Botanical Research Centers Program: RFA Announced

The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) plan to continue the Botanical Research Center Program for another 5-year period. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) will also participate in this initiative. ODS, NCCAM, and NCI invite proposals from both new applicants and currently funded centers. The application process involves two stages. All applicants are required to submit pre-applications under PAR-09-091 for peer review. Applicants submitting the most meritorious pre-application proposals will be invited to apply for center funding under RFA-OD-09-001. The purpose of the program is to promote collaborative interdisciplinary study of botanicals, particularly those found as ingredients in dietary supplements. The research should have high potential for being translated into practical benefits for human health.

Informational Webinar for Applicants

ODS will hold an informational webinar on Thursday, March 12, 2009, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. ET to clarify issues regarding the format, submission requirements, and review of the pre-application, and how the information submitted for the pre-application relates to the requirements of the Botanical Center P50 application. During the webinar, ODS and NCCAM staff will describe the intent of the pre-application process and answer applicants' questions.

Registering for the Webinar
Applicants and their colleagues wishing to register for the webinar should send an email including their names, departments, institutions, email address, and a phone number to centers@od.nih.gov. Registration in advance is not required, but is strongly encouraged so that we can send out reminders and process your questions. Advanced registration should be completed no later than 5 p.m. ET on Friday, March 6, 2009.

How to Submit Your Questions
In advance of the webinar, applicants are urged to submit questions to centers@od.nih.gov. During the webinar, participants will be able to submit questions online via a chat box.

Testing Your Computer for Compatibility
We recommend that you visit the page below prior to March 12th to test your browser to ensure your computer will be able to access the webinar.

Connect to: https://webmeeting.nih.gov/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

Our webinar is hosted through the NIH Web Collaboration service using Adobe Connect Professional. Some suggestions if you have access problems:

• Be sure you are connected to the Internet.
• Disable popup blocker software.
• Clear the browser's cache.
• Try connecting from another computer.

Instructions for Attending the Webinar
On March 12th, we will begin admitting participants at 12:45 p.m. and the webinar will begin at 1:00 p.m.

To join the webinar:

• Simply click on https://webmeeting.nih.gov/centers/
• Enter your name in the "Guest" field
• Once you have joined the meeting, you will see a pop-up asking for the telephone number where you can be reached
• Once you have entered your telephone number click the "call my phone" button (IMPORTANT NOTE: If you press "enter" instead of clicking the "call my phone" button, this feature will not work properly)
• Adobe Connect will call your phone to bring you into the audio conference.

Webinar Archives
A recorded archive of the webinar will be posted on the ODS Web site soon after March 12th and may be viewed at any time.