ERPO ICRC Funding Announcement CE-09-001

ICRC Funding Announcement CE-09-001

Questions for the ICRC FOA

How many new awards are there to be made for this FOA?

Six.

How many of the currently funded injury control research centers (ICRCs) are ending with the current cycle and will be eligible to compete for this FOA?

Six. Those ICRCs are eligible to apply for this FOA and will be competing with all of the new applicants. Their applications will go through the same rigorous review process as all of the new applicants.

Are local health departments eligible to apply for this grant?

Yes local health departments are eligible to apply. However they must meet all of the requirements set forth in the FOA. Remember that an injury control research center is not just a collection of research projects. It should be a multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary organization that addresses training and research that will impact the field of injury and/or violence prevention and control.

Do any of the proposed research projects have to address NCIPC's three priorities; fire prevention, falls in the elderly, and child maltreatment?

No.

What happens if an application exceeds the page limit for the research plan section of the application?

This page limit will be enforced. Applications with research plans exceeding 75 pages will be deemed non-responsive.

How many copies of the applications are required to be submitted?

One original and two copies.

Will CDC make multiple copies to send to the reviewers?

Yes.

Are the appendices reproduced and sent to the reviewers?

Yes.

Should the pages in the appendices be numbered?

It is not a requirement but it would be a good idea. How to number the pages is up to each applicant. One method would be to number the pages consecutively through all the appendices. Another method would be to number each appendix separately (e.g. A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, C3, etc.).

Does the application have to be postmarked by the due date listed in the FOA, or must it be received at CDC by that day?

The application must be received by CDC’s Procurement and Grants Office (PGO) by the time and date listed in the FOA (September 2, 2008, 5 P.M. EDT) at the 2920 Brandywine Road, Atlanta, Georgia address. Note: The due date in the FOA has been amended to read September 2, 2008.

Where in the FOA is a logic model introduced, described, or defined?

There is no logic model introduced, described, or defined in the FOA.

Is a logic model required for the application?

No. However you are welcome to include one if you feel that it would strengthen your application.

Does region in the FOA only refer to the ten HHS regions?

No. Region in the FOA is not precisely defined but used generically to denote a geographic area (e.g. New England, northwest, southeast, midwest, great lakes, etc).

When will the next opportunity for ICRC funding be?

Given the projected budget for the ICRC program, we expect 2011.

Where are the amendments to the FOA posted?

At grants.gov, the CDC website, http://www.cdc.gov/od
/pgo/funding/FOAs.htm

Does CDC adhere to the NIH salary cap guidelines for investigators salaries for this FOA?

No.

Can international or foreign research be proposed in the application?

International research is allowed under this FOA. However the research must provide information that is relevant and generalizeable to important injury prevention and control problems in the United States. CDC is a domestic organization and its mission is to promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability in the United States. CDC is not interested in funding research that is not applicable to solving injury and violence prevention and control problems in the U.S. population. Also if international research is proposed, the applicant needs to explain why the international research cannot be carried out in the United States.

Should the focus of the research for the application be broad or narrow?

The FOA does not stipulate how broad or how narrow of a research focus each application should have. An application that addresses every research priority in NCIPC’s research agenda probably has too broad of a focus and an application that proposes to only study teen suicide at boarding schools probably has too narrow of a focus. Where the application lies along that spectrum is up to each applicant. However the applicant should justify why they have chosen their research focus.

Will the members of the review panels be the same for all applications?

It depends on the number of responsive applications. If we have multiple review panels we will attempt to have some of the same reviewers on each panel. We will do our best to insure that the panels are comparable.

What are the review criteria for training and outreach programs?

The review criteria for training and outreach programs are found in Section V (Application Review Information) of the FOA. The review criteria include Adequacy of the Administrative Core, Advancing the Injury Field, Significance, Approach, Innovation, Training Staff, Environment, and Adequacy of the Outreach Plan.

Will preference be given to existing centers during the peer review?

This is an open competition. Preference will not be given to existing centers during peer review.

