[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 90 (Thursday, May 9, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31340-31344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-11557]



[[Page 31340]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Program Announcement #02121]


New Investigator Awards for Unintentional, Violence, and Acute 
Care, Disability, and Rehabilitation-Related Prevention Research; 
Notice of Availability of Funds

A. Purpose

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
availability of fiscal year (FY) 2002 funds for an extramural grant 
program for new investigator awards in three research areas; 
unintentional injury prevention, violence-related injury prevention, 
and injury-related acute care and disability. This program addresses 
the ``Healthy People 2010'' focus areas of injury and violence 
prevention.
    The purposes of this program are to:
    1. Encourage researchers from a wide spectrum of disciplines such 
as public health, health care, medicine, criminal justice, and 
behavioral and social sciences to undertake research to prevent and 
control unintentional and violence-related injury and disability.
    2. Support injury research by recent doctoral-level graduates or 
researchers who are redirecting their careers toward injury research.
    3. Build the scientific base for the prevention and control of 
unintentional and violence-related injuries, disabilities, and deaths.
    This program is designed to encourage qualified applicants who are 
beginning or redirecting their career to focus on injury-related 
research. The career development objectives of this program are to 
encourage scientists to develop independent research skills, and to 
gain experience in advanced methods and experimental approaches in 
injury-related research. This program is also intended to jump start 
the careers of researchers in injury prevention by providing support 
for pilot studies, enhancements to existing studies, or other studies 
that will serve as a foundation for a career in injury prevention. 
Applicants are encouraged to seek mentoring or collaboration with more 
senior level injury researchers in their proposed research.

Background and Significance

I. Unintentional Injury Prevention Research
    For the purposes of this program announcement, unintentional 
injuries are defined as unintentional damage to the body resulting from 
acute exposure to thermal, mechanical, electrical, or chemical energy 
or from the absence of such essentials as heat or oxygen. Unintentional 
injuries continue to be a major public health problem. In 1999, nearly 
98,000 people died in the United States as a result of unintentional 
injury. Someone dies in this country every six minutes from causes such 
as motor vehicle crashes, falls, poisonings, drownings, fires and 
burns, pedestrians struck, bicycle crashes, or suffocation. In addition 
to deaths, injuries also constitute a significant cause of both 
permanent and temporary disability. In 2000, unintentional injuries 
resulted in an estimated 29.1 million emergency department visits and 
millions more visits to physicians' offices. Although the greatest cost 
of injury is human suffering, the financial costs also are staggering: 
over 200 billion dollars a year for medical care, wage and productivity 
losses and employer costs in 1998.
II. Violence Related Injury Prevention Research
    Deaths and injuries associated with interpersonal violence and 
suicidal behavior are also a major public health problem in the United 
States and around the world. In 1999, 46,000 people died from homicide 
and suicide in the United States. Among 15 to 24 year olds, homicide 
ranked as the second and the third leading causes of death. Violent 
deaths are the most visible consequence of violent behavior in our 
society. Morbidity associated with physical and emotional injuries and 
disabilities resulting from violence, however, also constitute an 
enormous public health problem. For every homicide that occurs each 
year there are over 100 nonfatal injuries resulting from interpersonal 
violence. For every completed suicide it is estimated that there are 20 
to 25 suicide attempts. The mortality and morbidity resulting from 
violence are associated with a variety of types of violence including 
child maltreatment, youth violence, intimate partner violence, sexual 
violence, elder abuse, and self-directed violence or suicidal behavior.
III. Injury Related Acute Care, Disability, and Rehabilitation
    Each year, Americans make between 30 and 40 million Emergency 
Department (ED) visits for injuries. While most injured patients are 
treated and released, many are admitted to inpatient trauma units and 
later receive rehabilitative services. The most favorable outcomes are 
achieved when acute care and subsequent rehabilitation are as early as 
possible and focus on returning patients to baseline or to an optimal 
level of functioning. Trauma systems are designed to match trauma 
patients with the acute care and rehabilitative facilities they need, 
but in many parts of the U.S. trauma systems are not fully operational 
or are non-existent. Where these systems are lacking, as many as 30 
percent to 40 percent of deaths among trauma patients are due to 
preventable problems in clinical care, including missed diagnoses and 
treatment delays.
    Injuries are a major cause of disabilities in the U.S. Central 
nervous system injuries (those to the brain and spinal cord) are most 
likely to result in serious long-term disability. Each year, an 
estimated 80,000 Americans sustain a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) that 
results in disability; an estimated 5.3 million Americans live with 
TBI-related disability. Although physical impairments from the injury 
may contribute to TBI disability, cognitive deficits are the hallmark, 
frequently resulting in secondary conditions such as depression and 
other adverse outcomes such as the inability to work. An estimated 
177,000 to 200,000 people in the U.S. live with Spinal Cord Injuries 
(SCI), and this number increases annually by as many as 20,000 
individuals.

