Research News-February 13, 2007

Essential Policy and Procedure Updates

NOA Replaces NOGA – NIH Revises Notice of Award (NoA) Letter

NIH announces the revision of the Notice of Grant Award Letter, now known as the Notice of Award Letter (NoA). The revised NoA has several enhancements and a new look and feel. This NoA gives NIH the flexibility to make changes as needed and issue the NoA in PDF format resulting in a more user / reader friendly document. Listed below are the most notable enhancements. NIH started to issue the revised NoA effective April 13, 2007.

• The revised NoA will be attached to an email in PDF format instead of being part of the text of the email; moving to the PDF format eliminates the excessive “white space” within the NoA. This helps to reduce the number of pages of the NoA.

• New - First Page: In accordance with the NIH Public Access Policy, http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-022.html, a paragraph has been included to encourage award recipients to submit published publications to PubMed Central (PMC).

• Updated - Section I – Award Data: This section has been revised to include a new data table and to reflect existing data in structured tables.  Specifically:

  New feature - Summary Total Federal Award Amount Year table – When more than one award action is issued in a budget period (e.g., administrative supplement through a separate award), a table will appear when the parent award is revised.  This table will list each award transaction separately (parent and supplement) and provide the total cumulative amount of federal funds awarded in the current budget period as shown in the example below.

  SUMMARY TOTAL FEDERAL AWARD AMOUNT YEAR (11)
  GRANT NUMBER	TOTAL FEDERAL AWARD AMOUNT
  3P01HL052490-11A1W1	$142,754
  2P01HL052490-11A1	$23,596
  TOTAL	$166,350

  
  
  

  Revised - Summary Total For All Years – Previously this section provided total costs commitments for the future years, but only for the award being issued.  This section is now revised to provide a table reflecting the recommended total costs for the award being issued as well as the cumulative total costs.  The cumulative costs figures will include all supplement award actions issued for a particular budget year as reflected in the example below.

  SUMMARY TOTALS FOR ALL YEARS
  YR	THIS AWARD	CUMULATIVE TOTALS
  11	$142,754	$166,350
  12	$22,920	$91,900
  13	$568,650	$695,910
  14	$15,380	$860,760

• (Updated) Section IV – Spreadsheet Summary: The categorical budget data is now reflected in table format.

NSF Announces New Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide

The Guide consolidates two previous standalone NSF policy documents: the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and the Grant Policy Manual (GPM) and combines them into a single electronic policy framework.   The Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide will be effective for proposals submitted on or after June 1, 2007.  This document supersedes all prior versions of the GPG and GPM and can be accessed at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf07140. 

The new guide increases ease of access to the policies and procedures that govern the entire grant lifecycle and eliminates duplicative and sometimes truncated coverage between the GPG and GPM.   

The Guide has two parts:

• Part I - NSF’s proposal preparation and submission guidelines – the NSF Grant Proposal Guide and the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide (to be incorporated at a later date).

• Part II - Documents to guide, manage and monitor the administration of awards The Grant Policy Manual has been renamed the Award & Administration Guide (AAG).

Each Part contains a by-Chapter summary of significant changes to assist the user in navigating through the changes.   

The Guide will be available in HTML format, as originally described, by the end of this month.  The document currently is available as a fully Web-linked and searchable PDF version which gives users the ability to print either Parts of the Guide or the document in its entirety. If you have any questions regarding the new NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide, please contact the Policy Office on 703-292-8243 or by e-mail to policy@nsf.gov .    

Upcoming Updates to SBU's Human Subject Protection Program (HSPP)

Coming in the June edition of Research News (and posted to the Human Subjects Research Website between now and June) are important updates to our HSPP (http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/humans/humansubjects.html) Here's a sneak preview:

1. Policy and Guidance regarding the distinction between Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement (QA/QI) Activities and Research Activities
2. Establishment of the Human Research Radiation Committee, along with informed consent language for radiation risks
3. Update to Section 19 (Biological Specimens in Clinical (including Genetic) Research, to add the fact that research involving the prospective collection of anonymous specimens obtained from future, discarded clinical samples for non-genetic research qualifies for exempt status

as well as other exciting updates, including much needed (and much requested) revisions to the CORIHS application (including Sections I.D, I.F to name just a few).

As always, if you have any questions about our program, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Research Compliance, at 2-9036.

