Tag: Biomedical Technology

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Request for Information: Expanding the Technology Scope of NIGMS Resource and Centers Programs

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UPDATE: The deadline to respond to this RFI has been extended to October 15. See NOT-GM-24-059 for details.

NIGMS supports National and Regional Resources (NRRs) that provide biomedical researchers with access to mature technologies and Biomedical Technology Optimization and Dissemination (BTOD) Centers that optimize and disseminate late-stage technologies for the research community to use. The NRR-associated mature technologies are ready for researchers’ immediate use without further development. By contrast, the late-stage technologies supported by BTOD Centers require optimization prior to dissemination to the biomedical research community.

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Webinar for Biomedical Technology Optimization and Dissemination Center Program Applicants

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UPDATE: The video and slides [PDF] for this webinar are now available.

Are you interested in submitting a grant application for the Biomedical Technology Optimization and Dissemination Center (BTOD) program (PAR-23-110)? If so, please join our informational webinar to learn more about the program and application components and to ask questions:

Wednesday, September 27, 4:00-5:30 p.m. ET 
Zoom meeting registration link

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Funding Opportunity: Biomedical Technology Optimization and Dissemination Program

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UPDATE: The webinar video and slides [PDF] are now available.

We’re pleased to share the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for our biomedical technology optimization and dissemination (BTOD) centers (RM1) (PAR-23-110). The goals of the BTOD centers are to optimize state-of-the-art, NIGMS mission-relevant, late-stage technologies, and to disseminate these technologies to both experts and nonexperts in biomedical research for their broad use. A BTOD center may focus on optimizing a single technology or multiple integrated technologies. Community engagement activities should result in broad dissemination of the optimized technologies for the research community’s sustainable use.

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NIGMS Funding Opportunities for Technology Development and Upcoming Webinar

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UPDATE: The video for this webinar are now available.

We’re pleased to share that NIGMS has reissued two funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) for our technology development program. Both FOAs support the development of novel technologies with the potential for broad utility in biomedical research. They are:

Technology Development Research for Establishing Feasibility and Proof of Concept (R21)
PAR-22-126

Applications to this FOA should propose technology development at a conceptual stage, not yet supported by any proof-of-concept-data, in order to demonstrate feasibility of the proposed technology and/or establish the most likely path to successful development. When compared to current state-of-the-art technology, the proposed concept should lead to a technological breakthrough or a significant advance in current biomedical research or approaches.

First application receipt date: June 16

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Funding Opportunity: NIGMS Technology Research and Development

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UPDATE: The slides [PDF, 1.42MB] and video Link to external web site from the R01/R21 Webinar have been posted.

We’ve just re-issued two funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) for technology research and development grants that support biomedical research areas within the NIGMS mission.

They are:

Exploratory Research for Technology Development (R21)
PAR-19-254
Two-year grants that support innovative, high-risk concepts for developing a new technology or radically improving an existing one. The R21 supports only novel concepts that haven’t yet been tested for feasibility. Thus, unpublished data are not allowed. Because proof of concept must not already be developed, NIGMS expects the projects to be high risk.

Next application receipt date: June 16, 2019


Focused Technology Research and Development (R01)
PAR-19-253
Four-year grants that support development projects to validate and optimize a new technology. The R01 is for technologies that already have been shown to be feasible but need further technical work to produce a useful prototype. Projects with partial demonstration of feasibility but with substantial risk remaining could be submitted as a 3-year R01 with a reduced budget under this FOA.

Next application receipt date: June 5, 2019

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New Program Announcements for Biomedical Technology Research Resources

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I would like to call your attention to two program announcements recently published in the NIH Guide:

These announcements provide updated instructions for both pre-applications and full applications for Biomedical Technology Research Resource (BTRR) grants. The BTRR program supports development and dissemination of advanced technologies that enable biomedical research The BTRR centers create a wide range of technologies and work with thousands of NIH-supported investigators each year.

The X02 pre-application is strongly recommended. The pre-application provides an opportunity for prospective applicants to receive feedback from both peer reviewers and NIGMS program staff as they formulate their plans for a complex, lengthy proposal for a P41 grant.

Following an evaluation in 2016, we have revised the BTRR program, while preserving the fundamental mission of developing and providing access to advanced technologies. Susan Gregurick, director of our Biomedical Technology, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology Division, presented on the evaluation and proposed program changes at the September 2016 NIGMS Advisory Council meeting.

Revisions to the program have changed the structure of a BTRR to give the investigators who run the centers more flexibility in how technologies are shared with the community. A new feature, “Technology Development Partnerships,” will enable centers to rapidly adopt and incorporate emerging technologies developed elsewhere that advance a BTRR’s overall mission, rather than focus entirely on technologies developed “in-house.”

The program also will provide investigators with greater flexibility to tailor a center’s approach to technology innovation, user access and training, and dissemination according to the specific technologies being developed and communities being served. At the same time, the program will place a greater emphasis on actively moving technologies out of the BTRR and into the wider community as quickly as possible. We anticipate that most BTRR centers will not be funded beyond three cycles (15 years), and we will require investigators involved with this program to formulate a sustainability plan for their research resources.

The submission date for the first round of X02 pre-applications is August 15, 2017. Future submission dates will follow a regular schedule, occurring twice per year in March and July. That timing allows nine months from submission of the X02 until the anticipated submission of a resulting full application in January or May, respectively.

