Funding-
NCRR-Changes in the NCRR biomedical Tech Research; January 2009
Changes in the
NCRR Biomedical Technology Research Resources (P41) Program
Notice
Number: NOT-RR-08-006
Key Dates
Release Date: May 14, 2008
Issued by
The purpose of
this notice is to inform current awardees and potential applicants about
changes in the NCRR Biomedical Technology Research Resources (BTRR)
program. The
NCRR plans to
make two changes to this program. The first change will be to release a
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for pre-applications for new
BTRRs. This FOA will use the X02 mechanism. Applications submitted
under this FOA will be peer reviewed and those applications that are selected
will be permitted to submit a full application for a P41 BTRR award. The
selection criteria will include the scientific merit of the proposed project as
determined by peer review, the availability of funds, and the relevance of the
proposed project to program priorities. It is anticipated that the FOA
for the X02 pre-application will be published by August 2008 with a January
2009 receipt date. Current NCRR BTRR awardees will be able to submit
renewals without submitting a pre-application.
The other
change involves the content of the BTRR application. Current guidelines
for these applications are available at http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/biomedical_technology/program_guidelines/
. The current guidelines will be in effect for the May 25, 2008 and
September 25, 2008 receipt dates. As of the January 2009 receipt date,
these guidelines will be replaced by a new FOA which is expected to be
published by August 2008.
The new BTRR
FOA will allow six components in a Biomedical Technology Research
Resource: Technology Research and Development, Infrastructure, Driving
Biomedical Projects, Collaboration and Service, Training, and
Dissemination. Some details about each of these components follow.
Technology
Research and Development
The central
activity of a Biomedical Technology Research Resource is the Technology
Research and Development (TR&D) that serves as the foundation for all other
Resource activities. The mission of a BTRR may range from the narrowly focused,
fundamental advancement of a single technology area (e.g. accelerator mass
spectrometry, flow cytometry) to the development of
an integrated approach to a general class of problems (e.g., proteomics, data
visualization). The BTRR technology must be dynamically evolving and an
important area for R&D in its own right. TR&D should be at the cutting
edge of the technological field, with a goal of increasing its usefulness in
biomedical research.
Infrastructure
In some
circumstances, TR&D activities may require substantial investment in the
design and development or implementation of technological infrastructure that
does not constitute a research challenge in its own right (e.g. a test platform
for new instrument components or a laboratory information management
system). If necessary, such a project may be included in the application
under the Infrastructure heading.
Driving
Biomedical Projects
Development
of new biomedical research tools is most effective when pursued in the context
of challenging problems that drive the technology forward. These Driving
Biomedical Projects (DBPs) should be collaborative in nature, with experts in
the technology, usually resource personnel, working jointly with investigators
outside the Resource who have expertise in a particular biomedical discipline.
Projects should be selected on the basis of both their potential for
significant biomedical impact and their appropriateness as test-beds for new
technology. Projects should present substantial technical challenges that would
make the problem difficult to solve with current approaches. Optimally, there
should be an iterative push-pull relationship between Technology R&D and
the DBPs, advancing both the technology and the biomedical projects. Such
efforts should lead to joint publications, and in some cases, patents.
Collaboration
and Service
The concentration
of instrumentation, software, methods, and expertise developed in a BTRR
represents an important resource for biomedical and clinical researchers.
Active engagement with this community to seek out opportunities for
collaboration and provide broad access to Resource capabilities is an important
aspect of the program. Application of Resource technologies and expertise may
take many forms, including consultation and advice, routine analyses, and more
challenging collaborative biomedical projects. These activities differ
from those in a driving biomedical project in that they do not drive the
development of new technologies or devices.
Training
Formal
pedagogy and direct responsibility for training of students and post-doctoral
fellows are important components of any academic research enterprise, and it is
expected that students and post-doctoral fellows within the BTRR will play
major roles in the technology R&D component of the center. However, the
Training component of the program must exceed that expectation and build
technical competence in the broader community of researchers not formally
affiliated with the center. The overall goals should be twofold: to
improve the general understanding of the center technologies in the appropriate
population, and to create a cadre of biomedical researchers fluent in the
technology who can effectively apply the technology in their research.
Dissemination
Dissemination
activities should have two overall objectives: informing the scientific
community about the BTRR’s technical capabilities and accomplishments, as well
as promoting and enabling the broader use of technologies. This may be
accomplished by a variety of approaches, including but not limited to:
articles, books, patents, newsletters, annual reports, and/or special issues of
technical journals; issuing press releases; presenting research results at
meetings; conducting workshops and conferences; distributing software products;
transferring technologies to other laboratories directly; licensing technologies
to industry where they will be distributed widely; and/or web-based training
modules and tutorials.
Inquiries
Michael Marron, Ph.D.
Director, Division of Biomedical Technology
Room 962, MSC 4874
Telephone: (301) 435-0755
FAX: (301) 480-3659
Email: marron@nih.gov