New OSP Proposal Submission Website

Due to the growing number of electronic proposal submissions and the need for faculty to transmit extremely large proposal files to the Office of Sponsored Programs, a website is now up and running to facilitate this transmission. The website is: http://www.stonybrook.edu/proposalsosp

The process is simple. Submitters access this website, provide pertinent information (so that OSP can identify the proposal and have contact information), attach their full proposal files where indicated and hit the “submit” button. Office of Sponsored Programs staff can access the proposal information and all attachments quickly and easily. 

***Reminder: full proposals and all required completed campus forms should be submitted five business days before the sponsor deadline. Questions regarding the use of this website can be addressed to your Sponsored Programs Coordinator or Contracts Administrator.

NIH/AHRQ Transition to Electronic Applications Update

NIH/AHRQ Confirms Plans to Transition the G7, G8, G11, G13, G20, S11, S21 and S22 to Electronic Applications and Announces Delay in Transition of K, F, T and Complex Grant Programs Confirming May 25 Transition Plans

The research community is reminded that the following grant programs will transition to electronic submission using the SF424 (R&R) form through Grants.gov for applications intended for the May 25, 2007 submission date and beyond:

• Resource Program (G7, G8, G11, G13, G20)
• Minority Biomedical Research Support Thematic Project Grant (S11)
• Research and Institutional Resources Health Disparities Endowment Grants – Capacity Building (S21)
• Research and Student Resources Health Disparities Endowment Grants – Educational Programs (S22)

ALL applications in response to announcements for these grant programs must be submitted electronically (i.e., paper-based PHS 398 applications will not be accepted). Applications previously submitted in paper that are being resubmitted as amended applications must now use electronic submission via Grants.gov using the SF424 (R&R) forms. 

Announcing Delay for Subsequent Transitions
The change to electronic applications for grant programs currently targeted to transition after May 2007, including Career Development (K), Fellowship (F), Training & Development (T&D) and complex mechanisms will be delayed. NIH, AHRQ and Grants.gov are working together to establish new transition dates for these grant programs. A notice announcing the adjusted dates and timeline will be issued as soon as possible.

The following resources continue to be available for assistance in the electronic submission of grant applications to NIH through Grants.gov:
General Information:
http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm
http://www.ahrq.gov/path/egrants.htm

The Clinical Trial Contract Process

The Office of Sponsored Programs has created a flowchart that describes the clinical trial contract process in detail. The flowchart can be found on the OSP website at:

http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/spo/ClinicalTrialsFlowchart.html.


The Office of Sponsored Programs hopes that you will find this helpful in navigating your way through this process. If you have any questions, please contact Leigh Gentilcore, Clinical Trials Administrator, via email at lgentilcore@notes.cc.sunysb.edu or via phone at 632-4949.

From the Office of Clinical Trials

In order to maintain compliance with federal guidelines, the Office of Clinical Trials has created a research subjects’ database. For all industry initiated, industry sponsored clinical trials, Study Coordinators are required to enter the names of all participating subjects.

If you have any questions regarding this issue, a letter from Dr. Richard Fine is posted on the Office of Clinical Trials website. The link is:
https://www.osa.sunysb.edu/octs/newsInvestigator.jsp
--Contributed by Sharon Nachman, Director, Office of Clinical Trials

Funding Opportunities

2007 NIH Director's New Innovator Award Program (DP2)

NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni has announced a special program to fund new investigators who propose highly innovative research projects that could have an exceptional impact on biomedical or behavioral science. The NIH Director's New Innovator Award offers grants of up to $1.5 million in direct costs over five years."New investigators are the future of science, and innovative ideas are its lifeblood. This flagship program underscores NIH's commitment to supporting these two critical elements of the research enterprise. The New Innovator Award, funded through the NIH Roadmap Common Fund, complements longstanding activities in both areas at the NIH level and at its institutes and centers," said Zerhouni.

The application period opens on April 25 and closes on May 22, 2007. NIH expects to make at least 14 awards in September, 2007. New investigators who have not yet obtained an NIH R01 or similar grant are eligible to apply. Applicants must hold an independent research position at an institution in the United States and must have received a doctoral degree or completed a medical internship and residency in 1997 or later.

