(FOA)-Notice
of Special Interest: Availability of Administrative Supplements and Competitive
Revision Supplements on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) within the Mission
of NIAAA; May 15, 2020-April 16, 2021.
Notice
Number: NOT-AA-20-011
Key
Dates
Release
Date: April 16, 2020
First Available Due Date: May 15, 2020
Expiration Date: April 16, 2021
Related
Announcements
PA-18-591 Administrative
Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin
Supp Clinical Trial Optional)
PA-18-935 Urgent
Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Urgent
Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional)
Issued
by
National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Purpose
The
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nation is vast, especially on health and
well-being. Research suggests that alcohol consumption tends to increase during
times of duress and uncertainty such as disasters and other traumatic events,
and as such alcohol is often misused to cope with stress, anxiety, and other
uncomfortable emotions. In addition, the misuse of alcohol to cope with the
stress as a result of physical distancing and other policy measures, and a lack
of access to supportive social networks and treatment for people with
pre-existing alcohol use disorder (AUD) are significant concerns during the
pandemic. These outcomes are particularly challenging with respect to COVID-19
because alcohol misuse can interfere with normal immune system function and
elevate susceptibility to viral infections of the respiratory system.
Alcohol-associated damage to the liver, heart, and other organs may also
complicate health outcomes in individuals with COVID-19. These myriad physical
and behavioral health outcomes related to alcohol and COVID-19 present a range
of urgent research needs and opportunities.
Research
is needed to understand the potentially complex relationships between alcohol
consumption and COVID-19 related-outcomes to enhance the nation’s response to
the current pandemic. The outcomes include overt pathophysiology and the impact
of social and policy measures on COVID-19 outcomes. Such studies also will help
to lay the groundwork for responding to future public health emergencies. This
NOSI encourages applications, in the form of urgent competitive revisions and
administrative supplements to existing grants and cooperative agreements, to
assess the impact of alcohol as a biological contributor to COVID-19 outcomes,
to assess behavioral, social, and economic consequences of the pandemic and to
assess the responses that the pandemic has provoked as they relate to alcohol
consumption and related outcomes.
NIAAA
is encouraging research in the following areas, including those that capitalize
on existing research cohorts, to investigate urgent research questions of
significance to the COVID-19 pandemic within the general population and among
underserved populations, such as racial, ethnic and gender minorities,
individuals with low socioeconomic status, and those who are incarcerated or
homeless.
Questions
that may be addressed under this NOSI include, but are not limited
to:
- Are
individuals who engage in high-risk drinking behaviors or with AUD more
likely to engage in behaviors that increase risks for infection or
transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes
COVID-19?
- What
is the influence of alcohol drinking history, patterns, amount, and
duration on susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19
prevalence, progression, and outcomes? Are people living with HIV
differentially affected? Are racial, ethnic and gender minorities and
those of low socioeconomic background, or pregnant women or individuals
with underlying conditions differentially affected?
- What
are the common mechanisms of alcohol-associated Acute Respiratory Distress
Syndrome (ARDS) and COVID-19-related ARDS? Are there mechanistic synergies
or distinctions that can be exploited to manage COVID-19
progression?
- What
are the broad physiological and pathological mechanisms mediating the
impact of alcohol use and misuse on SARS-CoV2 infection and COVID-19
progression and complications? In immune compromised persons, or persons
with other underlying co-morbid conditions, what additional physiological
factors mediate the impact of alcohol misuse on SARS-CoVo2 infection and
COVID-19 progression and outcomes?
- Does
alcohol misuse mediate multi-organ or multi-system disruption, including
neuroinflammation, to alter the severity and
progression of COVID-19?
- Does
COVID-19-related systemic inflammation accompanied by concomitant alcohol
use exacerbate the neuroinflammation
associated with AUD?
- Is
SARS-CoV-2 neuroinvasive, similar to some
other coronaviruses? How does alcohol impact the susceptibility and
consequences of neurobiological manifestations of
coronaviruses?