B. Eligible Applicants

    Eligible institutions include any United States public or private 
universities or colleges, including, but not limited to schools or 
departments of public health, medicine, nursing, criminal justice, or 
the behavioral or social sciences. The performance site must be 
domestic.


    Note: Title 2 of the United States Code section 1611 states that 
an organization described in section 501(C)(4) of the Internal 
Revenue Code that engages in lobbying activities is not eligible to 
receive Federal funds constituting an award, grant or loan.


    Applicants must have a research or a health-professional doctorate-
level degree from an accredited program and have demonstrated the 
capacity or potential for highly productive research in the period 
after the doctorate, commensurate with level of experience. Applicants 
must be within three years of receiving their doctoral or equivalent 
degree or redirecting their research to injury-related research.
    Documentation of such redirection must be included in the 
application. Applicants who have been the principal investigator on a 
Public Health Service (PHS) injury-related research grant or who have 
had equivalent injury-related

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research support from an existing Injury Control Research Center (ICRC) 
are not eligible. Exceptions are researchers who have redirected their 
research areas from one area of injury research, e.g., acute care or 
biomechanics, to another area, e.g., violence prevention research. 
Recipients of dissertation research grants or NIH Small Grant Awards 
are eligible to apply.

C. Availability of Funds

    Approximately $400,000 is expected to be available for up to four 
new investigator awards in FY 2002. It is expected that the awards will 
begin on or about September 30, 2002, and will be made for a 12-month 
budget period within a one-year project period. Grants will be awarded 
for twelve months, but may be extended without additional funds for up 
to a total of 24 months. Grant funds will not be made available to 
support the provision of direct patient care. The maximum funding level 
will not exceed $100,000 (direct and indirect costs). Applications that 
exceed the funding caps noted above will be excluded from the 
competition and returned to the applicant. The availability of Federal 
funding may vary and is subject to change.

Allowable Costs

    Allowable costs include partial salary for the applicant; direct 
research project expenses, such as interviewer costs, data processing, 
payment to participants, statistical consultation services, and 
supplies; and travel to one scientific meeting, if adequately 
justified. No tuition support is allowed. Applicants should include 
travel costs for one, two-day trip to CDC in Atlanta to present 
research findings.

