Sources of Support (PHS 398, Other
Support)  Follow instructions of PHS 398.
 
7  Program Narrative (PHS 398, Continuation Pages)
 
The narrative should provide the required information in
the order noted below:
 
o  Goals:  Present the general program area to be
addressed and overall long-term objectives.
 
o  Specified Area of Research:  This section should
establish the programmatic theme and address the issue of
the integration of components, demonstrating how each
individual component will benefit from and/or contribute
to the overall Center.
 
o  Description and Plan:  This section should include an
overall description of the programs and plans for the
Center as well as a description of each of the Center
components.  This section should describe (a) the
Administrative and Planning Core, including the Advisory
Committee (ten pages maximum); (b) an initial long-range
research agenda and the planning procedures for its
elaboration and specification (5 pages maximum); and (c)
the small-scale studies proposed for the first year (at
least two, three is recommended, 10 pages per study, 30
pages maximum total for (c).
 
8  Resources and Environment
 
Briefly describe the institutional environment and
resources that are relevant to effective implementation of
the Center.  This may include statements about clinical,
laboratory, field, or survey facilities, participating and
affiliated units, patient or other subject populations,
geographic distribution of space and personnel,
consultative resources, computational facilities, etc.
 
9  Appendices
 
Follow instructions on page 23 of PHS 398.
 
BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
 
Level and Duration of Support
 
Subject to the availability of funds, NCNR, NICHD, and
NIMH  anticipate making approximately 6 awards under this
RFA.  The maximum amount per award will be $100,000.00
(direct and indirect costs) per year for three years with
the intent that the majority of the funds under this RFA
be devoted to the Small-scale Studies.  The Administrative
and Planning Core should not exceed 20 percent of the amount
requested.
 
Allowable Costs
 
Unless otherwise indicated, allowable costs and policies
governing the research grant program of the NIH will
prevail.  Overlapping support between the Exploratory
Center grant and other NIH grants and contracts to the
applicant institution will be administratively reviewed
and, if appropriate, will be adjusted to avoid duplication
of funding.
 
Support may be requested for salaries of professional,
technical, and support personnel within the Center who
contribute to allowable activities of the Center.  The
salaries derived from the Center grant will depend on the
effort provided and institutional salary policies.
Salaries of personnel engaged in research activities
supported by small-scale funds are allowable cost items as
are salaries of personnel in the Administrative and
Planning Core.  Stipends for research fellows/trainees are
not allowable.  No overlap of time or effort between the
Center and other separately funded projects is permitted.
 
Support for secretarial and administrative staff may be
provided to the extent that their activities relate to
administrative management of the Center's activities,
providing these costs have not been included in the
institution's indirect cost pool.
 
Expenditures for major equipment under this RFA will be
considered only under exceptional circumstances.  The
application must document what is already available and
provide clear justification in terms of use by
investigators in more than one small-scale study and/or in
terms of need for implementing the institution's long-
range research agenda.  General purpose equipment needs
may be included and justified only after surveying the
availability of such items within the institution.
 
Consumable supplies directly related to the operation of
the Center are allowed.  These supplies include office
materials as well as scientific supplies, but should not
provide supplements to the general supply category of
separately funded individual projects.
 
Research patient care costs (both inpatient and outpatient
expenses) will be considered in the context of other
existing institutional clinical resources.  Attempts
should be made by the applicant institution to utilize
existing clinical facilities, such as General Clinical
Research Centers and individually supported beds.  The
Center is not intended to be a facility for health care
delivery.  Only those research patient costs directly
related to research activities may be charged to the
Center.
 
While funds for alteration and renovation of an existing
structure to provide suitable core facilities for the
Center are allowable under current PHS guidelines, such
request are not encouraged due to the overall budgetary
level of support available.
 
Domestic and foreign travel of Center personnel directly
related to the activities of the Center is allowable.  In
addition to travel expenses associated with
administrative, planning, and research activities, travel
plans should include one professional or scientific
meeting per year for the Center Director and other
scientific personnel and must include one trip to NIH for
a Research Workshop with other participating exploratory
centers.
 