The next submission date for full applications for a P41 BTRR is September 25, 2017. This is the only submission date for funding in Fiscal Year 2018. In future years, applications will be accepted twice per year, in January and May, with no September submission. To improve consistency in the review of competing applications, the NIH Center for Scientific Review will convene a special study section to review all NIGMS P41 BTRR applications together. There will be no site visits.

NIGMS also supports technology development through several other programs. To help investigators determine which technology development program is right for their project, we’ve posted a decision tree on the NIGMS website. It includes descriptions of the programs designed to support specific stages of technology development.

I welcome questions or comments about these FOAs or our technology development programs in general.

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New NIGMS Technology Development Program Announcements

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We would like to tell you about two new technology development funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) recently published in the NIH Guide. We previously wrote about the approval of these programs by our Advisory Council. They are part of an ongoing effort to facilitate early stage, investigator-initiated work to create or improve tools for biomedical research. We think the two FOAs briefly described below will stimulate early stage technology research and development by allowing scientists to focus on making the technology work before they begin to apply those tools to biomedical research questions.

Exploratory Research for Technology Development (PAR-17-046): This program will support modest 2-year R21 grants to develop a new technology or radically improve an existing one. Projects will be high-risk and have no preliminary data. The proposed technology should be justified by a significant biomedical research need, but the proposal should not include the application of the technology to a biomedical problem—it should focus on technology development.

Focused Technology Research and Development (PAR-17-045): This program will support R01 grants that are entirely focused on the development of an emerging technology with a strong potential to impact biomedical research. The program will not allow inclusion of a significant biomedical research problem because the technology will not be ready for that until the project is over. These grants will be renewable only once.

The deadline for the first round of applications is February 16, 2017.

To help investigators determine which technology development program is right for their project, we’ve posted a decision tree on the NIGMS website. It includes descriptions of the programs designed to support all stages of technology development.

We welcome questions or comments about these FOAs or our technology development programs in general.

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Early Notice: Revised Biomedical Technology Research Resources Program

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BTRR September 2016 Advisory Council Presentation

My BTRR presentation at the September 2016 Advisory Council meeting begins at 2:23:15.

At its September 2016 meeting, our Advisory Council endorsed a concept for funding the Biomedical Technology Research Resources (BTRR) program. The concept includes a number of changes that reflect feedback from an expert panel of scientists convened by NIGMS to evaluate the program. In its report, the panel made important recommendations to:

  • Increase the flexibility and nimbleness of the program.
  • Incorporate a broader range of technologies into the program.
  • Increase new research directions and program turnover and implement a comparative review process.
  • Enable better integration of the program with the overall technology development plans at NIGMS.

The revised BTRR program will provide greater flexibility for the investigators to support a wider range of approaches for technology innovation and dissemination. The program will include collaborative subprojects to integrate emerging technologies in fast moving fields and to provide access and dissemination of these technologies. In addition, research resources funded through this program will have greater flexibility to tailor approaches for providing access, training users and disseminating the specific technologies to the communities being served.

These changes will better support the dual mission of the BTRR program: to develop high-impact technologies that enable biomedical research, and to move those technologies into wide use in the community.

We expect a funding opportunity announcement to be published in the NIH Guide later this year. In order to improve consistency in the review of competing applications, the NIH Center for Scientific Review will convene a special study section. We anticipate that most BTRR centers will not be renewed beyond three cycles (15 years) and we will require investigators involved with this program to formulate a sustainability plan for their research resources.

We welcome your input and feedback. You can email your comments to me or post them here.

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Give Input on the Support of Biomedical Research Resources

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NIGMS is considering how best to support two important activities: the development of biomedical technologies and access to those technologies as they become research resources. These topics are closely related, but there are aspects of each that should be explored independently.

Last summer, the Institute issued a request for information (RFI) on the support of biomedical technology development. The responses we received contributed significantly to initiatives for exploratory and focused technology development to be launched later this year. We now request your input in response to a new RFI on the need for and support of research resources (NOT-GM-16-103).

We’d like to know your thoughts on a number of topics, including:

  • The appropriateness and usefulness of existing research resources to the biomedical research community.
  • Examples of unmet needs for research resources.
  • The relative value of resources that serve many investigators versus specialized resources used by fewer investigators.
  • The value and manner of coupling technology development to research resources.
  • The review of research resource applications and the evaluation of funded projects.
  • The role of academia, other biomedical institutions and industry in developing and providing access to research resources.
  • The role of investigators and user fees in supporting institutional, regional and national resources.
  • The role of NIGMS in supporting research resources and technology development at various levels.

We also welcome any other comments that you feel are relevant to supporting research resources.

To respond to this RFI, send an email to nigmsresource@mail.nih.gov by June 3, 2016.

If you have any questions about the RFI, please let us know.

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New NIGMS Initiatives for Supporting Technology Development

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The January 2016 Advisory Council meeting presentation on the initiatives begins at 1:14:43

The January 2016 Advisory Council meeting presentation on the initiatives begins at 1:14:43.

We would like to tell you about two new technology development initiatives recently approved by our Advisory Council. These programs are part of an ongoing effort that we’ve previously described to facilitate early stage, investigator-initiated work to create or improve tools for biomedical research.

Developing and providing access to technologies that enable biomedical research is a high priority for NIGMS, as expressed in our 2015 strategic plan. Historically, support for technology development has generally been coupled to using the technology to answer a biomedical research question. Although in the later stages of technology development this coupling is often useful, in the early stages it can hinder exploration of innovative ideas that could ultimately have a big impact on research.

We think the two initiatives briefly described below will stimulate early stage technology research and development by allowing scientists to focus on making the technology work before they begin to apply those tools to biomedical research questions.

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