Research Opportunity Announcement: NIH HEAL Initiative Research Dissemination and Engagement Center

The NIH HEAL Initiative® has issued a research opportunity announcement (ROA) for a Research Dissemination and Engagement Center. The ROA includes information about the opportunity, including funding, duration, and core components.

Read the ROA (PDF, 505.01 kb) pdf  505.01 KB

HEAL Research Dissemination and Engagement Center Webinar

Addendums

Addendum No. 1:

For the duration that this research opportunity remains open, the HEAL Initiative will be posting updates, information about upcoming webinar(s) and recordings from past webinar(s), questions received from interested applicants and answers from program staff, and other relevant news and information at Research Opportunity Announcement: NIH HEAL Initiative Research Dissemination and Engagement Center. This page will be updated regularly and as needed. Please continue to check there for further information.

Addendum No. 2

This is Addendum No. 2 to the Research Opportunity Announcement (ROA) OTA-22-005 titled NIH HEAL Initiative Research-Dissemination and Engagement Center (R-DEC).

The purpose of this Addendum is to:

  1. Clarify the Letters of Intent (LOI) response process;
  2. Notify interest applicants of responses to additional questions received; and
  3. Add Appendix A – Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) Template.

Clarifications to ROA No. OTA-22-005 are hereby made as follows:

  1. In regards to the Letter of Intent section (top of page 10 of 15 of the original ROA) the following note now applies:

Note: The Government does not intend to provide technical feedback on LOI submissions.  However, interested applicants will receive notification should the Government determine that the LOI does not meet either the scope or eligibility criteria.

  1. Responses to additional questions received; see Questions received and responses below.
  1. Terms and Conditions Template has been added and is now available as a separate PDF document pdf  506.61 KB*

*This document is in the process of being made Section 508-compliant.

The terms and conditions will serve as a baseline for Other Transactions agreements awarded by the HEAL Initiative Program.  Requests by applicant(s) to modify any of the terms and conditions language will be considered by the Government on a case-by-case basis and negotiated as deemed appropriate.  Failure to reach an agreement within a timeframe identified by the NIH may result in the Government not making an award.

Addendum No. 3

Addendum No. 3 adds responses to additional questions received; see Questions received and responses below.

Addendum No. 4

Addendum No. 4 adds responses to additional questions received; see Questions received and responses below.

Addendum No. 5

Addendum No. 5 clarifies previous responses to questions.

Questions Received and Responses

Questions Received from Interested Applicants

*Please note the final round of questions will be posted the week of July 11, 2022. Please submit questions to [email protected].

Round 5

July 18, 2022

Given the late posting of the clarification in Round 4, Question 1, we will also accept proposals with only a separate pdf of milestones and deliverables.

Round 4

July 15, 2022

  1. Is the Milestones and Deliverables chart included in the 12-page limit for the application?

Yes. Please include the chart in the 12-page proposal. The attachment should be used to provide additional details around each milestone (see details outlined on page 12), including budget justifications.

  1. What is the page limit, if any, for the Information on Select Agents? Do page limits count against the limits for any other components of the application? How should applicants format and submit this section? Is it meant to be a stand-alone piece or part of another section, and if the latter, which?

If applicable, please limit to one page. This does not count against the 12 page limit.

  1. What is the page limit, if any, for the Plan for Authenticating Key Biological and Chemical Resources? Do page limits count against the limits for any other components of the application?& How should applicants format and submit this section? Is it meant to be a stand-alone piece or part of another section, and if the latter, which?

If applicable, please limit to one page. This does not count against the 12 page limit.

  1. I have read and re-read the OTA announcement as well as the draft terms and conditions that were provided. I saw a reference in one of them to 45 CFR 75 which undeniably disallows profit (fee) to be included in the price. I have researched online and found citations that said OTAs do allow fee and it can be negotiated after award. Can you please provide a definite answer to the mystery of profit/fee application to this OTA?

For-Profit Organizations are considered eligible to apply for an award under this ROA. In general, any resultant award will be subject to reimbursement of actual, allowable costs incurred and are expected to align with generally accepted and established federal costs principles for the entity receiving funding, which allows for the possibility on an acceptable fee/profit. All elements of the submitted Budget - including any proposed fee/profit - will be subject to negotiations.

  1. Payment/Gantt chart: What does the NIH want to see for this? If we are submitting a Cost-reimbursement budget, how does the NIH want us to prepare the payment/funding Gannt chart in this instance? Do we need to show breakdown of payment per quarter?  Per milestone? Please clarify.

Applicants should submit a plan and budget details in ways best suited to support their proposed plan and application.