Costs for consultant services (consultation fees, per
diem, travel) may be included.  Costs associated with
consultation or scientific or technical assistance,
evaluation of Center activities, review of small-scale
studies, and/or small workshops, and the workshop to
develop a long-range research agenda are allowable.
 
Costs for telephone, photocopying, computer time, and
publication related to the activities of the Center,
including the small-scale studies, are permitted.
 
REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS
 
Review Procedures
 
Applications will be received by the NIH Division of Research Grants and
assigned to an NCNR ad hoc Review Group.  Applications judged by program
staff to be nonresponsive will not be accepted.  If necessitated by a
large number of applications, responsive applications may be subjected
to triage by a peer-review group to determine their scientific merit
relative to the other applications received.  Applications judged to be
noncompetitive will be returned to the applicant.  Those applications
judged to be competitive will be fully reviewed for scientific and
technical merit by an ad hoc review group established by the NCNR, NICHD
and NIMH.  Following review, applications will be evaluated by the
respective ICD National Advisory Council.
 
Review Criteria
 
The major review factors listed below will be used in the
evaluation of the applications for Exploratory Center
Grants:
 
1  Overall Program
 
o  The scientific merit of the program as a whole.  The
significance of the overall program goals and the
development of a well-defined central focus.
 
o  The potential of the identified participants to develop
multidisciplinary research programs of high merit as
evidenced by previous accomplishments.
 
o  The balance of administrative and planning expenses in
comparison to those for conducting the small-scale
studies.
 
2  Administration and Planning Core
 
o  The scientific and administrative leadership ability
and experience of the Center Director and his/her
commitment and ability to devote adequate time to the
effective management of the Center.
 
o  The proposed administrative organization to conduct the
following:
 
Maintenance of internal communication and cooperation
among the investigators involved in the Center.
 
Management that includes fiscal administration,
procurement, property and personnel management, and planning
budgets etc.
 
Mechanism for selecting or replacing professional or
technical personnel within the Center.
 
Adequacy of the review committee to assess the scientific
merit of the proposed small-scale studies.
 
Mechanism for reviewing the use of administration of funds
for small-scale studies.
Appropriateness and adequacy of the multidisciplinary
teams collaboration with the Center's members.
 
o  Adequacy of the initial research agenda and of the
planning mechanism for elaborating a long-term research
agenda for the institution.
 
o  The appropriateness of the Center budgets for the
various components of the Center.
 
3  Small-scale Studies
 
o  The balance in coverage of the topics identified in
Section III.  Competitive applications will discuss the
implications for nursing and/or other clinical
interventions that will be tested in future studies.
 
o  The scientific and technical quality of the initial
small-scale studies.  (Note:  Unlike a program project
application, reviewers will not vote on the merit of each
study.  The overall quality of the proposed small-scale
studies will be taken into account in arriving at an
evaluation of the application.)
 
4  Institutional Commitment
 
o  The institutional commitment to the program, including
lines of responsibility  for the Center, and the
institution's contribution to the management capabilities
of the Center.
 
o  The degree of institutional contributions
for the Administrative and Planning Core and/or
to the Small-scale Studies.
 
o  The academic research environment and resources in
which the activities will be conducted, including the
availability of space, equipment, and facilities, and the
potential for interaction with scientists from other
departments and schools.
 
o  The institutional commitment to any newly recruited
individuals responsible for conducting essential Center
functions and activities.
 
1  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1990).
Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease
Prevention Objectives.  (Conference Edition) Washington,
D.D.: DHHS. (pages 1-53).
 
2  Carnegie Corporation of New York (1990).  Adolescence:
Path to a productive life or a diminished future?
Carnegie Quarterly, XXXV, 1-13.
 
3  Feldman, S. Shirley and Glen Elliot (1990).  At the
Threshold: The Developing Adolescent.  Cambridge, Mass:
Harvard University Press. 640 pages.
 
4  U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment
(Forthcoming 1991).  Adolescent Health.  Overview of the
Adolescent Population and Health.  Washington, D.C.
 
5  Krasnegor, NA.  Health and Behavior: A Perspective on
Research Supported by the National Institutes of Health,
Annals of Behavioral Medicine. Vol. 12, No.2, 1990 (pp.
72-78).