D. Program Requirements

Research Objectives

    For the purpose of this program announcement, the highest priority 
will be given to research that addresses the following themes within 
each of the three broad research areas:
I. Unintentional Injury Prevention Research Priorities
    1. Communications-based research that focuses on learning how to 
encourage practitioners and policy makers to adopt science-based 
programs, policies, laws, and regulations that reduce unintentional 
injuries.
    2. Identifying modifiable human behaviors during a fire and 
evaluating interventions to prevent fire and burn injuries in fire 
emergencies.
    3. Among children, determining the immediate causes of the most 
severe and disabling types of falls, and evaluating interventions that 
prevent serious falls in children.
    4. Behavioral safety interventions that utilize applied behavioral 
analysis and other behavior modification strategies to change injury 
risk behaviors and risk taking of children and young adults.
    5. Developing and evaluating methods to collect participation 
exposure and injury incidence data in sports, recreation (including 
playgrounds), and exercise.
    6. Testing the effectiveness of implementing new innovative 
strategies to reduce alcohol impaired driving.
    7. Evaluating the effectiveness of behavioral and environmental 
interventions to prevent pedestrian injury.
    8. Measuring the efficacy and effectiveness of booster seats in 
reducing child injury or developing and testing interventions to 
increase the proper and consistent use of occupant protection devices 
among child occupants.
    Research that focuses on interventions for unintentional injuries 
in high-risk groups or settings such as with the elderly, young 
children and members of minority groups, or in disadvantaged 
neighborhoods or communities, is especially encouraged.
II. Violence Related Injury Prevention Research
    1. Evaluating strategies for disseminating and implementing 
evidence-based interventions or policies for the prevention of intimate 
partner violence, sexual violence, child maltreatment, youth violence, 
or suicidal behavior.
    2. Evaluating the efficacy and effectiveness of interventions, 
programs, and policies to prevent intimate partner violence, sexual 
violence (includes both sexual violence against adults and child sexual 
abuse), child maltreatment, youth violence, or suicidal behavior.
    3. Identifying common and unique risk and protective factors for 
the perpetration of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child 
maltreatment, youth violence, or suicidal behaviors, and examining the 
relationships among these forms of violence.
III. Injury Related Acute Care, Disability, and Rehabilitation 
Priorities
    1. Evaluating methods of using point-of-care clinical information 
systems to report injuries to public health agencies.
    2. Measuring the benefits and costs of trauma care systems.
    3. Identifying methods and strategies for ensuring that people with 
TBI or SCI receive needed services.
    4. Determining the impact of TBI on special populations.
    Other special conditions for new investigator research grants:
    1. The applicant must be the designated principal investigator. The 
principal investigator must be responsible for planning, directing, and 
executing the proposed project.
    2. The applicant must specify which of the three areas the proposal 
addresses: (1) Unintentional injury; (2) violence-related injury 
research; or (3) injury-related acute care, disability, and 
rehabilitation.
    3. The grant may not be transferred to another institution, except 
under unusual and compelling circumstances (such as if the mentor moves 
to a new institution and both the mentor and the applicant wish to move 
together).
    4. Any publications directly resulting from the grant should be 
reported to the responsible CDC program official. The grantee also must 
cite receiving support from the National Center for Injury Prevention 
and Control, CDC in any publications directly resulting from the new 
investigator grant.

F. Content

Letter of Intent (LOI)

    A LOI is optional for this program. The narrative should be no more 
than two double-spaced pages, printed on one side, with one inch 
margins, and unreduced font. The letter should identify the 
announcement number, the name of the principal investigator, and 
briefly describe the scope and intent of the proposed research work. 
The letter of intent does not influence review of funding decisions, 
but the number of letters received will enable CDC to plan the review 
more effectively and efficiently.

Application

    Use the information in the Program Requirements and Evaluation 
Criteria sections to develop the application content. Your application 
will be evaluated on the criteria listed, so it is important to follow 
them in laying out your program plan. The narrative portion of the 
application must not exceed 25 pages.
    Applications should follow the PHS-398 (Rev. 5/2001) application 
and Errata sheet and should include the following information:
    1. The project's focus that justifies the research needs and 
describes the scientific basis for the research, the expected outcome, 
and the relevance of

