FEDERAL AGENCY:

HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

AUTHORIZATION:

Public Health Service Act, Title IV, Part G, Section 487(d)(3), as amended; National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993, Public Law 103-43.

OBJECTIVES:

To promote postdoctoral research training programs in primary medical care.

TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:

Project Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition

USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:

National Research Services Awards (NRSA) are made directly to applicant institutions to enable them to award NRSAs for research training in primary medical care to eligible individuals selected by them. Each individual that receives a NRSA is obligated upon termination of the award to comply with certain service and payback provisions. Recipients in the first 12 months of postdoctoral support will incur one month of obligation for each month of support. Postdoctoral trainees in the 13th and subsequent months of NRSA support will not incur any further service obligation. Furthermore, the 13th and subsequent months of postdoctoral training serve to discharge the NRSA payback obligation.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Applicant Eligibility:   Domestic public or private nonprofit organizations or institutions may apply for training grants. The applicant institutions must have or expand training programs designed to develop competent investigators in the methods and techniques of conducting research in primary medical care. State or local governments and U.S. Territories are eligible. For profit-making organizations are not eligible. All persons supported as fellows or trainees must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States, or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Eligibility is limited to individuals affiliated with entities having received grants or contracts under Sections 747, 748, or 749 of the Public Health Service Act.

Beneficiary Eligibility:   Individuals and public or private nonprofit organizations or institutions, including State or local governments and U.S. Territories, who have received grants or contracts under Sections 747, 748 or 749 of the Public Health Service Act, are the beneficiaries of this program.

Credentials/Documentation:   An individual applicant for a fellowship must document receipt of a doctoral degree and acceptance by an appropriate institutional sponsor. Institutional applicants for training grants must document their research and training experiences, staff, curriculum, facilities, and other resources available. For other grantees, costs will be determined by DHHS Regulations 45 CFR 74 Subpart Q.

Pre-application Coordination:   While there is no program requirement for preapplication, informed preapplication consultation to prospective applicants is available upon request from the Division of Medicine and Dentistry, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his/her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review.

Application Procedure:   The new URL (Uniformed Resource Locator) for the Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr) Grants Page is "http://www.hrsa.gov/bhpr/grants". This year BHPr has decided to use Adobe Acrobat and Word to publish its grant documents on the Web page. In order to download, view and print Adobe Acrobat documents, you will need a copy of Adobe from the Internet by going to the Adobe Web page ("http://www.adobe.com") and downloading the version which is appropriate for your operating system, i.e., Windows, Unix, Macintosh, etc. A set of more detailed instructions on how to download and use the Adobe Acrobat Reader can be found on the BHPr Grants Web page under "Notes on this WWW Page."

Award Procedure:   Applications are reviewed for scientific merit by a committee including nonfederal consultants who are selected from appropriate scientific fields. HRSA considers the recommendations of the review committee, program interest, and the availability of funds in the final selection of grantees. When such decisions are made, applicants are notified and a formal award notice is issued. Before receiving support, all individual fellows and institutional trainees must submit required forms, including a payback agreement.

Deadlines:   Application deadlines are available on the World Wide Web at address: http://www.hrsa.gov/bhpr/grants.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time:   From 5 to 6 months from receipt of application.

Appeals:   Appeals are only available to grantees.

Renewals:   Competitive continuations may be submitted during the final budget period of the approved project period.

ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:

Formula and Matching Requirements:   This program has no statutory formula or matching requirements.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance:   No individual may receive more than 3 years of aggregated National Research Service Award support at the post-doctoral level, including any combination of support from institutional and individual awards. Institutional training grants may be awarded for project periods up to 5 years. Awards are made on an annual basis and it is expected that expenditures will be made within the budget period awarded. After awards are issued, funds are released in accordance with the payment procedure established by the grantee with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), which may be the Electronic Transfer System or a Monthly Cash Request System.

POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Reports:   A final progress report is required 90 days after the end of the project period. Annual and final financial status reports are required for Institutional National Research Service Awards. The financial status reports must be submitted within 90 days after the close of each budget period and the end of the project period. Annual reports of activities for tracking payback provisions are required of all fellows and trainees upon termination of support.

Audits:   In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133, (Revised, June 24, 1997), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Nonprofit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $300,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $300,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for the year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133.

Records:   Financial records, including all documents to substantiate charges, must be maintained. Records may be destroyed 3 years after the end of the budget period if an audit occurs and is completed by that time; if an audit has not occurred, records must be retained until 3 years following the audit; or, if an audit is underway, until the resolution of audit findings.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION:

Account Identification:   75-0350-0-1-550.

Obligations:   (Grants) FY 01 $7,000,000; FY 02 est $7,000,000; and FY 03 est $7,000,000.

Range and Average of Financial Assistance:  
The range of awards in FY 2016 is $159,362 to $400,000. The average award is $365,889.

In fiscal year 2001, 27 continuation awards were made. It is anticipated that 27 awards will be made in fiscal years 2002 and 2003.

REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:

PHS Grants Policy Statement, DHHS Publication No. (OASH) 94-50,000, (Rev.) April 1, 1994.

INFORMATION CONTACTS:

Regional or Local Office:   None.

Headquarters Office:  
Svetlana Cicale, MPH. Project Officer. Medical Training and Geriatrics Branch, Division of Medicine and Dentistry, Bureau of Health Workforce, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 15N130D, Rockville, Maryland 20857 Email: scicale@hrsa.gov Phone: (301) 443-7271 Fax: 301-443-8890

Web Site Address:  
http://www.hrsa.gov

EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS:

Training pediatricians, family physicians, and general internists to conduct primary medical care research based on the practice conditions encountered by primary care providers.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:

The major elements in evaluating proposals include assessment of: (1) history of performance of preceptors and trainees; (2) primary care research focus; and (3) trainee recruitment and retention.