Urgent Competitive Revisions to NIGMS Grants to Address the Coronavirus Pandemic

21 comments

We’ve published a notice of special interest (NOSI) (NOT-GM-20-025) to address the urgent need for research on the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We’ll accept competitive revisions (supplements) in three specific scientific areas:

  • Incorporation of data related to SARS-CoV-2 into ongoing research efforts to develop predictive models for the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other related infectious agents (all grant and cooperative agreement activity codes)
  • Repurposing or modification of diagnostic tools currently under development to enable rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection (SBIR/STTR grants only)
  • Rapid development of potential therapeutic agents for COVID-19 (SBIR/STTR grants only)

Please note that applications that aren’t responsive to these three areas will be withdrawn without review.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until February 5, 2021, and will be evaluated quickly by an internal review panel convened by NIGMS staff. In addition to other review criteria, applications will be judged on the urgency, significance, and feasibility of the proposed research.

Awards will be made for 1 year. Competitive revisions to R15, R21, and R00 grants may provide support above the established budget limits for the parent awards.

Investigators interested in applying for competitive revisions in response to this NOSI are strongly encouraged to contact NIGMS staff. For inquiries related to predictive models, contact Daniel Janes. For inquiries related to SBIR/STTR, contact Dmitriy Krepkiy.

21 Replies to “Urgent Competitive Revisions to NIGMS Grants to Address the Coronavirus Pandemic”

  1. Can you clarify what is meant by “competitive revisions (supplements)” ?
    Does a supplement mean that you will only accept ideas from researchers who have a grant now? And presumably that grant’s area of expertise can be unrelated to coronavirus?
    A “revision” suggests that a rejected proposal can be changed to the topic of coronavirus, and re-submitted.
    Where do NEW grant proposals on coronavirus stand with regard to this announcement? If one does not have a current grant, or recently rejected grant, but has coronavirus proposal, is one ineligible?

    1. Competitive revision is the formal name for a competing supplement. Supplements can only be made to grants that are active. PIs with active grants are eligible to submit competitive revisions through the NOSI in the three bulleted research areas above.

      New grant applications for research on coronavirus may be submitted under the parent funding opportunity announcements, such as the Research Project Grant (Parent R01) (PA-19-056).

  2. Are remote monitoring technologies to manage patient health for COVID-19 symptoms eligible (if not a definitive diagnostic)?

  3. I have two questions please.

    1. If we have a GM R01, can we submit a revision request for development of potential therapeutic agents for COVID-19? Or is that opportunity restricted to only SBIR/STTR?

    2. Are there any other supplement or revision opportunities envisioned for GM R01 grantees wrt development of potential therapeutic agents, e.g., entry inhibitors or protease inhibitors, for COVID-19?

    1. In response to your first question, the development of potential therapeutic agents is restricted to SBIR/STTR grants. This is because our goal is to facilitate research that can rapidly translate into results or products with immediate utility, something small businesses are best able to do. As for the second question, these are the only supplement opportunities available for NIGMS grantees.

  4. Dr. Greenberg,
    Does the application have to submitted before the expiration date of a current grant? E.g. our grant expires on 3/31. Would we be eligible to apply for this competitive revision and in what timeframe?
    Thank you.

    1. Your grant must be active at the time of submission. If you submit a competitive revision before the end of the grant period, we would accept it, assuming it addresses the research areas specified in the NOSI. State the current end date for the grant and request the amount of time (up to one year) and funds you will need for the competitive revision project. In the budget justification you must include a request for an extension in time along with the funds.

      1. By “grant must be active” you mean the grantee must have received the Funding Action by the date of submission?

        And how do you define the date of submission? Would that be the official date of the RFA, e.g. June 5th? (We submit many days earlier internally, then our OSP uploads it usually on June 1st to give some days for error checking).

        1. “Grant must be active” means that your institution must have received a Notice of Award from NIH, which demonstrates that the parent grant has started. The date of competitive revision submission must be within a current, or “active,” budget period of the parent grant. The date of submission is the date your institution submits the competitive revision.

  5. We believe that there are specific chemical compounds that are exhibited in the body and breath of an infected subject suffering from a viral infection. This is would be consistent with research and known compounds in Influenza-A, SARS, MERS, West Nile, Dengue Fever, and Rhinovirus. We believe that this extends to COVID-19 as it is a similar viral type.

    We have a breathalyzer with a mass spectrometer that can analyze the metabolic state of an individual. We propose to study the breath profiles of COVID-19, as a means for rapid, non-invasive detection in the field.

  6. Does a Phase II SBIR count as an active grant for purposes of applying for this please? If so which type of grant application would we need to submit in order to add the supplement to the SBIR?

    1. You are eligible to apply for a competitive revision if you have an active Phase II SBIR grant. The NOSI explains the application process.

  7. NOT-GM-20-025 appears to not be available under the PA-18-935 in ASSIST. Do you expect it will be available soon or should the application be submitted using a different mechanism?

    1. The application package is available in both ASSIST and Grants.gov. When applying to NOT-GM-20-025, select the application form package with the Competition ID of “NOT-GM-20-025-FORMS-E.”

  8. Dr. Greenberg,

    Are we expected to write/submit 6 pages of research strategy for this supplement (similar to Phase 1 SBIR)? or a shorter version sufficient for this revision?

    1. Please follow all the instructions in the parent funding opportunity announcement (PA-18-935), which specify the following: All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits for the activity code of the parent award must be followed except where instructed in the Urgent Guide Notice to do otherwise. Note that six pages is the maximum length allowed for the research strategy, although it may be shorter.

  9. For those of us who do not currently have an active NIH grant, is there an expedited mechanism for review? I am looking for an opportunity to build on top of research previously funded by NIH to be able to help in COVID-19 response efforts. However, without an expedited review, the pandemic could be over before I even receive notification regarding scores.

    Thank you!

  10. Does the supplement have to be of the same type as the active parent grant? I have an active R01 grant, can I submit a small business supplement grant in collaboration with a company who works on drug development?

    1. The supplement must be the same activity code as the parent grant. Although you may collaborate with a small business, the supplement would still be to your R01, and you would pay the small business through a subcontract. Please be aware, however, that R01 grants are only eligible for competitive revisions for incorporation of data related to SARS-CoV-2 into ongoing research efforts to develop predictive models for the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other related infectious agents.

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