[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 165 (Friday, August 25, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50434-50435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-14109]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration


National Center for Natural Products Research, University of 
Mississippi; Single Source Cooperative Agreement; Catalog of Federal 
Domestic Assistance Number 93.103; Request for Application

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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I. Funding Opportunity Description

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing its intention 
to receive and consider a single source competing continuation 
application for the award of a cooperative agreement in fiscal year (FY 
2006) to the University of Mississippi (UM) to support the National 
Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR), which is located on UM's 
Campus at Oxford, MS, for up to $2.3 million for FY06 (direct plus 
indirect costs combined), the total amount being subject to annual 
budget appropriations. The funds will provide additional support to the 
UM's NCNPR for the purpose of promoting more efficient development and 
dissemination of natural products research and science and will 
complement the diverse activities of both the public and private 
sectors that may become collaborators.
    Subject to the availability of Federal funds and successful 
performance, 4 additional years of support will be available. FDA will 
support the research covered by this notice under the authority of 
section 301 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 241). 
FDA's research program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance No.93.103. Before entering into cooperative agreements, FDA 
carefully considers the benefits such agreements will provide to the 
public.

II. Eligibility Information

    FDA believes that there is compelling evidence that UM is uniquely 
qualified to fulfill the objectives of the proposed cooperative 
agreement. UM is a comprehensive research institution with numerous 
academic programs relevant to FDA's mission and the resources to 
support the Center for Food Safety and Nutrition's (CFSAN's) areas of 
interest.
    NCNPR, which opened in July 1995, is a division of the Research 
Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of UM's School of Pharmacy. NCNPR 
was created to bring together an alliance of academia, government, and 
industry to integrate research, development, and commercialization of 
potentially useful natural products.
    The goal of NCNPR in botanical dietary supplements is to enable 
safe, effective, and proper use of high quality botanical products by 
informed professionals and consumers. NCNPR conducts basic and applied 
multidisciplinary research to discover and develop natural products for 
use as dietary supplements. NCNPR also maintains a repository of 
several thousand natural product extracts that are available for 
screening by collaborators working in other areas.
    NCNPR has substantial expertise to carry forward specific 
discoveries, products, and technologies. Most of the projects to 
develop promising high priority products or technology are conducted in 
collaboration with industrial partners or through externally funded 
grants and contract. NCNPR is staffed with a highly synergistic mix of 
full-time research faculty and support staff and employs a number of 
undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral scientists. 
Together, the faculty, scientists, staff, students, and external 
collaborators, provide the human resources required to accomplish the 
research and development goals of NCNPR.
    Collaboration between the public and private sector is an efficient 
means for both FDA and the University to remain current with scientific 
and technical accomplishments from a natural products research 
perspective. Harmonizing research activities is but one example of the 
need for and use of this natural products research knowledge and 
expertise. The partnership between FDA and UM will provide both the 
technical and educational expertise necessary for effective mechanisms 
that will facilitate the movement of new technology and provide direct 
usefulness to FDA's scientific and enforcement initiatives.
    As of October 1, 2003, applicants are required to have a Dun and 
Bradstreet Number (DUNS) to apply for a grant or cooperative agreement 
from the Federal Government. The DUNS number is a 9-digit 
identification number, which uniquely identifies business entities. 
Obtaining a DUNS number is easy and there is no charge. To obtain a 
DUNS number, applicants should go to http://www.grants.gov/RequestaDUNS 
or call 1-866-705-5711. (FDA has verified the Web site address, but FDA 
is not responsible for any subsequent changes to the Web site after 
this document publishes in the Federal Register.)

III. Application and Submission

    To comply with the President's Management Agenda, HHS is 
participating as a partner in the new government-wide Grants.gov Web 
site. Users of Grants.gov will be able to download a copy of the 
application package, complete it offline, and then upload and submit 
the application via the Grants.gov Web site. We encourage applicant 
submission through Grants.gov. If submitted other than electronically, 
please contact Gladys M. Bohler for guidance (see contact

[[Page 50435]]

information in the paragraph that follows).
    For further information contact Gladys M. Bohler, Grants Management 
Specialist, Division of Contracts and Grants Management (HFA-500), Food 
and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-
827-7168, e-mail: [email protected]. A copy of the 
complete Request for Applications (RFA) can also be viewed on FDA's 
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Web site at http://www.foodsafety.gov/nfsg/fsggrant.html(FDA has verified the Web site and 
its address but we are not responsible for changes to the Web site or 
its address after this document publishes in the Federal Register.)

IV. Submission Dates and Times

    The application receipt date is September 25, 2006. The application 
will be accepted from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday until 
the established receipt date. The application will be considered 
received on time if hand delivered to the address noted previously (see 
section III of this document) before the established receipt date, or 
sent or mailed by the receipt date as shown by a legible U.S. Postal 
Service dated postmark or a legible dated receipt from a commercial 
carrier. Private metered postmarks shall not be acceptable as proof of 
timely mailing. If not received on time the application will not be 
considered for review and will be returned to the applicant. 
(Applicants should note the U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly 
provide dated postmarks. Before relying on this method, applicants 
should check with their local post office). Please do not send 
applications to the Center for Scientific Research (CSR) at the 
National Institutes of Health (NIH). Any application sent to NIH/CSR 
that is forwarded to the FDA Grants Management Office and not received 
in time for orderly processing will be judged non-responsive and 
returned to the applicant. Currently, FDA is unable to receive 
applications electronically. The applicant is advised that FDA does not 
adhere to the page limitations or the type size and line spacing 
requirements imposed by NIH for its applications.

    Dated: August 18, 2006.
Jeffrey Shuren,
Assistant Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. E6-14109 Filed 8-24-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-01-S