Borderplex Council Diabetes/Obesity Research Enhancement Fund (BP)

Deadline: 5:00 pm CT, the 7th day of February, May and October

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History and Background:

The Borderplex Council is a partnership between The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) and its Regional Academic Health Campus (RAHC), The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSCH) and its School of Public Health, The University of Texas at Pan Am (UT-Pan Am), The University of Texas at Brownsville (UT-Brownsville) and four community representatives. The mission of the Council is to facilitate and promote multi-institutional collaboration in education and research for addressing the health challenges of the border region. To achieve this mission, the Council will work collaboratively with the other UT institutions along the border, including the UTHSCSA Laredo Extension Campus, The University of Texas-El Paso and the UTHSCH School of Public Health Campus in El Paso.

A primary goal of the Council is to create a strong environment for research support and scientific inquiry that will be enhanced through inter-institutional collaborations. The initial areas of focus that were agreed upon by the Council members were diabetes/obesity and the nursing workforce shortage. The Borderplex Council agreed that collectively they would come up with $500,000 and request matching funds from the UT System money for a total of $1 million.

A Diabetes/Obesity Borderplex Task Force has been appointed to provide peer review of joint applications submitted for funding in this area and to oversee all operational aspects of the task force (click here for membership list of Diabetes/Obesity Borderplex Taskforce). This task force has representation from all participating institutions. The initial (interim) chair of the task force is the Vice President for Research of the UTHSCSA, Dr. Brian Herman. The task force will accept applications for support of the development of inter-institution interdisciplinary research activities between an academic and health component in the area of diabetes/obesity. The successful proposals will involve supporting development of programmatic/thematic/translational group research efforts between the Borderplex member campuses

The use of the task force funds is to be as flexible as possible. Such uses may include (but are not limited to):

• Research support (equipment, personnel, supplies) for gathering and assembling preliminary data including potentially technical, doctoral, postdoctoral as well as institutional core research facility support.
• Establishment of new centers of excellence.
• Institutional commitment for matching funds when required by funding agency.
• Faculty recruitment and/or retention if important for the proposed research endeavors (in partnership with Chairs/Deans/Institute or Center or Institute Directors).
• Support for planning (technical assistance/meetings/visits by extramural agencies), organizing, writing and submitting of proposals.
• Other infrastructure needs to facilitate and/or enable collaborative and joint research and educational programs between the Council membership.
• Innovative non-research programs, including joint educational efforts.

A major criterion for the success of proposals will be that the investment of funds should lead to increases in the extramural funding base for Borderplex Council member institutions with cross campus collaborative programs focused in the area of Diabetes/Obesity. The Taskforce expects to fund about 10-15 proposals per year in the $25,000 to $50,000 range with budgets appropriate to the scope of the project. Proposals outside this range will be considered, but must be carefully justified.

Proposal Solicitation:

1) Proposals that do not follow carefully the instructions listed below will be returned without review.
2) Only one proposal per PI will be funded per review cycle.
3) If the proposal is a resubmission please download a new coversheet and include a one page abstract with your submission.
4) Travel is not an allowed expense unless it is related to data gathering.
5) Salary support is an allowable expense as long as it is adequately justified. In addition, uncompensated time and effort listed on proposals can be counted towards an institutional match.
6) Proposals must come from a combination of at least one health and one academic component of the Borderplex Council.
7) Proposals may include institutions other than those in the Borderplex Council but must involve partnership of Borderplex Council member institutions.
8) Proposals must contain a description of mentoring of PIs who have not successfully obtained extramural funding at the time of submission.
9) Receipt dates will be 5:00 pm CT, the 7th day of February, May, and October. Deadline days that fall on a weekend or holiday, will be moved to next official business day.
10) F&A or Indirect Costs not allowed.
11) Awards will be made for one year.
12) Applications must include multiple PIs (2 or more: at least one from an academic and one from a health component Borderplex Council member institution) interacting investigators with P.I. status from the partnering institutions (from within individual departments, between departments and/or schools).
13) Applications may also include scientific/educational/industrial institutions within the South Texas community in addition to the Borderplex Council member institutions.

