The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Indian Health Service(IHS) have just released program announcement PAR-12-182 for grant applications for new or continued Native American Research Centers for Health (NARCH). The NARCH program supports opportunities for conducting research and research training to meet the needs of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities.
Applications are due July 10, 2012.
NIH/IHS intends to fund an estimate of five to fifteen awards, corresponding to a total of $100,000–$1,100,000 per grant for fiscal year 2013. Future year amounts will depend on annual appropriations.
See below for more details, including some distinguishing features of this program announcement are particularly supportive of community-led CBPR.
The complete announcement is posted online at http://1.usa.gov/IQhDuS
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The purpose of the Native American Research Centers for Health (NARCH) initiative is to reduce health disparities, enhance partnerships and reduce distrust of research by American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities while developing a cadre of AI/AN scientists and health research professionals. The AI/AN Tribal nations and communities have long experienced disparities in health compared with other Americans.
Health disparities of AI/ANs are related to a complex set of factors and the paucity of health research within these populations may contribute to the situation. One approach that combats this distrust is to ensure that Tribes and Tribal Organizations are the managing partners in research and training that involves them. To that end, NIH in collaboration with IHS has issued the NARCH funding opportunity announcement in which collaborations between Federally recognized AI/AN Tribes or Tribal organizations (including national and area Indian health boards, and Tribal colleges meeting the definition of a Tribal organization as defined by 25 U.S.C. 1603(d) or (e)) and institutions that conduct intensive academic-level biomedical, behavioral and health services research will be supported to conduct research and training in AI/AN communities.
Recent community-based participatory research suggests that AI/AN communities can work collaboratively in partnership with health researchers to further the research needs of AI/ANs (Thomas LR, Rosa C, Forcehimes A, Donovan DM. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. Research partnerships between academic institutions and American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and organizations: effective strategies and lessons learned in a multisite CTN study. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2011 Sep;37(5):333-8 - available at http://bit.ly/IILm5d). Helpful guidelines for community leaders and health researchers conducting research within the AI/AN communities can be found at http://bit.ly/IUbPS0 and http://bit.ly/eLNydH
There are several distinguishing characteristics of this program announcement, as reflected in excerpts below about eligiblity, budget, team and tribal approval:
Eligiblity:
The new or existing NARCH must be a working partnership of the eligible AI/AN organization and of the research intensive institution. The AI/AN applicant must be one of the following:
A federally recognized AI/AN Tribe, as defined under 25 U.S.C.1603(d); or A Tribal organization, as defined under 25 U.S.C. 1603(e), including Tribal colleges or health boards meeting this definition; or A consortium of two or more of those Tribes or Tribal organizations. Applicants other than Tribes must provide proof of non-profit status.
The Research-Intensive Partner must be an accredited public or private nonprofit university, academic medical center, or other institution that has an established record of conducting research into the health problems of AI/ AN; has demonstrated a commitment to enhancing the capability of AI/AN faculty/researchers, students, investigators, and communities to engage in biomedical, behavioral, clinical and health services research; and has demonstrated a commitment to mentoring AI/AN faculty/researchers, students, and investigators.
As the grantee, the eligible AI/AN organization will define criteria and eligibility for participation in all aspects of the partnership, consistent with this announcement.
Budget:
A minimum of 30 percent of the grant funds must be budgeted in the application to remain with the eligible AI/AN organization(s); that is, no more than 70 percent of the application’s total budget may be contained in subcontract budgets of the non-eligible subcontracting partner institutions or organizations.
Team:
Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.
The Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s), the individual responsible for the administration (including fiscal management) of the overall project, must have his/her primary appointment with the AI/AN applicant organization. Special arrangements of employment, such as inter-organizational personnel agreements, are permissible. The Principal Investigator may be, but is not required to be, the NARCH Program Coordinator or a Research Project Investigator. The NARCH PD/PI may or may not have formal academic/research credentials, but if not, then the NARCH Program Coordinator must be so qualified.
The NARCH Program Coordinator is the individual responsible for the day-to-day leadership and management of the research and training programs within the proposed NARCH. The Program Coordinator may be, but is not required to be, the Student and Faculty/Researcher Development Director or a Research Project Investigator. The NARCH Program Coordinator may or may not have formal academic/research credentials, but if not, then the PD/PI must be so qualified.
The traditional NIH research project grant consists of a single Principal Investigator (PI) working with a small group of subordinates on an independent research project. Although this model clearly continues to work well and encourages creativity and productivity, it does not always work well for multidisciplinary efforts and collaboration. Increasingly, health related research involves teams that vary in terms of size, hierarchy, location of participants, goals, disciplines, and structure.
There is growing consensus that team science would be encouraged if more than one PI could be recognized on individual awards. The NIH has adopted a multiple-PI model, as recently directed by the Office of Science and Technology Policy. All agencies that have research and research-related programs must offer the multiple-PI model as an option. Note, it is only an option, not a requirement. The traditional NARCH division of roles between PI and Project Coordinator will usually address these issues to a satisfactory degree. For additional information regarding the new multiple-PI model, please click on the following website:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/multi_pi/index.htm.
Tribal approval:
It is the policy of the IHS and since this is an NIH-IHS collaboration, it is required that all research involving AI/AN Tribes be approved by the Tribal governments with jurisdiction. Therefore, the following documentation is required as part of the application for new or existing centers or additional NARCH projects: If the applicant is an Indian Tribe or Tribal organization as defined by 25 USC 1603(d) and (e), a resolution supporting the project from the Tribal government of all Tribes to be served must accompany the application submission. Applications by Tribal organizations will not require resolutions if the current Tribal resolutions under which they operate would encompass the proposed activities. In this instance, a copy of the current resolution must accompany the application. The listed Tribes to be served by the project in the proposal must match the set of appended resolutions.
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