ARRA supplements for comparative effectiveness research workforce development

Deadline: March 1, 2010

Up to $500,000 of funding is available for investigators with active NIH research grants to request administrative supplements for comparative effectiveness research workforce development (NOT-OD-10-037) to develop, expand, and/or increase CER training, education, and career development program(s). The purpose of the supplements are to expand the numbers of researchers qualified to oversee or conduct comparative effectiveness research (CER).

Funding is for up to $500,000 for no longer than a one year period. These applications are not limited, however the NIH only plans to make 16 awards.

If you are the PI on any of the following types of grants from the NIH — K12, K30, T32, T35, and T90 mechanisms, together with their KL and TL equivalents — these are the institutional awards that support the scope of training. A few examples of the types of activities that would be appropriate include: adding scholar or training slots for CER education and training through short courses, Certificate programs, and advanced degree-awarding programs; creating a course curriculum for early or midcareer researchers to develop or enhance skills in CER; creating an outreach training or course for community based research to develop or enhance skills in CER; and developing a CER training or course to include related fields such as communication and information dissemination science, medical decision-making, and outcomes and evaluation research as long as the proposal’s specific aims supports Federal Coordinating Council-defined CER.

To be eligible, the PI on the supplement application must also be the PI named on an NIH award. Some types of awards from the NIH (S10 awards and many R and P awards) are not eligible for this administrative supplement.  The parent grant must be active and the training, education, and career development activities proposed in the supplement must be accomplished within the current competitive segment. The proposed supplement MUST be within the general scope of the peer-reviewed activities and aims approved within the parent grant, including projects on a no-cost extension; while supplemental funds may be awarded to grants during a no-cost extension, the period of support cannot extend beyond the award period for the additional time that was granted.

The NIH recommends contacting your Program Officer if you have questions about eligibility.

The NIH defines comparative effectiveness research as the conduct and synthesis of research comparing the benefits and harms of different interventions and strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions in “real world” settings. The purpose of this research is to improve health outcomes by developing and disseminating evidence-based information to patients, clinicians, and other decision-makers, responding to their expressed needs, about which interventions are most effective for which patients under specific circumstances.