Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity - DHACA

Description

The PCRP Health Disparity Research Award mechanism was first offered in FY01. Since then, 385 Health Disparity Research Award applications have been received, and 75 have been recommended for funding. The Health Disparity Research Award supports new ideas based on innovative concepts or methodologies for health disparity research with the potential to make an important contribution toward eliminating death from prostate cancer and enhancing the well-being of men impacted by the disease. Studies proposed for this award mechanism are expected to improve the understanding of, and ultimately contribute to eliminating disparities in prostate cancer incidence, morbidity, mortality, and survivorship. Applicants for this award must explicitly state how the proposed research is related to an area of prostate cancer health disparity. Appropriate health disparity areas include, but are not limited to, race and ethnicity; socioeconomic status; access to health care; differing standards of health care; insurance status; age; geography; sexual orientation; gender identity; and cultural beliefs. The PCRP seeks applications from investigators from a wide spectrum of disciplines including, but not limited to, basic science, engineering, bioinformatics, population science, translational research, and clinical research, provided they are appropriately focused on an issue of prostate cancer health disparity. In addition, all applications are expected to be relevant to one or more of the PCRP focus areas and are encouraged to be responsive to one of the PCRP overarching challenges. If the proposed project does not address one of the overarching challenges, the application must provide a description to justify how the project will nevertheless address a critical disparity-related need in the field of prostate cancer research and/or patient care. The Health Disparity Research Award also emphasizes the potential impact, both short-term and long-term, of the research project in reducing or eliminating prostate cancer health disparities. To maximize the potential for impact, investigators are strongly encouraged to incorporate the following components into their study design where appropriate: authentication of proposed cell lines; statistical rigor of preclinical animal experiments; incorporation of experiments to assess clinical relevance and translatability of findings. As such, the PCRP-funded Prostate Cancer Biorepository Network (PCBN) (http://www.prostatebiorepository.org) and/or the North Carolina – Louisiana Prostate Cancer Project (PCaP) (http://www.ncla-pcap.org) are important resources to consider if retrospectively collected human anatomical substances or correlated data are critical to the proposed studies. Studies utilizing data derived from large patient studies that include long-term health records, biospecimen repositories, and pre-existing research and that apply state-of-the art genomic and/or proteomic analysis, bioinformatics, and/or mathematical models to such data are also encouraged. New Investigators: This award encourages applications from investigators in the early stages of their careers. The New Investigator category is designed to allow PIs, early in their faculty appointments or in the process of developing independent research careers, to compete for funding separately from established investigators. PIs using the New Investigator category are strongly encouraged to strengthen their applications by including investigators experienced in prostate cancer research and/or possessing other relevant expertise as demonstrated by a record of funding and publications. It is the responsibility of the PI to describe how additional investigators will augment his/her expertise and better address the research question. PIs may choose to employ both the New Investigator category and the Qualified Collaborator Option (described below) in a single application. All applicants for the New Investigator category must meet specific eligibility criteria, as described in Section I.D., Eligibility Information. The Health Disparity Research Award offers two additional options for consideration: 1. Qualified Collaborator Option: The Health Disparity Research Award strongly supports collaborative research involving basic, population science, and clinical researchers, researchers with prostate cancer expertise and those with health disparity expertise, and/or researchers and community organizations that may be critical to the study of populations disproportionately affected by prostate cancer. Although these and other types of collaborations are, in general, strongly encouraged, collaborations that meet specific criteria will qualify for a higher level of funding, as described in Section I.E., Funding. For the application to qualify for a higher level of funding, the PI must submit a Qualified Collaboration Statement that clearly describes the proposed collaborator and collaboration and addresses how each of the criteria below are met. In addition, the collaborator must provide a letter of collaboration describing his/her involvement in the proposed work. It should be clear from both documents that the successful completion of the project depends on the unique skills and contributions of both the PI and the qualified collaborator. The following criteria must be met to use the Qualified Collaborator Option: The collaborator must significantly contribute to the project such that the proposed work could not be accomplished without his/her involvement. This is expected to include both intellectual input and research resources (e.g., supplies, reagents, equipment, personnel, services, tissue samples, or access to patients or populations). The collaborator must contribute at least a 10% level of effort to the project. Contribution of the collaborator should be reflected in the application budget. If the PI does not have experience in prostate cancer research and/or working with disproportionately affected populations, the collaborator must possess such experience. 2. Nested Health Disparity Traineeship Option: This award also offers opportunities for training highly motivated graduate students and postdoctoral fellows interested in pursuing a career in resolving disparities in prostate cancer incidence, morbidity, mortality, and survivorship. The trainee is not required to have previous health disparity or prostate cancer research experience. This option primarily provides salary support for the trainee. An individualized training program in prostate cancer disparities must be described, and may include coursework, laboratory techniques, conferences, seminars, journal clubs, teaching responsibilities, clinical responsibilities, grant writing and/or other activities that will provide the trainee with experience in key areas relevant to the proposed work and foster the trainee’s development as a prostate cancer health disparity researcher. An environment appropriate to the proposed training must be clearly described. Only one traineeship (predoctoral or postdoctoral) may be requested per application. Plans for training and mentorship must be well developed and clearly described by the PI in the application.

Who can apply

• Unrestricted

Contact

CDMRP Help Desk <br/>301-682-5507
help@eBRAP.org