AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)/National Institutes of Health (NIH)/ National Cancer Institute (NCI)

PROGRAM: Cancer Nanotechnology Training Centers (CNTCs) (R25)

OBJECTIVES: This program provides support for the development of Cancer Nanotechnology Training Centers (CNTCs) as a component of the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer (The Alliance) (http://nano.cancer.gov).

To advance the goal of creating a multi-disciplinary workforce, the scope of the proposed research education/training program should encompass pertinent aspects of the medical and biological sciences as well as chemistry, physics and engineering. The proposed CNTCs should target graduate student and post-doctoral researchers of broad backgrounds, spanning all of the mentioned fields. The main thrust of the CNTC research education program should be on the mentored laboratory training program. Participants (graduate student and post-doctoral researchers) should be recruited from diverse academic and clinical disciplines. Individual research experiences under this program can be for a period of up to two years, and may be either full time or part time.

The relevant research education/training program should include a combination of: a) research education through mentored laboratory experience (participation in cancer nanotechnology research projects in laboratories affiliated with the Centers); b) short ad hoc courses/workshops; and c) a complementary outreach component.

Research education activities of CNTCs (including mentored research projects and smaller laboratory training modules) are expected to be relevant to research priority areas that have emerged from the strategic cancer nanotechnology workshops carried out by NCI (http://nano.cancer.gov/meetings_events/Strategic_Workshops_on_Cancer_Nanotechnology_-_CancerRes_final_.pdf). Additional topical areas are also encouraged, providing they fit into the overall goals for the CNTCs and conform to other requirements. Examples of appropriate areas include, but are not limited to: 1) Early diagnosis using in vitro assays and devices; 2) In vivo imaging techniques; 3) Multifunctional nano-therapeutic solutions; 4) Post-therapy monitoring; and 5) Devices and techniques for cancer prevention and control.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS: Applicant institutions may submit only one CNTC application.

DEADLINES:
BU Internal Deadline: November 13, 2009
Letter of Intent (optional): November 17, 2009
Full Proposal: December 17, 2009

FUNDING INFORMATION: This program is supported by the NIH research education grant (R25) award mechanism. The budget for each award should not exceed $400,000 in direct costs per year for five-year duration.

AGENCY CONTACT:
Dr. Piotr Grodzinski
Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives
Office of the Director
National Cancer Institute
31 Center Drive, Room 10A52, MSC 2580
Bethesda, MD 20892-2580
Telephone: (301) 496-1550
Fax: (301) 496-7807
Email: grodzinp@mail.nih.gov
Web: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-CA-09-014.html

INTERNAL REVIEW PROCESS: To screen potential proposals for this competition, an internal deadline has been established. Principal Investigators (PIs) interested in submitting an application should provide the following proposal information to their Associate Dean by Friday, November 13, 2009 for internal review purposes:

1.  Project description (maximum length 5 pages) should include items a – d:

(a) describe the project and its innovative potential; 
(b) outline the scope of the anticipated mentored research education/training
    projects;
(c) briefly describe plans to publicize the proposed Center and disseminate educational
    materials to scientific community and general public
(d) provide a plan for the evaluation of the program.

2. Budget and budget justification (2 pages).

3. Biographical sketches: include NIH format biographical sketch for the PI and senior/key personnel.

4. Review comments from any previous R25 submission.

Following the Dean’s assessment of the internal application, it will be forwarded to Associate Provost Joan Kirkendall for review and then to the Office of the VP for Research for final selection. PIs will be informed if their proposal is selected for submission in time to complete and process their proposal for final review.

REMARKS: NIH requires that applications to this program be submitted electronically through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov).  After submission via Grants.gov, applications will be retrieved and processed by the NIH Commons system (https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/index.jsp). In order to prepare a responsive application, PIs should download both the complete program guidelines (RFA-CA-09-014) and the corresponding application package from Grants.gov as well as the NIH Grants.gov Application Guide (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm). PIs must also be registered Commons users.  For more information about Grants.gov and the NIH Commons, or to register as a Commons user, please contact either Kathleen Foster (kfoster@bu.edu) in the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) at x3-4365. In addition, please contact the OSP Assistant Director assigned to your school or department as soon as possible to coordinate submission through the Grants.gov system.

Complete program guidelines and application material may be obtained from the website listed above or from the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP). Please distribute this notice to any faculty or staff members who might be interested in the information. For more information, please contact the OSP at X3-4365 or ospinfo@bu.edu, or visit the OSP web site at http://www.bu.edu/osp.