NIAMS Building Interdisciplinary Research Team (BIRT) Revision Awards (R01)

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This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) (http://www.niams.nih.gov/), National Institutes of Health, solicits applications that promote collaborations among groups of investigators a clear shared scientific area of interest and opportunity in specific NIAMS mission areas. Purpose. To promote interdisciplinary research, the NIAMS plans to provide up to 1 year of research revision support (formerly referred to as ¿competitive supplements¿) to active NIAMS R01s (parent grants) to establish collaborations among groups of investigators with expertise in the specific areas listed below. The interdisciplinary collaboration should be basic and/or translational research with high innovation and potentially high impact in the specific NIAMS mission¿relevant areas solicited in this FOA. It is understood that such an application may entail high risk. Teams developed under this award are expected to make significant advances beyond the progress expected from the individual researchers alone. Collaborations between scientific areas listed below are selected to pilot the NIAMS BIRT awards and specifically solicited in this FOA. Autoimmunity ¿ Gender and sex factors Autoimmunity¿ Systems biology Developmental biology ¿ Systems biology Regenerative Medicine ¿ Immunology Soft tissue biology ¿ Imaging technologies Tissue engineering ¿Developmental biology Mechanism of Support. This FOA will utilize the NIH revision to R01 grant mechanism and runs in parallel with a FOA (RFA-AR-09-002) of identical scientific scope that solicits applications under the U01, U54, P01, P50 and P60 mechanisms. Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards. The NIAMS plans to commit approximately $1M in direct costs in FY 2009 to fund up to 10 BIRT awards for both RFA-AR-09-001 and RFA-AR-09-002. Awards issued under this FOA are contingent upon the availability of funds and the submission of meritorious applications. Budget and Project Period. The total project period for each revision application submitted in response to this FOA may not exceed 1 year. To ensure sufficient time for full development of collaboration, the parent grant should not end earlier than January 31, 2011. Direct costs requested for the revision are limited to $100,000 dollars. Eligible Institutions/Organizations. Institutions/organizations listed in Section III, 1.A. are eligible to apply. This FOA is a revision to encourage NIAMS R01 Principal Investigators (PIs) to develop new interdisciplinary collaborations with independent investigators of other disciplines supported by the NIAMS, other NIH ICs, or other funding agencies. It is expected that the new collaboration will significantly expand the scope of their ongoing NIAMS research by adding expertise and approaches from another discipline. Only current NIAMS R01 grantees are eligible to submit applications. Independent investigators with other awards are encouraged to apply in concert with NIAMS R01 grantees. Eligible Project Directors/Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs). Individuals with an existing active NIAMS R01(s) who meet the requirements for BIRT awards and the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research are invited to work with their institution/ 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. Number of PDs/PIs. More than one PD/PI (i.e., multiple PDs/PIs) may be designated on the application. Number of Applications. Applicants may submit more than one application, provided each application is scientifically distinct. However, only one BIRT application can be submitted for each active NIAMS R01. A BIRT application cannot be requested to support collaborations among investigators who already have on-going, formal collaborations in the parent grant or other funded projects. Resubmissions. Resubmission applications are not permitted in response to this FOA. Renewals. Revision applications that are the same as or similar to previous BIRT awards are not allowed.

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