In Vannevar Bush’s 1945 report Science, the Endless Frontier [PDF], he wrote:

“A nation which depends upon others for its new basic scientific knowl­edge will be slow in its industrial progress and weak in its competitive position in world trade, regardless of its mechanical skill.”

This principle also applies to U.S. states and the academic institutions in them. When resources are limited, organizational leaders are often tempted to focus their research efforts on applied studies that could have short-term payoffs. It’s easy to understand this reasoning because there are often pressing health, social, and economic problems close at hand that are crying out for prompt action. However, economic studies, including a recent paper by Hans Gersbach and colleagues and a 2012 study by Andrew Toole, have indicated that basic research is essential to overall advancement, even on a local level.

We’re pleased to announce the availability of administrative supplements to Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Networks for Clinical and Translational Research (IDeA-CTR) (U54) grants to advance the use of electronic health records (EHR) for clinical and observational research (NOT-GM-23-035). Applications are due May 15.

Submissions may propose activities in one or more of the following areas:

We’re pleased to announce the availability of administrative supplements to Institutional Development Award (IDeA) grants for team science projects (NOT-GM-23-034). The supplements are intended for projects that bring together two or more investigators from IDeA states with different expertise to address complex basic, behavioral, clinical, and/or translational research questions through complementary approaches. The questions shouldn’t duplicate those that researchers are currently pursuing through the parent awards and should clearly benefit from the collective efforts of the collaboration.

Applications are due June 1, 2023.

We’re pleased to announce that the IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) funding opportunity announcement (FOA) (PAR-23-100) has been issued. INBRE funds one statewide network of higher education and research institutions in each Institutional Development Award (IDeA)-eligible state and Puerto Rico to build biomedical research capacity through supporting faculty research and mentoring, student participation in research, and infrastructure enhancements at network institutions.

Application due date: June 26, 2023
Earliest start date: April 2024

We’re pleased to announce that the IDeA Regional Entrepreneurship Development (I-RED) Program (STTR) funding announcement (RFA-GM-22-001) has been issued. The purpose of this initiative is to provide support for eligible small business concerns in each of the IDeA regions (Central, Northeast, Southeast, and West) to develop educational products promoting biomedical entrepreneurship in IDeA-eligible states. These products are expected to help academic institutions in these states translate scientific discoveries and technologies from research laboratories into commercial products.

The application due date is January 5, 2022.

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve published two notices of special interest (NOSI) calling for applications to PAR-19-313, Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) Phase 1 (P20 Clinical Trial Optional), that focus on research on women’s health (NOT-GM-21-056) and data sciences (NOT-GM-21-062).

These NOSIs highlight the Office of Research on Women's Health's interest in supporting a meritorious application on women's health, and the Office of Data Science Strategy’s interest in supporting a meritorious application on data science relevant to biomedical research. Applications for these NOSIs must be submitted in response to and meet all eligibility criteria of PAR-19-313.

We’re pleased to announce a new notice of special interest (NOSI) (NOT-GM-21-050) to address the urgent need for documenting COVID-19-related outcomes of patients, including those suffering from health disparities, which helps foster COVID-19-related clinical research. Competitive revisions to active IDeA-CTR (U54) awards will be considered for the purpose of sustaining and strengthening the IDeA state COVID-19 patient registry, a component of the National COVID Cohort Collaborative.

Applications are due by June 18, 2021. If you have any questions about this NOSI, please contact Hongwei Gao.

We’re pleased to announce the availability of administrative supplements to the Institutional Development Awards (IDeA). We invite eligible investigators to submit proposals in response to the following notices:

We’re pleased to announce the availability of supplements to active INBRE (P20), COBRE (P20, P30), IDeA-CTR (U54), and NARCH (S06) awards to support vaccine hesitancy research relevant to SARS-CoV-2. The supplements are aimed at studying the causes of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy in IDeA states and/or American Indian/Alaska Native communities, and at developing innovative evidence-based interventions to enhance vaccine acceptance with the goal of increased vaccine uptake.

Applications are due by April 30, 2021; see NOT-GM-21-021 for additional details.

If you have any questions about this supplement opportunity, please contact me.

We’re pleased to announce the availability of supplements to active INBRE (P20), COBRE (P20, P30), IDeA-CTR (U54), and NARCH (S06) awards for sequencing-based surveillance studies of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to track variants circulating in communities the IDeA and NARCH programs serve. The supplements will support SARS-CoV-2 viral genome sequencing and analysis studies. Projects are expected to expand on or collaborate with ongoing SARS-CoV-2 testing studies or programs in order to leverage resources and deliver results quickly to help address the urgent challenge.

Applications are due by March 31, 2021; see NOT-GM-21-031 for additional details.

If you have any questions about this supplement opportunity, please contact me.