Will a scoring rubric be used, i.e. how is the 25% allowed for each of the four sections calculated?

The overall score of each application will be a composite of the priority scores assigned to four parts of the application during peer review. The scoring will be weighted as follows; administrative core = 25%, training and outreach core = 25%, highest scoring large project = 25%, and small projects = 25%. There is no scoring rubric for each of the four sections. It is up to the reviewers to determine the priority score for each section using the review criteria outlined in the FOA.

Should the application include endorsements from internal and external advisory committees?

This is not a requirement of the FOA, but it may make the grant application stronger.

Are primary prevention and translational research required to be included in the application?

Yes at least one small or large project must deal with primary prevention and at least one small or large project must deal translation research. However if the primary prevention or translation research project is submitted as a large project, and it is not the highest scoring large project, this will not eliminate the application from consideration for funding.

Are acute care, rehabilitation, and biomechanics research appropriate for research projects within this application?

Yes.

In the past the peer review committee has conducted in person reviews at the institution of each applicant. Will site visits to the applicants’ institutions be conducted for this FOA?

Site visits to the applicants’ institutions are not planned for this FOA. Applications which are complete and responsive will be subjected to a preliminary evaluation (streamline review) to determine if the application is of sufficient technical and scientific merit to warrant further review. Then during the peer review of those applications deemed to warrant further review, each applicant will be able to answer questions proposed by the peer review committee during a telephone conference call.

Would the reviewers approve an application with only 25% of its effort devoted to research?

Core activities (administrative and education and outreach) and defined research projects (large and small projects) must each constitute between 25 percent and 75 percent of the operating budget of the center. Therefore an application with only 25% of its effort devoted to research would meet the requirements of the FOA. However the core and research activities of each application must be balanced in such a way that the center demonstrates productivity in research as well as training and outreach. It is up to each applicant to explain how they divided their resources between research and core activities.

In Part II, Section IV, Research Plan of the FOA it says: “The applicants are to develop a range of research and other non-research activities that are designed to advance the field of injury and violence prevention and control through development of new scientific or surveillance methods, creation of new knowledge, and translation of knowledge into training, program and policy development and evaluation activities or other applications that will ultimately reduce injuries and violence or their effects.” Does that mean we are required to develop new scientific or surveillance methods?

No you are not required to develop new scientific or surveillance methods. This was just one suggestion for advancing the field of injury and violence prevention research. However the applicants need to be sure that their applications meet the purposes of the FOA and that they address the review criteria (e.g. significance, approach, innovation, investigators, and environment) as outlined in Section V (Application Review Information) of the FOA.

In Part II, Section IV, Research Plan of the FOA it says “ICRC applications should articulate how the activities of their program are integrated with each other.” Does this mean all the activities, or just the research activities, and is it ALL the research activities? Could you provide an example of a center where the research activities have been successfully “integrated with each other”?

The center’s proposed activities need to be focused or integrated to the purposes as outlined earlier in the same paragraph in Part II of the FOA (i.e. to advance the field of injury and/or violence prevention and control research and to ultimately reduce injuries and violence or their effects). This does not mean that all of the activities have to be in the same topic area. However this gets back to the point that an injury control research center is not just a collection of research projects. There needs to be a logical rationale for why the center is doing the proposed activities. This might be as simple as it is addressing the two biggest injury and/or violence problems in its community or that it is focusing on intervention evaluation research. An example of an integrated research project would be the progression over a number of years of a series of research projects leading to an application of injury reduction.

Part V, Review Criteria for the Overall Application: “Is there evidence of involvement of specialists in medicine, biomechanics and other engineering, epidemiology, law and criminal justice, behavioral and social scientists, biostatistics, and pubic health in the proposed research?” Question: Are specialists from every one of these areas expected to be involved in the proposed research?

No you do not have to include all the areas of specialties listed. The point of this sentence is that there needs to be an interdisciplinary approach to the center and the research.