"We want proposals in a broad range of scientific areas relevant to the NIH mission and from a diverse pool of applicants," Zerhouni said. "We're shortening the application and emphasizing the significance of the research, what makes the approach exceptionally innovative, how the applicant will address challenges and risks, and the applicant's qualifications for the grant. We aren't requiring applicants to present preliminary data, although we'll allow it if they choose to do so," he added.
Application instructions are at:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-07-009.html
More information on the NIH Director's New Innovator Award is at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/innovator_award/

Upcoming Funding Opportunities

For a complete list of upcoming deadlines, please go to -
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/fndopp/deadlcal.html

News

SBU-BNL Collaboration Receives Second Patent for “One-Two” Punch Lyme Disease Vaccine Proteins

The invention is a vaccine technology that combines of two proteins, OspA and OspC, that are normally present on the surface of the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium that causes Lyme disease, but at different parts of the organism's life cycle.  Combining them makes it possible to deliver a “one-two” punch, attacking the spirochete both before and after a blood meal; that is, when the bug is inside the tick that is the carrier, and additionally following the bug’s entry into a human or other host's circulation.  Osp C is primarily expressed in blood and Osp A in the tick.  The vaccine also combines Osps from different species of Borrelia burgdorferi. The proteins could also be used as diagnostics to distinguish harmful strains of bacteria from relatively harmless ones, and help assess the level of infection.

The inventors are Ray Dattwyler, Maria Gomes-Solecki and Ben Luft, Stony Brook, and John Dunn, Brookhaven National Laboratory. They received a prior patent for this technology in March, 2006.

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the U.S., with approximately 25,000 new cases each year - a rate that may grow by a third in this decade. Early symptoms of the disease - spread by the bite of an infected deer tick – famously include a bull's-eye rash at the site of the bite and flu-like symptoms, but the symptomology is notoriously variable – a serious issue since delayed treatment can lead to more serious joint, neurological and other complications.

Long Island Sound Study Releases Poll Findings conducted by Center for Survey Research

The survey, of 1,220 residents who live within 15 miles of the shoreline, was conducted by the Center for Survey Research in spring 2006 for the Long Island Sound Study, a partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the states of Connecticut and New York.

Residents show high levels of concern for the environment and support efforts to protect and restore it. About 73 percent of respondents said that protecting the environment was more important to them than encouraging economic growth. But for many, those attitudes are not linked to personal behaviors or accurate knowledge of the problems facing the Sound. About 17 percent of respondents knew how an excess amount of nitrogen is harming water quality in Long Island Sound. And less than half knew that sewage treatment plants and polluted runoff are the primary sources of nitrogen pollution to the Sound. Instead just as many people believe dumping of trash into the Sound or industrial plants are the primary sources of pollution.

The Long Island Sound Study, a National Estuary Program, is a cooperative effort created by EPA and the states of Connecticut and New York, involving researchers, regulators, user groups and other concerned organizations and individuals to protect and improve the health of the Sound.

Visit Center for Survey Research at http://www.sunysb.edu/surveys/for more information

President Kenny Announces 72 New Faculty, One Of The Largest Single-Year Increases In History

Stony Brook University will add 72 new faculty members for Fall 2007 President Shirley Strum Kenny announced today—the largest single-year increase in more than a decade and one of the largest in University history. The new hires will increase the total number of full-time faculty to more than 1,475, the highest number the University has ever had. The positions are all for full-time tenure track faculty.

In all, 38 academic departments and research areas will have new faculty positions.

Fifteen of the new faculty positions are “cluster” hires, designed to strengthen a particular academic or research enterprise which the University has identified as having potential for growth. They include Computational Sciences, Integrative Environmental Research, and Digital Arts and Culture.

Research Foundation Employee Summer Work Schedule

President Kenny's e-mail of April 30, 2007 addressed to the Provost, Vice Presidents, Deans, and Department Heads offered the opportunity to participate in voluntary Summer work schedules. For Research Foundation employees this period would extend from Monday, May 21, 2007 - Friday, August 24, 2007.

Research Foundation employees participating in a compressed 4-day workweek schedule should begin their summer schedule on a Monday and end on a Friday. For example, beginning May 21, 2007 and finishing August 24, 2007, close of business.

Human Resource Services has responded to questions about issues related to summer scheduling and in particular to:

1. The voluntary nature of summer hours.
2. Time and attendance issues.

See http://stonybrook.edu/asa/hrs/rf.shtml for more information.

For More Information

Gail S. Habicht is Vice President for Research. She can be reached at (631) 632-7932. An abundance of specific information for the research community is available on our Website, where past issues of this bulletin can also be found.

Office of the Vice President for Research -
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/

Research News and Monday Memo archive - http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/monmemo/mmarchive.html

All Past issue of Research News and Monday Memo are keyword searchable. The index can be accessed at - http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/sitemap.html.