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the findings to reduce injury morbidity, mortality, disability, and 
economic losses.
    2. Specific, measurable, and time-framed objectives.
    3. A detailed plan describing the methods that will achieve the 
objectives, including their sequence.
    4. A description of the roles and responsibilities of the principal 
investigator and mentor, where appropriate.
    5. A description of all project staff regardless of their funding 
sources. It should include their title, qualifications, experience, 
percentage of time each will devote to the project, as well as that 
portion of their salary to be paid by the grant.
    6. A description of those activities related to, but not supported 
by the grant.
    7. A description of the involvement of other entities that will 
relate to the proposed project, if applicable. It should include 
letters of organizational commitments of support and a clear statement 
of their roles.
    8. A detailed budget for the grant.
    9. An explanation of how the research findings will contribute to 
the national effort to reduce the morbidity, mortality and disability 
caused by injuries.
    Additional materials required:
    In addition to the completed PHS 398 application form, the 
applicant must also submit the following materials, attached to the 
application as appendices:
    1. An official transcript of the applicant's graduate school 
record, if within the last three years.
    2. When relevant, documentation showing the researcher has 
redirected his or her career within the last three years.
    3. An overview of the applicant's prior research training and 
experience, including a statement of the applicant's short-term and 
long-term research and career goals and intended career trajectory.
    4. Where appropriate, a letter from the applicant's mentor or 
scientific collaborator that outlines the proposed plan for providing 
scientific advice and consultation to the applicant during the grant 
period and a biography of the mentor or senior-level collaborator, 
limited to two pages (use the Biographical Sketch page in application 
form PHS 398).

G. Submission and Deadline

Letter of Intent

    On or before June 1, 2002, submit the LOI to the Grants Management 
Specialist identified in the Where to Obtain Additional Information 
section of this announcement.

Application

    Submit the original and five copies of PHS 398 (OMB Number 0925-
0001) (adhere to the instructions on the Errata Instruction sheet for 
PHS 398). Forms are in the application kit and at the following 
Internet address: www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/forminfo.htm.
    On or before 5 p.m. Eastern time on June 24, 2002, submit the 
application to: Technical Information Management-PA02121, Procurement 
and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2920 
Brandywine Rd, Room 3000, Atlanta, GA 30341-4146.

Deadlines

    Applications shall be considered as meeting the deadline if they 
are received before 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the deadline date. 
Applicants sending applications by the United States Postal Service or 
commercial delivery services must ensure that the carrier will be able 
to guarantee delivery of the application by the closing date and time. 
If an application is received after closing due to (1) carrier error, 
when the carrier accepted the package with the guarantee for delivery 
by the closing date and time, or (2) significant weather delays or 
natural disasters, CDC will upon receipt of proper documentation, 
consider the application as having been received by the deadline.
    Applications which do not meet the above-criteria, will not be 
eligible for competition and will be discarded.
    Applicants will be notified of their failure to meet the submission 
requirements.

H. Evaluation Criteria

    Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed by CDC staff for 
completeness, responsiveness, and eligibility as outlined under the 
Eligible Applicants Section. Incomplete applications and applications 
that are not responsive will be returned to the applicant without 
further consideration. It is especially important that the applicant's 
abstract reflects the project's focus, because the abstract will be 
used to help determine the responsiveness of the application.
    Applications which are complete and responsive may be subjected to 
a preliminary evaluation (triage) by a Special Emphasis Panel (SEP) to 
determine if the application is of sufficient technical and scientific 
merit to warrant further review by the panel; CDC will withdraw from 
further consideration applications judged to be non-competitive and 
promptly notify the principal investigator and the official signing for 
the applicant organization. Those applications judged to be competitive 
will be reviewed by the SEP and the secondary review group.
    Awards will be determined by the Director of the NCIPC based on 
priority scores assigned to applications by the primary review 
committee (SEP), recommendations by the secondary review committee, the 
Advisory Committee for Injury Prevention and Control (ACIPC), 
consultation with NCIPC senior staff, and the availability of funds.
    1. The primary review will be a peer review conducted by the SEP. 
All applications will be reviewed for scientific merit by a committee 
of no less than three reviewers with appropriate expertise using 
current National Institutes of Health (NIH) criteria to evaluate the 
methods and scientific quality of the application. Factors to be 
considered will include:
    a. Significance. Does this study address an important problem? If 
the aims of the application are achieved, how will scientific knowledge 
be advanced?
    b. Approach. Are the conceptual framework, design, methods, and 
analyses adequately developed, well-integrated, and appropriate to the 
aims of the project? does the applicant acknowledge potential problem 
areas and consider alternative tactics?
    c. Innovation. Does the project employ novel concepts, approaches 
or methods? Are the aims original and innovative? Does the project 
challenge or advance existing paradigms, or develop new methodologies 
or technologies?
    d. Investigator. Is the principal investigator appropriately 
trained and well suited to carry out this work? Is the proposed work 
appropriate to the experience level of the principal investigator? Is 
the name and role of a scientific mentor or collaborator described?
    e. Environment. Does the scientific environment in which the work 
will be done contribute to the probability of success? Is there 
evidence of institutional support?
    f. Ethical Issues. What provisions have been made for the 
protection of human subjects and the safety of the research 
environments? Where relevant, how does the applicant plan to handle 
issues of confidentiality and compliance with mandated reporting 
requirements, e.g., suspected child abuse? Does the application 
adequately address the requirements of 45 CFR part 46 for the 
protection of human subjects? (An application can be disapproved if the

