Under the umbrella of the US Department of Education, the US Department of Health and Human Services is offering a grant called “Critical Illness and Injury in Aging (R21). In addition to this phase, two additional phases are also being offered, which would include (R01) and (R03). For eligible applications, information for this federal grant would be listed as well under the grant number of PA-10-044.
This particular grant is open to eligible applicants through January 7, 2013, which is created with an award ceiling of $200,000. Additional grants that coordinate with this grant include CFDA number 93.361 – Nursing Research, CFDA number 93.838 – Lung Diseases Research, and CFDA number 93.866 – Aging Research. With the Critical Illness and Injury in Aging grant being a joint effort between the Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services, more applicants would be able to apply and ultimately, the outcome would benefit a greater number of people.
To be eligible to apply for this federal grant, applicants would need to fall in one of the following categories:
• State Governments
• County Governments
• City Governments
• Special District Governments
• Independent School Districts
• Public and State-Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
• Federally-Recognized and Non-Federally-Recognized Native American Tribal Governments
• Public Housing Authorities
• Indian Housing Authorities
• Non-Profit Organizations with and without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (other than institutions of higher education)
• Private Institutions of Higher Education
• For-Profit Organizations (other than small businesses)
• Small Businesses
In addition to the primary list of eligible applicants for the grant on Critical Illness and Injury in Aging, additional groups and/or individuals would be eligible to include:
• Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
• Federal Government (eligible agencies)
• Community or Faith-Based Organizations
• Historically Black Colleges/Universities
• Hispanic Service Institutions
• Non-Domestic (non-US) Entities (Foreign Organizations)
• Indian and Native American Tribal Governments (not Federally recognized)
• US Territory or Possession
• Tribally Controlled Colleges/Universities
From the list of eligible applicants, it is easy to see that this particular grant is open to a vast number of people. Because this topic has become so serious in the past decade, the government realizes that groups needing information and education pertaining to aging people trying to deal with critical illness and/or injury needs to be improved upon. With the creation of this grant, the government is optimistic this goal will be accomplished.
The primary goal of the grant is to encourage more and better developmental and exploratory research so mechanisms of critical illness and injury in the aging, as well as the management of can be improved. The proposed studies include those that would be interventional, observational, and mechanistic. That way, the ongoing problem can be looked at and analyzed from all applicable angles, thus helping to produce a more efficient solution.
Along with this type of research, the grant is also pushing for the analysis of datasets already in existence, which would include those coming from clinical trials, as well as observational studies. Although using animals in studies such as this is difficult for most people, because the research and analysis required under this grant is not appropriate for human testing, animal laboratory testing would be required. It is important for people to remember that to identify underlying issues and develop solutions such as those needed for critical ill or injured aging, this type of testing is difficult to avoid.
To complete the developmental and exploratory portions of the grant, the mechanisms of this grant (R21) will run in parallel with another grant listed as PA-10-042. The federal government is encouraging eligible applicants of the R21 grant to consider applying for the other two coordinating grants to include R01 (PA-10-042) and R03 (PA-10-043). While each of these grants have unique focuses and characteristics, they all focus on the growing concern specific to critical ill and injured aging.
Applicants need to remember that for all three of these grants, with varying factors for the nature and scope, the actual size, as well as duration of each award will also vary. The government will consider numbers, quality, mechanism, duration, and cost associated with the applications received to determine the exact dollar amount and number of awards that would be offered.
To apply for the Critical Illness and Injury in Aging R21 grant, all applications must be submitted electronically. For this, the government website of http://www.grants.gov would be used. Once inside the site, the SF424 Research and Related (R&R) forms along with the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide would be used. Any application received in paper format will automatically be rejected.
Prior to applications being submitted, the eligible applicant would first need to complete a registration process. Because of the time involved to process all the forms and applications, it is strongly recommended this registration process be completed between four and six weeks prior to application submittal. In addition, Letters of Intent Receipt Dates are not applicable for this grant and all applications must be received no later than January 8, 2013. Any application received past the deadline will not be considered.
For this grant, more than one application can be submitted by eligible applicants as long as each is scientifically distinct. If generation information is needed regarding the electronic submission of the application, applicants can visit http://era.nih.gov/electronicreceipt. Finally, for the deaf and hearing impaired, TTY and TDD services are available by calling 301-451-5936.
