Concepts for proposed Requests for Applications (RFA) are reviewed during the Open Session of Council. These are the features of the process:

• A brief concept description, written by the program staff proposing a grant solicitation, is posted on the Council website.
  
  
• Dr. Alexander will present the concepts during the Open Session. Program staff will be available to answer questions if called upon but, in general, will not participate in the presentation.
  
  
• Following brief presentation and discussion, Council members will be asked to indicate their opinion of each concept.
  
  
• Comments, suggestions, and Council advice will be recorded by NICHD staff.

This approach to concept review:

• Meets the NIH requirement for public presentation of concepts and the opportunity for public comment.
  
  
• Provides a wide spectrum of expertise for the consideration of concepts, including scientific, policy, and advocacy perspectives. The process should encourage the presentation and evaluation of broad concepts, without detailed or in-depth discussion of the specific science. Such discussion, typical when concepts are reviewed by a group with more narrowly focused expertise, goes well beyond the purpose of this review. Indeed, it places those involved in a potential conflict of interest situation that would prevent them from responding to a resultant RFA should they choose to do so.
  
  
• Enables the full Council to consider individual initiatives within the broader context of many planned initiatives, giving us the benefit of multiple perspectives in the overall planning of an NICHD research agenda.
  

For this meeting, three concepts were reviewed:

Fertility Preservation Research: Advancing Beyond Technology
Limited Competition: Phase II Exploratory Community-Based Participatory Research
Research Partnerships to Promote Diversity in Reproductive Science

Fertility Preservation Research: Advancing Beyond Technology

September 2008

A request for applications (RFA) is proposed entitled “Fertility Preservation Research: Advancing Beyond Technology”. The proposed RFA will use the Research Project Grant (R01) award mechanism.

Purpose
The purpose of the proposed RFA is to promote research aimed at:1) characterizing the risk and mechanism(s) of gonadal damage secondary to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or occupational or environmental hazards, 2) elucidating more reliable biomarkers of reproductive capacity, and 3) examining the social, legal, and ethical ramifications of fertility preservation technologies.

Scope
The scope of the proposed solicitation will include basic, clinical, and population research, as well as studies designed to address the social, legal and ethical impact of impaired fertility secondary to chronic disease, disease treatment, and environmental or occupational exposures.

Objective
The ultimate objective of this initiative is to promote research that has the potential to improve reproductive capacity, and thus, quality of life for children and reproductive-age adults who are or may become infertile.

Program Contact:
Charisee Lamar, PhD, MPH
Email: lamarc@mail.nih.gov
Phone: (301) 496-6515
Fax:(301) 496-0962

Limited Competition: Phase II Exploratory Community-Based Participatory Research

September 2008

A Program Announcement (PAR) is proposed entitled “Phase II Exploratory Community-Based Participatory Research.” The proposed PAR implements the research plans developed during Phase I of the Academic/Community Partnership Conference Series that was launched by RFA-HD-06-019 in 2006 and continued with the re-issue of PAR-08-106 in 2008. The PAR will solicit Exploratory/ Developmental grants (R21) from previous recipients of Academic/Community Partnership awards.

Purpose
This PAR is intended to solicit exploratory/developmental, community-based participatory research (CBPR) project applications that implement the proposed research plans and partnership goals developed through the Division of Special Populations supported academic/community partnerships initiative.

Scope
The proposed initiative will support the conduct of exploratory translational CBPR designed by academic institutions and their community partners to address and reduce disparities within the health disparities mission areas of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NCIHD) which include infant mortality; sudden infant death syndrome; fibroid tumors; child adolescent, and/or adult obesity; literacy; techniques for outreach and information dissemination; pediatric and maternal HIV/AIDS prevention and violence prevention. For the purpose of this solicitation, translational research is defined as knowledge gained through basic research that is applied in the community.

Objective
The objective of this initiative is to get evidence based information and interventions into use in communities in acceptable and clear ways. It is well recognized that unprecedented advances in translating research findings into practice have been seen; yet, such advances are not realized by all members of society according to age, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic group. Through the community-academic partnership Phase I and Phase II initiatives, persons affected by health disparities and other key stakeholders in communities become full participants in translational research from conception, design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, communication of research results and the implementation of preventive interventions. An expected outcome is the adaptation of existing advances for implementation in the community setting. A particular focus is a consideration of culture and health literacy in the adaptations of evidence based interventions.

Program Contact
Jean L. Flagg-Newton, Ph.D.
Email: flaggnej@mail.nih.gov
Phone: (301) 435-2722
Fax: (301) 480-0393

Research Partnerships to Promote Diversity in Reproductive Science

September 2008

A request for applications (RFA) is proposed entitled “Research Partnerships to Promote Diversity in Reproductive Science”. The proposed RFA will use the Cooperative Research Project Grant (U01) award mechanism.

Purpose
The purpose of the proposed RFA is to develop equal partnerships between faculty at minority-serving institutions and faculty members at academic institutions with established reproductive science research programs. In addition, it is anticipated that these newly developed partnerships will recruit, train, and mentor a cadre of diverse individuals under-represented in research relevant to the mission of the Reproductive Sciences Branch.

Scope
The scope of the proposed solicitation will include applications that engage investigators to address areas of research relevant to the mission of the Reproductive Sciences Branch.

Objective
The ultimate objective of this initiative is to promote research in reproductive science and medicine at minority-serving institutions and to provide research opportunities for undergraduates under-represented in the biomedical sciences to train at partnering institutions, with the intent of stimulating their interests in a career conducting research in reproduction.

Program Contact
Charisee Lamar, PhD, MPH
Email: lamarc@mail.nih.gov
Phone: (301) 496-6515
Fax:(301) 496-0962