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research risks are sufficiently serious and protection against risks is 
so inadequate as to make the entire application unacceptable.) The 
degree to which the applicant has met the CDC Policy requirements 
regarding the inclusion of women, ethnic, and racial groups in the 
proposed research. This includes:
    (1) The proposed plan for the inclusion of both sexes and racial 
and ethnic minority populations for appropriate representation.
    (2) The proposed justification when representation is limited or 
absent.
    (3) A statement as to whether the design of the study is adequate 
to measure differences when warranted.
    (4) A statement as to whether the plans for recruitment and 
outreach for study participants include the process of establishing 
partnerships with community(ies) and recognition of mutual benefits.
    g. Study Samples. Are the samples sufficiently rigorously defined 
to permit complete independent replication at another site? Have the 
referral sources been described, including the definitions and 
criteria? What plans have been made to include women and minorities, 
and their subgroups as appropriate for the scientific goals of the 
research? How will the applicant deal with recruitment and retention of 
subjects?
    h. Dissemination. What plans have been articulated for 
disseminating findings?
    The SEP will also examine the appropriateness of the proposed 
project budget and duration in relation to the proposed research and 
the availability of data required for the project.
    2. The secondary review will be conducted by the Science and 
Program Review Subcommittee (SPRS) of the Advisory Committee for Injury 
Prevention and Control (ACIPC). The ACIPC Federal ex officio members 
will be invited to attend the secondary review, will receive modified 
briefing books, (i.e., abstracts, strengths and weaknesses from summary 
statements, and project officer's briefing materials). Federal ex 
officio members will be encouraged to participate in deliberations when 
proposals address overlapping areas of research interest so that 
unwarranted duplication in federally funded research can be avoided and 
special subject area expertise can be shared. The NCIPC Division 
Associate Directors for Science (ADS) or their designees will attend 
the secondary review in a similar capacity as the Federal ex officio 
members. Only SPRS members will vote on funding recommendations, and 
their recommendations will be carried to the entire ACIPC for voting by 
the ACIPC members in closed session. If any further review is needed by 
the ACIPC, regarding the recommendations of the SPRS, the factors 
considered will be the same as the factors that the SPRS considered.
    The committee's responsibility is to develop funding 
recommendations for the NCIPC Director based on the results of the 
primary review, the relevance and balance of proposed research relative 
to the NCIPC programs and priorities, and to assure that unwarranted 
duplication of federally funded research does not occur. The Secondary 
Review Committee has the latitude to recommend to the NCIPC Director, 
to reach over better-ranked proposals in order to assure maximal impact 
and balance of proposed research. The factors to be considered will 
include:
    a. The results of the primary review including the application's 
priority score as the primary factor in the selection process.
    b. The relevance and balance of proposed research relative to the 
NCIPC programs and priorities.
    c. The significance of the proposed activities in relation to the 
priorities and objectives stated in ``Healthy People 2010'' and the 
Institute of Medicine report, ``Reducing the Burden of Injury.''