Review Criteria Includes:

1. Scientific merit, innovation, appropriate environment, investigator (e.g. NIH review criteria).
2. Programmatic/institutional relevance to Borderplex Council campuses.
3. Potential for near-term future extramural funding.
4. Evidence of either current or well planned cross campus collaborations.
5. Specific plan for use of funds over 12-month period.
6. Specific plan for how program will be supported at the end of the 12-month support from Borderplex Council Diabetes/Obesity Research Enhancement Fund.
7. For non-research proposals, including joint educational efforts, criteria include relevance to the missions of the Borderplex Institutions and need for the program.

Please direct questions regarding Borderplex Council Diabetes/Obesity Research Enhancement Fund programmatic issues to Dr. Brian Herman, Vice President for Research at hermanb@uthscsa.edu or 210-567-0397, or Elissa Sanderson, Research Coordinator, Office of the Vice President for Research at sandersone@uthscsa.edu or 210-567-2089.

*To read the Press Release regarding the Borderplex Health Council Diabetes/Obesity Research Enhancement Fund (May 30, 2006) go to http://www.uthscsa.edu/hscnews/singleformat.asp?newID=2069&SearchID=borderplex

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APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS AND FORMS

Borderplex Council Diabetes/Obesity Research Enhancement Fund Proposal Instructions

Below are the application format instructions for the Borderplex Council Diabetes/Obesity Research Enhancement Fund programs - Research and Non-Research Initiatives.

PROPOSALS THAT DO NOT CAREFULLY FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS LISTED BELOW WILL BE RETURNED WITHOUT REVIEW.

Application Process for Research Proposals:

Using the Borderplex Council Diabetes/Obesity Research Enhancement Fund Coversheet and Checklist (click here for Coversheet and Checklist) as the first page of the application, forms should be combined into one PDF document in the order listed on the checklist and then emailed to ospupload@uthscsa.edu as identified below under Electronic Submission of Proposal.

In addition to the Borderplex Council Diabetes/Obesity Research Enhancement Fund coversheet and checklist, the application requires the following PHS 398 (Rev. 09/04) forms with their Type Size Requirements. The forms are available in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) and MS Word from the NIH webpage: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html#forms. Application forms should be completed using the format described below.

Please note: While the required PHS 398 forms are available in PDF format it is suggested that you complete these forms using the Word format and then convert to the PDF format.

• Form Page 4: Detailed Budget for Initial Budget Period (There will be a Budget for each Borderplex participating institution)
• Form Page 5: Budget for Entire Proposed Period of Support (This will be the combined overall budget for all institutions)
• Biographical Sketch Format Page - special instructions: On the Biographical Sketch Format Page, section C. Research Support includes current award amounts and percent effort on awarded projects.
• Continuation Page for the body of the proposal, excluding references, should not exceed 10 pages (11 font, Times or equivalent). References should be in NIH format with full authors and title.
• Continuation Page for special Borderplex Council Diabetes/Obesity Research Enhancement Fund Issues (2 pages total) to answer the questions:

1. Who are the responsible PIs on each campus?
2. What is the relationship between the labs on the campuses (and outlying campuses)?
3. What is the current collaboration between the campuses or how is that collaboration proposed to occur?
4. What unique contribution does this proposal bring to each campus?
5. How will this funding lead to peer-reviewed funding in the near future? What grant proposals will be submitted, when and to what agencies?

• Continuation Page for abstract (1 page total)

• Animal and Human protocols must be reviewed and approved by the appropriate institutional IRB and IACUC prior to the awarding of funds.

Application Process for Non-Research Initiatives (including educational programs):

1. Describe in no more than 4 pages the rationale and purpose of the proposed program, how it would be implemented, the PIs and participating faculty, and expected outcomes. Include a separate budget page with justification and biosketches of the participants.
2. These applications should be emailed electronically following the instructions below.

Institutional Review

Faculty should check with their home institution’s Office of Sponsored Programs or the like regarding what institutional review mechanisms will be in place for this program.

(For UTHSCSA Faculty only: Certificate of Proposal (COP) will be needed at the time of proposal submission and should be submitted along with the application as instructed on the Coversheet and Checklist.)

Electronic Submission of Proposal (via email):

The Borderplex application should be finalized as one PDF file and emailed to ospupload@uthscsa.edu by 5:00 pm CT, the 7th day of February, May and October. If you do not receive a confirmation email after submitting your application please contact Elissa Sanderson, Research Coordinator, Office of the Vice President for Research at sandersone@uthscsa.edu or 210-567-2089.