NIH Engineered Nanomaterials: Linking Physical and Chemical Properties to Biology (U19)
Please distribute this information to your faculty to determine if they
have an interest in submitting a proposal to this program.
WHAT: Limited Submission Proposal for the NIH Engineered Nanomaterials: Linking Physical and Chemical Properties to Biology (U19) Program
WHO: Texas A&M University faculty. Agriculture, Engineering and TTI personnel may wish to submit internal proposals through their own agency.
WHY: Applicants may request up to $750,000 dollars in direct costs per year for a maximum of five years.
WHEN: Internal proposal deadline of December 7, 2009.
HOW: Faculty should submit internal proposal to osppc@tamu.edu for review by the internal selection committee.
THE FINE PRINT:
Details available below and online at http://researchpolicy.tamu.edu/limited-submission-proposals/
The funding agency, NIH, has limited the number of proposals to one per institution.
BRIEF PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The NIH Engineered Nanomaterials: Linking Physical and Chemical Properties to Biology (U19) Program is designed to understand how physical and chemical characteristics of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) influence their molecular interactions with biological matrices and elicit biological responses. Further, the goal of the program is to gain a basic understanding of how variation in chemical composition and structural arrangement of ENMs dictate biological interaction with macromolecules, sub-cellular organelles, cellular or organ systems and ultimately affect physiological function.
Three research projects will define this experimental paradigm: the investigators will determine the physical and chemical characteristics of ENMs that dictate biological interactions at the molecular and cellular levels; the investigators will examine the specific physical and chemical characteristics of ENMs that dictate in vivo responses such as absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination (ADME) as well as physiological and pathobiological events in target and secondary organs, using appropriate routes of exposure and dose metrics; and the third research activity will develop and apply methods and mode of action approaches to integrate information at the biochemical, molecular, cellular and organism level (such as those from projects 1 and 2) into traditional risk assessment paradigms.
Each application must include: a central overarching theme the develops approaches to evaluate, understand and predict toxicity mechanisms and potential health implications of exposure to ENMs; collaborative, integrated research projects to understand basic ENM-molecular interactions at cellular, tissue and organ system levels; and a research plan to facilitate the extension of the knowledge gained from these efforts (biochemical, molecular and physiological endpoints) to inform ENM hazard identification, risk assessment and risk characterization.
Each PI will craft an interdisciplinary program that uses a biologically-based paradigm to understand the influence of specific physical and chemical characteristic of ENMs on both molecular and physiological endpoints. The biological processes include, but are not limited to, mechanistic endpoints such as cell cycling, vesicular trafficking, transcription, signal transduction and metabolism, physiological endpoints including uptake, adsorption, transport, sequestration, and elimination of ENMs as well as organ and organism function. Investigators may have expertise in materials science, physics, chemistry, engineering, cell and molecular biology, toxicology, exposure science and risk assessment.
To advance the goals of understanding more precisely the physical and chemical properties that determine biological interactions, investigators may choose to: thoroughly investigate the effect of a single physical and chemical parameter; use hypothesis-driven approaches to investigate the pair-wise effect of two physical and chemical characteristics; or use statistically valid global approaches to identify higher order interactions.
Project 1 must be designed to understand mechanistic effects of variations in specific physical and chemical properties using ex vivo and/or in vitro investigations. Project 2 must be designed to understand physiological and pathobiological effects of specific physical and chemical properties of ENMs at the organ and organism level using acute or sub-chronic in vivo exposures (using relevant routes and doses), isolated organs and/or well validated computational models. Research in Project 3 will develop approaches to translate the knowledge of the in vitro and in vivo effects of ENM into a risk assessment paradigm or to expand the risk assessment methods used to characterize ENM safety.
Applicants may request up to $750,000 dollars in direct costs per year for a maximum of five years. The indirect rate is 8%.
More information can be found at:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-ES-09-011.html
Internal Selection Procedures and Deadlines
December 4, 2009: Deadline for an email of intent, including the names of the PI and co-PIs, title of internal proposal and a 1-3 sentence description of the project. Send email of intent to osppc@tamu.edu
December 7, 2009: Deadline to obtain signatures of approval from your department head and college dean to submit an internal proposal to the Research Policy and Development Support Office for review by the internal selection committee. The internal proposal should include:
(1) An executive summary, up to three pages, based on the proposal description as outlined in the NIH program announcement;
(2) Summary budget;
(3) Project and Management Plans (including team members);
The form for completing the internal proposal is at: http://researchpolicy.tamu.edu/limited-submission-proposals/internalselectionlspform.pdf
This completed form should be submitted electronically to osppc@tamu.edu for review by the internal selection committee.
*Once your internal proposal has been received with all of the necessary signatures, you will receive an email indicating it will be reviewed by the internal selection committee. If you do not receive the confirmation email, please call 5-1812.*
Please read the RFP carefully for specific requirements of the program at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-ES-09-011.html
Selection of a proposal will be based on NIH guidelines. The needs of the university’s reinvestment plan will also be taken into account.
During the selection process, the internal selection committee may contact departments and colleges for their opinions and commitments. They may also request additional information from PIs.
December 18, 2009: The Internal Selection Committee will notify PIs of the result of the internal competition.
December 22, 2009: Deadline for optional, but recommended, letter of intent to NIH.
January 22, 2010: Deadline for full proposal.
