[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 45 (Monday, March 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12487-12488]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05298]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Submission for OMB Review; 30-Day Comment Request Surveys and 
Interviews To Support an Evaluation of the Innovative Molecular 
Analysis Technologies (IMAT) Program (NCI)

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for 
review and approval of the information collection listed below. This 
proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal 
Register on December 4, 2014, Vol. 79, Page 72004 and allowed 60-days 
for public comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of 
this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment. The 
National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health, may not 
conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, 
an

[[Page 12488]]

information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented 
on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB 
control number.
    Direct Comments to OMB: Written comments and/or suggestions 
regarding the item(s) contained in this notice, especially regarding 
the estimated public burden and associated response time, should be 
directed to the: Office of Management and Budget, Office of Regulatory 
Affairs, [email protected] or by fax to 202-395-6974, 
Attention: NIH Desk Officer.
    Comment Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection 
are best assured of having their full effect if received within 30-days 
of the date of this publication.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain a copy of the data 
collection plans and instruments or request more information on the 
proposed project contact: Anthony Dickherber, NCI Center for Strategic 
Scientific Initiatives, 31 Center Drive, Rm10A33, Bethesda, MD 20892 or 
call non-toll-free number 301-547-9980 or Email your request, including 
your address to: [email protected]. Formal requests for 
additional plans and instruments must be requested in writing.
    Proposed Collection: Surveys and Interviews to Support an 
Evaluation of the Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) 
Program (NCI), 0925-NEW, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National 
Institutes of Health (NIH).
    Need and Use of Information Collection: The purpose of the proposed 
evaluation is to pursue a comprehensive process and outcome assessment 
of the 15-year old Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) 
program. While the program consistently offers promising indicators of 
success, the full program has not been evaluated since 2008, and never 
in as comprehensive a manner as has been formulated in the current 
evaluation plan. An outcome evaluation of the long-standing National 
Cancer Institute's (NCI) IMAT program presents a rich and unique 
opportunity likely to serve institutes across the National Institutes 
of Health (NIH), and perhaps other federal agencies, considering the 
costs and benefits of directing resources towards supporting technology 
development. An award through the NIH Evaluation Set-Aside program to 
support this evaluation, for which NIH-wide relevance is a principle 
element of determining merit for support, is testament to this. The 
evaluation serves as an opportunity to gauge the impact of investments 
in technology development and also to assess the strengths and 
weaknesses of phased innovation award mechanisms.
    Like all institutes and centers (ICs) of the NIH, NCI seeks 
opportunities for improving their programs' utility for the broad 
continuum of researchers, clinicians and ultimately patients. NCI 
Director Harold Varmus and other leadership across NCI, as well as the 
NCI Board of Scientific Advisors, will be the primary users of the 
evaluation results. Findings are primarily intended for considering the 
long-term strategy to support innovative technology development and how 
to more efficiently translate emerging capabilities through such 
technologies into the promised benefits for cancer research and 
clinical care. Interviews with grantees, program officers, review 
officers, and other NIH awardees make up a crucial component of the 
evaluation plan and will largely follow set survey protocols. Specific 
near-term aims include the use of this information to consider the 
utility of continued investment through existing solicitations and in 
strategic planning generally for institute support for innovative 
technology development.
    OMB approval is requested for 1 year. There are no costs to 
respondents other than their time. The total estimated annualized 
burden hours are 575.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                          Average       Total
                                                            Number of      Number of     burden per     annual
             Form name               Type of respondents   respondents   responses per    response    burden (in
                                                                          respondent     (in hours)     hours)
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IMAT Awardee Interview............  IMAT Awardees........          100               1            1          100
Evaluation Web-based Survey.......  IMAT Applicants and            900               1        30/60          450
                                     Other NIH Awardees.
Tech End Users Interview..........  Technology End-Users.           50               1        30/60           25
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    Dated: February 23, 2015.
Karla Bailey,
NCI Project Clearance Liaison, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2015-05298 Filed 3-6-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4140-01-P