  1. Budget format: Per funding opportunity, Applicants can model their budgets on SF424 budget pages for this section of the application which are available as optional forms in ASSIST or a format that best fits their program. Please note, Assist does not provide us with the option of using the SF424 forms for this submission. Do you recommend we use the SF424 format for the budget attachment? Or our own template?

Applicants may choose which form they use based on what is best suited to their application.

Round 3

June 30, 2022

  1. Do we need to conduct usability testing of the HEAL data ecosystem, or will that be part of a different effort? 

We expect that the successful R-DEC applicant(s) will collaborate closely with other Data Ecosystem awardees to assist with user testing, specifically through connecting different communities and individuals to the Ecosystem to provide input on data sharing and dissemination processes and products.

  1. When does NIA anticipate the HEAL data ecosystem’s website going live? 

The HEAL Data Ecosystem effort has been ongoing for over a year. Please see the content under the "Data" tab on the HEAL Initiative homepage. 

  1. I am interested in potentially partnering with others for this opportunity; would you mind sharing the list of the webinar attendees who might also be interested in partnering up?

Unfortunately, we are unable to share personal contact information directly, but hope to hold additional workshops for partnering as we move forward with R-DEC related efforts.

  1. During the webinar it was mentioned that HEAL-funded research is taking place in all 50 states; could you direct me to where I might find out which HEAL-funded projects are taking place in CA?

Please refer to the HEAL website searchable database for the list of HEAL projects, which can be filtered by State. 

  1. I watched the webinar on the HEAL Engagement ROA and I am wondering if postdoctoral fellows are allowed to apply as the Primary Investigator.

Yes, you are able to apply as the primary investigator, with support of your organization. The applicant organization is responsible for selecting the individuals who have the appropriate expertise to manage the scientific and administrative aspects of the project. The eligibility of these individuals to complete the project will be evaluated during peer review and at the IC level by grants management and program staff.

  1. We read the application to mean that the budget of $25 million is split over four projects. Is this a correct interpretation, or is it $25 million per each of the 4 awards?

We anticipate the entire R-DEC budget will not exceed $25 million over the course of five years, and specific core component budgets will be determined based on the scope of work and proposed project plans of the selected applicants. We encourage applicants to provide clear justifications for the budget requests, including description of milestones and anticipated team members.

Round 2

June 21, 2022

  1. Are there any next steps beyond ‘complete the application’? Is there an opportunity to discuss our program vision to receive formative feedback?

After submitting your LOI, you should ensure that you have access to eRA and will be able to submit your application through ASSIST. The program team is not discussing proposed work with applicants until after applications are submitted and reviewed. Upon review, applicant(s) may be invited into negotiations with the NIH. This invitation does not guarantee award, but will give select applicants the opportunity to discuss proposed work and other aspects of their application. See the "Objective Review" section of the ROA for additional information regarding the review process.

  1. Can NIH please provide insight on an eRA registration timeline? The NIH eRA FAQ page states, “The Applicant organizations must start the registration process at least six weeks before the grant application submission deadline to allow plenty of time to address unforeseen issues along the way,” and we’d like to know if that is NIH’s standard turnaround time. Additionally, is there a way to check if our institution has been successfully registered?

Registration should be completed as quickly as possible. Organization registration can take a minimum of 10 business days or more to complete, but can take up to 6 weeks to troubleshoot issues and ensure access. Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email that you are registered. See page 9 of the ROA for further instructions.

  1. Will an application for OTA-22-005 be allowed/accepted if we have not submitted a Letter of Intent prior to June 13, 2022?

Yes. Please see pages 9 and 10 in the ROA for further information and application submission instructions.

Round 1

June 10, 2022

  1. I would like to confirm if the effort mentioned above considered as new requirement or are there incumbent contract(s)?  If there is an incumbent vendor(s), would you be able to provide the contract details (such as: Vendor Name, Contract Number, Award and end dates, total contract value) please?

The HEAL Research Dissemination and Engagement Center (R-DEC) is a new research opportunity, therefore there are no incumbent awardees. However, the successful applicant will be required to collaborate with other HEAL awardees and should understand the breadth and scope of all HEAL research. Information on HEAL-supported research can be found on the NIH HEAL Initiative website here at Heal Funded Projects.

  1. How will this center will be expected to use/work with data from HEAL studies. Will the center receive data that our team could then re-use for analyses that we would conduct? Or is the center's role more to "spread the word" about the results of analyses of other HEAL projects/groups?

The goal of the R-DEC is to understand the landscape of community engagement already happening in the HEAL initiative and build partnerships with communities that may benefit from HEAL research findings. Additionally, the R-DEC will develop and provide training to HEAL researchers to enhance community engagement as part of their research. This work will advance the overall goal to serve as a central resource towards enhance dissemination.

