Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (ONES) Award.

An essential element of the mission of the NIEHS is the support and career promotion of the future generation of exceptionally talented and creative new scientists who will further the understanding of the impact of environmental exposures on human health. The NIEHS supports a number of training and fellowship programs for pre- and postdoctoral training, and mentored career development awards for faculty in the early stages of their career development. Primary among these are the Ruth Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for pre- and postdoctoral training, the Career Development Awards for clinically trained scientists (K08 and K23), and the Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Awards to support the career development of scientists with quantitative and engineering backgrounds who wish to integrate their expertise with biomedicine. In addition, in 1999 the NIEHS instituted the Transition to Independent Positions Program to address the progression of individuals from postdoctoral positions to faculty positions. In this career development award the individual applies for the grant while still in a postdoctoral position, and the grant for start-up funding is awarded at the institution where the candidate accepts the faculty position. However, even with these career development mechanisms in place, to fulfill its mission of assuring a cadre of productive environmental health science investigators for the future, NIEHS needs to initiate further imaginative programs to identify the best new biomedical investigators and facilitate their establishing vibrant, independent research programs in the environmental health sciences.

To identify outstanding scientists at the formative stages of their career and assist them in launching an innovative research program with a defined impact in the environmental health sciences, the NIEHS is establishing a program of R01 research grants intended for researchers who have not received their first R01 research grant. It is designed to be highly competitive, and only a limited number will be awarded per year.

Research programs supported by this announcement seek to promote career advancement of the most highly creative and promising new scientists who intend to make a long-term career commitment to research in the mainstream of the environmental health sciences, and bring innovative, ground-breaking research initiatives and thinking to bear on the problems of how environmental exposures affect human biology, human pathophysiology, and human disease.

The R01 applications in this program are distinguished from other R01 research grants in that the applications 1) incorporate a statement of career goals in the environmental health sciences; 2) include a discussion of previous research experience and achievements in addition to the research proposal; 3) may include active participation of an external advisory committee; 4) require demonstration of the commitment by the institution to actively support the research program development of the principal investigator (PI); and 5) include a separate budget specifically devoted to equipment and career enhancement activities.

Research projects proposed in response to this Request for Applications will be expected to have a defined impact on the environmental health sciences and be responsive to the mission of the NIEHS, which is distinguished from that of other Institutes by its focus on research programs seeking to link the effects of environmental exposures to the cause, mechanisms, moderation, or prevention of a human disease or disorder or relevant pathophysiologic process. For purposes of this announcement, all applications must focus on a specific human disease, dysfunction, pathophysiologic condition, or relevant human biologic process and propose to study a specific environmentally relevant toxicant. Examples of environmentally relevant toxicants include industrial chemicals or manufacturing byproducts, metals, pesticides, herbicides, air pollutants, and other inhaled toxicants, particulates or fibers, and fungal, bacterial, or biologically derived toxins. Agents considered nonresponsive include, but are not limited to, alcohol, chemotherapeutic agents, radiation that is not a result of an ambient environmental exposure, drugs of abuse, pharmaceuticals, and infectious or parasitic agents, except when these are disease co-factors to an environmental toxicant exposure to produce the biological effect.

Applicants involving animal exposures must include a justification of how the exposure paradigm is relevant to human exposure and clearly discuss the link between the exposure and the relevant human disease in the Background and Significance section of the application. The applicant should also discuss the potential for translating the research--applying the ideas, insights, and discoveries generated through the basic inquiry to the treatment or prevention of human disease. Applicants proposing epidemiologic research should address how the significant associations revealed in the studies could be confirmed in the laboratory setting.

The ONES program would be evaluated on a continuing basis by the NIEHS, to assess the impact of the program on the portfolio of the NIEHS as well as on the progression of the awardees' careers. Metrics to be used include, but are not limited to, publications (numbers and impact factors of publications); academic promotion of PIs; awards, invited talks at national/international symposia, students and postdoctorals trained in the PI's laboratory, and honors received by PIs; committee service by PIs; and subsequent grant support awarded. The design of the program evaluation will be determined by the Program Analysis Branch of the Division of Extramural Research and Training. PIs of awarded ONES grants must provide information for the evaluation and any subsequent program evaluations for up to 10 years after the award.

This funding opportunity will use the R01 Grant mechanism. This funding opportunity uses the just-in-time budget concepts. It also uses the nonmodular budget format described in the PHS 398 application instructions (see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/ phs398/phs398.html). A detailed categorical budget for the "Initial Budget Period" and the "Entire Proposed Period of Support" is to be submitted with the application. For further assistance contact GrantsInfo, 301-435-0714 (telecommunications fur the hearing impaired: TTY 301-451-0088) or by e-mail: [e-mail]

Because the nature and scope of the proposed research will vary from application to application, the size and duration of each award will also vary. Although the financial plans of the NIEHS provide support for this program, awards pursuant to this funding opportunity, are contingent on the availability of funds and the receipt of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.

Applications must be prepared using the most current PHS 398 research grant application instructions and forms. Applications must have a Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System number as the universal identifier when applying for federal grants or cooperative agreements. The D&B number can be obtained by calling 866-705-5711 or through the web site at http://www.dnb.com/us/. The D&B number should be entered on line 11 of the face page of the PHS 398 form.

The deadline for receipt of letters of intent is 20 November 2005, with 22 December 2005 the deadline for receipt of applications. The complete version of the RFA is available at http://grants.nih.gov/ grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-ES-05-005.html

Contact: Carol Shreffler, Division of Extramural Research and Training, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, P.O. Box 12233, EC-23, 111 T.W. Mexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 USA, 919-541-I445, fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Reference: RFA-ES-05-005