- Do
the COVID-19 pandemic and the personal, social, policy, and economic
responses and consequences impact stress and emotional regulation, thereby
exacerbating the social isolation that increases the risk of alcohol
misuse, potentially leading to harmful consequences of high-risk drinking
behavior to self and others? What is the impact of social distancing on
AUD treatment, recovery, relapse risk, and management of withdrawal? How
do demographic, socio-cultural, and/or geographic differences affect
recovery for individuals with AUD?
- How
does the system-level shift towards COVID-19 impact access to primary and
specialty health care for AUD and co-occurring mental health conditions?
What are the systems-level challenges (policy, practice, financing) to
rapid deployment of emergency mental health/AUD services during the
pandemic?
- What
workforce development and deployment strategies are needed to address
emerging challenges in mental health/AUD treatment during the
pandemic?
Application
and Submission Information
Applications
for this initiative must be submitted using the following opportunity or its
subsequent reissued equivalent.
- PA-18-591 -
Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative
Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial
Optional)
- PA-18-935 -
Urgent Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative
Agreements (Urgent Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional) is intended to
provide funds for NIH grantees applying to expand the scope of their
active grant.
-
- The
funding instrument, or activity code, will be the same as the parent
award.
All
instructions in the SF424
(R&R) Application Guide, PA-18-591,
and PA-18-935 must
be followed, with the following additions:
- The
Research Strategy section of the application is limited to 6
pages.
- The
award project period of the submission must not exceed two years and must
reflect the needs of the project.
- Application
budgets are generally limited to no more than $100,000 direct costs per
year. Should the proposed research require a higher budget, the applicant
should consult with the program official assigned to the parent award.
Permission to exceed $100,000 must be acquired from NIAAA’s Office of
Extramural Activities prior to submission. The PI must include a strong
justification for the larger budget in the supplement application. The
proposed budget must reflect the actual needs of the proposed
project.
- The
parent award must be active when the supplemental application is submitted
regardless of the time remaining on the current project. If the project is
not active at the time that the application is submitted (e.g., entered
into a no-cost extension), the application will be
withdrawn”.
- Applications
will be accepted on a rolling basis through April 15, 2021 by 5:00 PM
local time of the applicant organization. This NOSI expires on April,
16, 2021.
- All
applications (including those for multi-project activity codes) must be
submitted electronically using a single-project application form
package:
- Administrative
supplement applications to PA-18-591 must
use the application form package with the Competition ID that contains
“FORMS-E-ADMINSUPP”. This FOA will be reissued with application form
packages containing “FORMS-F-ADMINSUPP” on May 25, 2020. Submissions
to PA-18-591 must
be completed by June 25, 2020 (see NOT-OD-20-026 for
details.) Submissions to the reissued FOA will be accepted on or after
May 25, 2020 through the expiration date of this Notice. In addition,
the process for Streamlined Submissions using the eRA Commons cannot be used for this
initiative.
- Competitive
revision applications to PA-18-935 must
use the application form package with the Competition ID of
“NOT-DA-20-047-FORMS-E." This FOA will be reissued with a
“NOT-AA-20-011-FORMS-F” package on May 25, 2020. Submissions to PA-18-935 must
be completed by June 25, 2020. Submissions to the reissued FOA will be
accepted on or after May 25, 2020 through the expiration date of this
Notice.
- IMPORTANT: For
funding consideration, all applicants must
designate “NOT-AA-20-011” (without quotation marks) in the
Agency Routing Identifier field (Box 4b) of the SF424
(R&R)
- Form. Applications
without this information in Box 4b will not be considered for this
initiative.
- Investigators
planning to submit an application in response to the NOSI are strongly
encouraged to contact the program officer listed below to discuss the
proposed project in the context of the parent award.
Applications
nonresponsive to terms of this NOSI will be not be considered for the NOSI
initiative.
Inquiries
Please
direct all inquiries to:
Kathy
Jung, PhD.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Telephone: 301-443-8744
Email: jungma@mail.nih.gov
Link
to Full Announcement
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-AA-20-011.html