  1. We are unable to find information on the Informational Webinar. Could you point us to how we can access this tomorrow? Furthermore, is there a way to reach one of the program officers so we can have a discussion on the mechanism itself? We are very interested in this program and potentially submitting a letter of intent.

The HEAL Initiative is not hosting meetings with interested parties regarding this ROA.  Please refer to the webinar recording for useful information on R-DEC. We welcome interested applicants to submit questions to [email protected] so the team can respond in writing.

  1. I only just became aware of this RFA, and so I missed the webinar. Is a copy of it available? Also, is it possible to discuss with someone to get further information?

Please refer to the NIH HEAL Initiative webpage to review the technical webinar recording on the R-DEC page.

  1. Regarding the submission of Letters of Intent, does the required “cover page” count toward the 2-page LOI page limit?

Required cover page will not count towards the 2-page LOI page limit.

  1. The Application section of the ROA includes a partial outline of how the application research plan should be organized. PDF page 11 states that the research plan “should be organized into the following sections to facilitate review.” However, only Section 1: Planned activities and approach and the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information appendix are listed. Does this accurately reflect the organization structure desired in the application research plan, or are there additional sections that should be included in the 12-page research plan?

The application sections to be completed would be dependent on the details of your proposed work.

  1. Can you please clarify the expected allocation of funding by R-DEC Core Component?

We anticipate the entire R-DEC budget will not exceed $25 million over the course of five years, and specific core component budgets will be determined based on the scope of work and proposed project plans of the selected applicants. We encourage applicants to provide clear justifications for the budget requests, including description of milestones and anticipated team members.

  1. Is it required that an offeror’s application be inclusive of support for all three cores (Build and Sustain Community Partnerships, Support HEAL Researchers to Share Research Results, Admin and Project Mgmt), or could an offeror propose for one or two of the cores, given the flexibility of the OT mechanism?

An application does not need to apply for all three core components, but instead may decide to apply to only the component based on their strengths. Applicants may decide to partner with organizations prior to submitting the application to support all three components.

  1. Follow-up on the sub-OT award question.  It sounds like an offeror would be responsible for providing the financial and administrative oversight of potential sub-OT awards and awardees in the future.  In this situation, would the actual sub-award be executed between the TBD sub awardee, or between the TBD sub-awardee and NIH directly? 

The administrative core will be responsible for providing the financial and administrative oversight of potential future sub-OT awards (i.e., with community partner organizations). Sub-award selection will be done in partnership with the NIH, R-DEC leads, and the potentially advisory board(s). Other direct R-DEC awardee(s) will be funded and managed by NIH as part of this OT award, with project administration oversight and support from the administrative core to facilitate success of the project and seamless collaboration.

  1. They will award $25 million total for up to 4 awards that can be up to 5 years each. This means that if they award 4 applicants, each applicant could receive up to ~$6.25 million in funding over a 5 year period (or ~$1.25 million per year for 5 years). This $6.25 million includes direct + indirect costs. –We thought the webinar stated that each grantee could receive $25 million in total costs for the 5 year period.  Can you clarify whether it is $6.25 million per grantee for 5 years or $25 million per grantee for 5 years. 

We anticipate the entire R-DEC budget will not exceed $25 million over the course of five years, and specific core component budgets will be determined based on the scope of work and proposed project plans of the selected applicants. We encourage applicants to provide clear justifications for the budget requests, including description of milestones and anticipated team members.

  1. On page 4 of the announcement, it says that "Applicants to this solicitation must address each component below, either through their own expertise, collaborative applications, or inclusion of plan(s) to formally solicit, identify, and support additional expertise." The components are: (1) Build and Sustain Community Partnerships, (2) Support HEAL Researchers to Meaningfully Share Findings, and (3) Administration and Project Management. My understanding is that each applicant has to address each of these components in their application, rather than pick and choose which components they would like to apply for. This is also mentioned on page 11 of the announcement "Section 1. Planned Activities and Approach. All applications should describe the proposed activities and approaches for each targeted core component."  We thought the webinar said that individuals could pick cores and did not have to address all 3 cores.  Please clarify

An application does not need to apply for all three core components, but instead may decide to apply to only the component based on their strengths. Applicants may decide to partner with organizations prior to submitting the application in order to support all three components.

12.  For the Letters of Intent due on June 13, do I have to have all collaborators on board before I write the letter?

All collaborators do not need to be known to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI).

13.  Is the cover page (page 9 of the ROA, “Letter of Intent”, first bullet) excluded from the two-page limit for the letter of intent?

Required cover page will not count towards the 2-page LOI page limit.