[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 101 (Wednesday, May 25, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33263-33264]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-12294]


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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 Cancer Institute, the National 
Institutes of Health, 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 March 23, 2016, Vol. 
81, Page 15541 and allowed 60-days for public comment. 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 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), 0925-0720, Expiration Date 5/31/2016--EXTENSION, 
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. Prior approval from 
OMB allowed for extensive surveys and interviews already, and this 
extension is requested to accommodate unforeseen delays in collecting 
the remaining information.
    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 
Acting Director Douglas Lowy 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 233.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Number of    Average burden   Total annual
           Form name                 Type of         Number of     responses per   per response     burden (in
                                   respondents      respondents     respondent      (in hours)        hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interview--IMAT Grantee.......  IMAT Awardees...              18               1               1              18
Web-based Survey--Technology    IMAT Awardees;               379               1           30/60             190
 Grantees.                       Other NIH
                                 Awardees
                                 representing
                                 comparison
                                 group.
Interview--Tech End-Users.....  Technology End-               50               1           30/60              25
                                 Users.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals....................  ................             447             447  ..............             233
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[[Page 33264]]

    Dated: May 19, 2016.
Karla Bailey,
Project Clearance Liaison, National Cancer Institute, NIH.
[FR Doc. 2016-12294 Filed 5-24-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4140-01-P