NOT-AI-20-059: Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) regarding the Availability of Emergency Competitive Revisions for Select Research Activities related to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) regarding the Availability of Emergency Competitive Revisions for Select Research Activities related to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Notice Number:

NOT-AI-20-059

Key Dates

Release Date:

July 6, 2020

First Available Due Date:

July 02, 2020

Expiration Date:

July 02, 2021

Related Announcements

PA-20-135 - Emergency Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Awards (Emergency Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional)
NOT-AI-20-034 - Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) regarding the Availability of Emergency Competitive Revisions for Select Research Activities related to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Issued by

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Purpose

NIAID is issuing this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) to highlight very specific and limited needs for Competitive Revision applications to active NIAID grants in order to further build the infrastructure that NIAID needs to support the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) research response. This NOSI replaces NOT-AI-20-034 which was rescinded with this issuance of this Notice.

Background

Coronaviruses are a diverse family of viruses that cause a range of disease in humans and animals. There are currently no approved coronavirus vaccines or therapeutics. In January 2020, a novel coronavirus was identified as the causative agent of a now global pandemic of multi-system illness. Current information regarding confirmed cases is changing daily and can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/index.html) and through other sources. To date, NIAID has launched a wide variety of activities to accelerate efforts to address the challenge of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 by developing vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics; many of these activities are described on the NIAID website.

Research Objectives

NIAID is allowing the submission of applications for Competitive Revisions to active grants to increase and enhance select research efforts to facilitate the Federal SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 research response. Areas of interest are limited to:

Support to BSL3 facilities actively engaged in the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 research response, e.g., equipment sharing arrangements. Applications proposing new construction, alterations and renovations for planned and active BSL3 facilities are not responsive to this NOSI;
Generation of critical reagents to support the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 research response;
Expansion of relevant data systems to expeditiously share SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 research resources with the broad research community; and
Expansion of clinical trial infrastructure, or site preparation, for urgent SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 clinical trial activities. Applications proposing clinical trials are not responsive to this NOSI.

Investigators interested in responding to this NOSI are strongly encouraged to contact the program officers listed below to discuss the proposed project in the context of the parent award and the limited and specific NIAID needs identified above.

Application and Submission Information

Applications in response to this NOSI must be submitted using the following targeted funding opportunity or subsequently reissued equivalent:

PA-20-135; Emergency Competitive Revision to Existing NIH Awards (Emergency Supplement - Clinical Trial Optional), which is intended to provide funds for NIH grantees applying to expand the scope of their active grant.
The funding instrument, or activity code, will be the same as the parent award. All activity codes of currently funded NIAID grants are eligible.

When developing applications in response to this NOSI, all instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and PA-20-135 must be followed, with the following additions:

The Research Strategy section of the application is limited to 6 pages.
The award project period of the Competitive Revision must not exceed two years.
Application budgets should not exceed the annual amount of the current parent award and should reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. Exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Recipients may apply for work that is related to your funded project, whether within the scope or outside of the scope of the current project, regardless of the time remaining on the current project. Grants currently in a no-cost extension are eligible to apply
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis 07/02/2020 to 07/02/2021 through 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization. An application submitted in response to this NOSI that is received after 5:00 PM on 07/02/2021 or later, will not be accepted.
Competitive revision applications to PA-20-135 must use the application form package with the Competition ID that contains “FORMS-F-COMP-REV”.
IMPORTANT: For funding consideration, all applicants must designate “NOT-AI-20-059” (without quotation marks) in the Agency Routing Identifier field (Box 4b) of the SF424 (R&R) Form. Applications without this information in Box 4b will not be considered for this initiative.
Review criteria, in addition to those described in PA-20-135: As applicable for the project proposed, NIH Staff will evaluate the following additional items and their responsiveness to the immediate need to help address a specific, public health crisis in a timely manner in accordance with the associated Emergency Guide Notice but will not give separate scores for these items.
- Does the proposed application address the limited specific needs identified above?
- If the proposed research will generate unique resources or data that may impact the public health response or medical countermeasure development, is the resource sharing plan adequate?

Pre-award costs may be incurred from January 20, 2020 through the public health emergency period and prior to the date of the federal award.

Funds awarded using appropriations provided by the “The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020” and “The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act” will be issued in unique subaccounts in the HHS Payment Management System and will require separate financial reporting from any other funds awarded.

Applications nonresponsive to terms of this NOSI will not be considered for the NOSI initiative.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to the contacts in Section VII of the listed funding opportunity announcements with the following additions/substitutions:

Scientific/Research Contact(s)

Diane Post, Ph.D.
Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Telephone: 240-627-3348
Email: postd@niaid.nih.gov

Halonna Kelly, Ph.D.
Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation (DAIT)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Telephone:240-627-3519
Email: NIAID.SARS2.NOSI@niaid.nih.gov

Martin Gutierrez
Division of AIDS (DAIDS)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Telephone: 240-292-4844
Email: mgutierrez@niaid.nih.gov

Financial/Grants Management Contact(s

Donna R. Sullivan
Grants Management Program, DAIT Coordinator
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Telephone: 240-669-2979
Email: Donna.Sullivan@nih.gov

Vandhana Khurana
Grants Management Program, DMID Coordinator
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Telephone: 240-669-2966
Email: khuranav@niaid.nih.gov

Ann Devine
Grants Management Program, DAIDS Coordinator
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Telephone: 240-669-2988
Email: adevine@niaid.nih.gov