The FOA states that one of the factors to be considered during secondary review is geographic balance. Does this mean that if we are located in the same state or HHS region as an existing center we should not apply?

In past ICRC FOAs, restrictions were placed on which HHS regions could apply. For this FOA applicants from all 10 HHS regions can apply. However during secondary review one of the factors to be considered when determining which applications to recommend for funding is geographic balance.

Is there a list of currently funded centers so that new applicants can determine their geographic proximity to existing centers?

Yes. The list of the currently funded centers is on NCIPC’s website.

In Part II, Section IV, Research Plan of the FOA it says: “Proposals for seed money should include a description of the research objectives and significance, research design and analysis, expected results, timelines and plans for translation/dissemination.” About how many pages are you expecting for the description of each seed project?

It is felt that 1 to 3 pages can adequately describe a seed project. But this is just a suggestion; the main point is to give the reviewers enough detail that they can understand the proposed research. The applicant should explain what he wants to do, how the data will be analyzed, and what information will be obtained by doing this.

Should there be a detailed budget for seed projects in the first year?

For seed projects, only modest budget descriptions are needed within the application. These budgets do not need to be as detailed as those for the large and small research projects. You might say generally that x amount of money will be spent for salaries, y amount for supplies and equipment, and z amount for other expenses, etc.

In Part II, Section IV. Abstract of the FOA it says “The language of the abstract must be simple and easy to understand for a broad audience. For more information on how to write an abstract, please see the “Structured Abstracts” section.” Does this mean that the Abstract for the overall center should be a structured abstract?

The overall center abstract does not have to be a structured abstract. However, it should provide some detail on the research proposed for the application. It should be remembered that the abstract does not directly affect the scoring of the application. The link to the JAMA website was included for help in writing the abstracts for the large and small research projects. Please remember that if your application is funded, your abstract will become public information and be posted on NCIPC's website.

Is there a restriction on the number or length of appendices?

There is no limit on the number of pages in an appendix or the number of appendices. However the purpose of appendices is for items that are either too large to fit into the main body of the application or would detract from the flow of the application. Also anything listed in an appendix should be referenced in the main body of the application.

The purpose of the appendices is not to get around the 75 page limit for the research plan section. One of the things we are trying to avoid is having applicants writing 400 page research plan sections by putting 325 pages of text in the appendices. For example it is not acceptable in the research plan under Specific Aims to write “See Appendix A”, under Background to write “See Appendix B”, or under Methods to write “See Appendix C”.

It has been my experience that long appendices do not result in a better priority score during peer review. Also remember that if the appendices are too long there is a good chance the reviewers will not read them.

Where should the research projects be described in the application?

There should be enough information in the body of the application to briefly describe each research project. The detailed descriptions of the large and small research projects should be added as appendices to the application.

If the large and small research projects are included as appendices, how are we sure that the reviewers will read them?

The reviewers will be instructed that they need to review the appendices containing the large and small research projects in detail.

Do the appendices have to meet the font requirements of the application?

Not necessarily. If you are reproducing a table, figure, organizational chart, or a published manuscript the font can be different for the appendices. However if you are typing original text for an application in response to this FOA, it is suggested that you use the PHS 398 font guidelines, even if it is for an appendix.

Are the following acceptable to put into the appendix?
a) Publications List

b) Presentations List

c) Seminar Series speakers list

d) Organizational Chart

e) Strategic Plan

f) Logic Model

g) Past grant promises and whether met

h) Description of courses

i) Description of students mentored

j) Description of post-docs and visiting scholars

k) Advisory Committee List

l) Affiliated Faculty List

m) News Clippings

n) Other outside reviews of the Center

o) List of Acronyms

Most of the items listed are acceptable items to be included as appendices. However according to the FOA, Item D (organizational charts) needs to be included in the research plan section. The purpose of appendices is for items that are either too large to fit into the main body of the application or would detract from the flow of the application narrative. Remember anything listed in an appendix should be referenced in the main body of the application.
In the FOA it says that large projects have budgets of greater than $150,000 per year. Is that direct costs or both direct and indirect coats?

