The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is initiating five educational loan repayment programs (LRP) for Clinical, Pediatric, Contraceptive and Infertility, and Health Disparities Researchers and Clinical Researchers from a Disadvantaged Background. The LRP provides for the repayment of the educational loan debt of qualified health professionals who agree to conduct clinical research. The LRP provides for the repayment of up to $35,000 of the principal and interest of the educational loans of extramural grantees or awardees for each year of obligated service.

Purpose: Recruitment and retention of highly qualified health professionals as clinical investigators. Qualified health professionals who contractually agree to engage in clinical research as extramural grantees or awardees for at least two years are invited to apply for participation in the LRP.

Eligibility: Eligible participants must meet the following criteria:

• Be United States citizens, nationals, or permanent residents;
• Have a M.D., Ph.D., Pharm.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.P.M., D.C., N.D., or equivalent degree;
  
• Be affiliated with the NIH in one of the following ways:
  
  1. recipient of postdoctoral National Research Service Award support on an individual postdoctoral fellowship (F32) or an institutional research training grant (T32).
  2. recipient of support under an individual or institutional research career development award including the following mechanisms:
     K01, the Mentored Research Scientist Development Award,
     K07, the Academic Clinical Scientist Development Award,
     K08, the Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award,
     K12, Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Program Award,
     K22, the Career Transition Award with an extramural phase,
     K23, the Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award, or
     K25, the Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award.
  3. first-time recipient of NIH grant support as the principal investigator of an:
     R01, a research project grant consisting of one research project,
     R03, a small research grant,
     R21, an exploratory/developmental grant,
     U01, a cooperative agreement consisting of one research project.
  4. first-time director of subprojects on multicomponent center grants (P series grants, program project grants (P01)), or multicomponent cooperative agreements (U series).
• Have qualifying educational debt in excess of 20 percent of their annual income or compensation, as applicable, at their expected date of program eligibility.
• Engage in clinical research, as defined by Section 206 of Public Law 106-505, the Public Health Improvement Act, which states: "The term clinical research means patient-oriented clinical research conducted with human subjects, or research on the causes and consequences of disease in human populations involving material of human origin (such as tissue specimens and cognitive phenomena) for which an investigator or colleague directly interacts with human subjects in an outpatient or inpatient setting to clarify a problem in human physiology, pathophysiology or disease, or epidemiologic or behavioral studies, outcomes research or health services research, or developing new technologies, therapeutic interventions, or clinical trials."
  
  

Ineligibility: Individuals with existing service obligations to Federal, State, or other entities will not be considered for the Program unless and until the existing service obligation is discharged or deferred for the length of Program participation. Any individual who has a Federal judgment against his/her property arising from a Federal debt is barred from receiving Federal funds, until the judgment is paid in full or satisfied.

Applicants will not be excluded from consideration under the Program on the basis of age, race, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or other non-merit factors.

Inquiries and applications

• Information regarding the eligibility requirements and benefits for the program may be obtained via the LRP website http://www.lrp.nih.gov.
• Applications are collected electronically, and must be submitted via the LRP website http://www.lrp.nih.gov.
  
  

Deadline Date

Completed applications must be received no later than February 28, 2002, 5 PM EST to be considered for funding in FY 2002 (ending September 30, 2002).

For more information contact:

Lucinda L. Miner, Ph.D.
Research Training Coordinator
(301) 443-6071
(301) 443-6277 Fax
Email: CM171W@NIH.GOV

Or
Angela M. Martinelli, RN, DNSc
(301) 443-6071
(301) 443-67277 Fax
Email: amartine@mail.nih.gov