I. Other Requirements

Technical Reporting Requirements

    Grantees must provide CDC with an original plus two copies of:
    1. An annual progress report.
    2. A financial status report, no more than 90 days after the end of 
the budget period.
    3. A final financial report and performance report, no more than 90 
days after the end of the project period.
    4. At the completion of the project, the grant recipient will 
submit a brief (2,500 to 4,000 words written in non-scientific 
(laymen's) terms) summary highlighting the findings and their 
implications for injury prevention programs, policies, environmental 
changes, etc. The grant recipient will also include a description of 
the dissemination plan for research findings. This plan will include 
publications in peer-reviewed journals and ways in which research 
findings will be made available to stakeholders outside of academia, 
(e.g., state injury prevention program staff, community groups, public 
health injury prevention practitioners, and others). CDC will place the 
summary report and each grant recipient's final report with the 
National Technical Information Service (NTIS) to further the agency's 
efforts to make the information more available and accessible to the 
public.
    Send all reports to the Grants Management Specialist identified in 
the Where to Obtain Additional Information section of this 
announcement.
    The following additional requirements are applicable to this 
program. For a complete description of each, see Attachment 1 in the 
application kit.

AR-1  Human Subjects Certification
AR-2  Requirements for inclusion of Women and Racial and Ethnic 
Minorities in Research
AR-3  Animal Subjects Requirements
AR-9  Paperwork Reduction Requirements
AR-10  Smoke-Free Workplace Requirement
AR-11  Healthy People 2010
AR-12  Lobbying Restrictions
AR-13  Prohibition on Use of CDC funds for Certain Gun Control 
Activities
AR-21  Small, Minority, and Women-owned Business
AR-22  Research Integrity

J. Authority and Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number

    This program is authorized under section 301(a) (42 U.S.C. 2412(a)) 
of the Public Health Service Act and section 391(a)(42 U.S.C. 280(b)) 
of the Public Service Health Act, as amended. The catalog of Federal 
Domestic Assistance number is 93.136.

K. Where To Obtain Additional Information

    This and other CDC announcements can be found on the CDC homepage 
on the Internet. The address for the CDC homepage is http://www.cdc.gov. Click on ``Funding'' then ``Grants and Cooperative 
Agreements.''
    To receive additional written information and to request an 
application kit, call 1-888-GRANTS4 (1-888-472-6874). You will be asked 
to leave your name and address and will be instructed to identify the 
Announcement number of interest.
    If you have questions after reviewing the contents of all the 
documents, business management technical assistance may be obtained 
from: Nancy Pillar, Grants Management Specialist, Grants Management 
Branch, Procurement and Grants Office, Program Announcement #02121, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2920 Brandywine Road, 
Room 3000, Atlanta, Georgia 30341. Telephone: (770) 488-2721. Internet 
address: [email protected].
    For program technical assistance, contact:

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I. For Unintentional Injury Prevention Research

    David Sleet, PhD, Associate Director for Science, Division of 
Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention 
and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 4770 
Buford Highway, NE, Mail Stop K-63, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724. Telephone: 
(770) 488-4699. Internet address: [email protected].

II. For Violence Related Injury Prevention Research

    Jim Mercy, PhD, Associate Director for Science, Division of 
Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 4770 Buford Highway, 
NE, Mail Stop K-60, Atlanta, GA 30341-4723. Telephone: (770) 488-4699. 
Internet Address: [email protected].

III. For Injury Related Acute Care, Disability, and Rehabilitation

    Richard Sattin, MD, Associate Director for Science, Division of 
Injury Disability Outcomes and Programs, National Center for Injury 
Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
(CDC), 4770 Buford Highway, NE, Mail Stop K-58, Atlanta, GA 30341-4723. 
Telephone: (770) 488-4330. Internet address: [email protected].

    Dated: May 3, 2002.
Sandra R. Manning,
Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 02-11557 Filed 5-8-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-M