Both direct and indirect costs.

Can an application propose a large project with a duration of less than 5 years?

Yes large projects can be shorter than five years. In the amended FOA, large projects are defined as lasting between three and five years.

The FOA allows for inclusion of a second large project in the application. If an applicant proposes one large project for the first 3 years of the grant and a second large project for the fourth and fifth years of the grant, can they then propose a third large project in the application?

No, the limit on the number of large projects for this FOA is two. The FOA has been amended to state that large projects must be of a duration of between three and five years. Since only one large project will be funded, the possibility exists that an application may not have a large project in the fourth or fifth years of their grant application

If an applicant submits two large projects that are scored in the fundable range, can the applicant choose the one to be funded?

No. The final decision as to which large project to fund rests with CDC, but would be discussed with the PI during budget negotiations.

Does at least one large project have to be approved for the center to be approved?

Yes to be recommended for funding, each application must have a minimum of one large research project approved (priority score better than 350) by the peer review committee.

Assume two large projects are submitted by an applicant and they differ significantly in their funding levels. Depending on which large project is chosen there will be different amounts of money left over in the annual budget to fund core activities and the other research projects. How would this be handled in the application?

It is suggested you write an overall budget for your application (including one of the large research projects) that totals less than or equal to the $905,500 per year maximum. Provide a detailed budget for the second large project in the application, but do not include it in the $905,500 detailed budget. If it is decided that the second large project is to be funded, then the annual budget for the center will have to be revised to fit into the $905,500 limit. This will be done in the budget negotiations between the PI of the application and CDC.

In Section I, Translation Research of the FOA it says: “At least one of the large or small research projects must address translation research”. Is it possible for you to provide five or more citations of empirical journal articles that would count as translation research?

While there is a dearth of translation research examples that address injury and violence prevention, recent discussions with NCIPC scientists familiar with the field produced an updated list of references at our website. There are also FAQs written for a prior Funding Opportunity Announcement that should be helpful at http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/
erpo/faqs.htm#dissemination.

During the phone call for potential applicants a translation research article was mentioned, can you give us the link to that article?

http://www.springerlink.com/content/3216022136465jm2/?p=e16206e27fa74840a3cec430156cb0bb&pi=0

During the phone call for potential applicants, Rita Noonan’s explanation of translation research sounded descriptive. Is it only descriptive in nature or can it be hypothesis driven?

It can be hypothesis driven. You could derive a hypothesis out of any part of translation research.

When an applicant submits an application and claims that it is translation research, what is the litmus test to determine if it really is translation research?

This is a two part question. When the application is received by CDC, an evaluation will be performed to determine if it is responsive to the FOA. Part of this evaluation is whether one of the research projects addresses translation research, but it will be a cursory review. Unless it is obvious that the proposed research is not translation research then it will probably pass this part of the evaluation. The second part of this question deals with peer review of the translation research project. If the proposed project is not really translation research it will be scored poorly by the peer review panel.

How receptive would CDC be to using qualitative methods for translational research?

Translational research is not different from any other type of research. Different methods, including qualitative ones, can be used. It will be up to the applicants to justify why they chose the methods that they did.

Is the translation from research to policy and practice?

Yes. All kinds of innovation (e.g. programs, principles, processes, or policies) may be subjected to translation research. In the broadest sense, translational research intends to bridge the gap between research and everyday practice by building a knowledge base about how scientifically-based evidence is integrated into specific practice settings.

If the research entails scaling up to a larger implementation is it translation research?

It can be. It depends on how you frame it in your application.

Will there be an expert in translation research on the review panel?

Yes.

If the translation research project is not deemed acceptable by the reviewers will it exclude the applicant from being considered for funding?

No. The requirement is that a translation research project be submitted in the application. If translation research is submitted as a large project and it is not the highest scoring large project, this will not eliminate the application from consideration for funding.

Content Source: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Extramural Research Programs Office
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