Request for Applications

  International Clinical Research Fellows (ICRF) Program

Request for Applications (RFA) released August 10, 2008

Due Date: December 5, 2008 by 5PM EST

(There can be no exceptions to this deadline and we urge submission by the end of November to avoid any submission difficulties.)

Introduction

The NIH/Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars Support and Research Center at the Vanderbilt University Institute for Global Health and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is pleased to announce a new one year clinical research training program for persons regardless of citizenship in either post-residency clinical fellowships or in other health-related post-doctoral programs. Since international applicants may not have US-style fellowships or post-doctoral programs, they may apply if they are within three years of completing their training (e.g., registrar, residency, fellowship, doctoral program). This new program is sponsored by the Fogarty International Center and several collaborating institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health and managed by the Support Center at Vanderbilt University, with fiscal support from the Office of AIDS Research, National Cancer Institute, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and National Eye Institute

The ICRF Program supports one year of mentored clinical research only in a developing country setting. Definitions of developing counties are those designated by the World Bank as low income, lower middle, or upper middle income.  High income nations as per the World Bank list are not eligible as training sites. Applicants for the fellowship must develop a collaborative research proposal with an eligible institution overseas.  Thirty-seven sites were vetted as suitable for ICRF in a site competition completed in 2008.        

If one of these sites is selected for collaboration, no site component of this application is needed other than a letter of support.

Purpose of the Fellowship

The purpose of this program is to support a one-year, mentored research fellowship for clinical investigators studying diseases and conditions in developing countries and to build international health research capacity in the developing world.

The ICRF is a post-doctoral program and is complementary, but not overlapping with the International Clinical Research Scholars (ICRS) Program for health science students (pre-doctoral). Information on the Scholars program for health science students (rather than the post-doctoral or clinical fellow focus of ICRF described here) can be found through Vanderbilt’s partner, the Association of American Medical Colleges

The following institutes partner with the Fogarty International Center to fund ICRF through Vanderbilt University:

Office of AIDS Research

National Cancer Institute

National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

National Eye Institute

National Institute for Nursing Research

National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research

Funding is thus available from Vanderbilt University in July 2009 for one year for proposed clinical research related to the following topics:

• HIV/AIDS-related research including STDS, tuberculosis, opportunistic infections, opportunistic malignancies or behavioral research including substance (drug and/or alcohol) use.
• Cancer-related including oncology, radiation therapy, physiology, and other cancer-related issues, including, but not at all limited to HIV-related oncology research.
• Diseases of the heart, vessels, lungs, and blood, including blood resources and sleep disorders.
• Ophthalmology and any eye-related research.
• Pending confirmation of support, we may fund projects from nurses or dentists in post-doctoral or clinical fellowship studies.

This fellowship is an opportunity designed to immerse medical professionals and health scientists in training in issues of global health and international collaboration. Persons in health-related disciplines (human or animal) such as medicine, nursing, public health, and others who are currently engaged in post-doctorate programs and qualified to do clinically-related research are welcome to apply.

Eligibility

• Citizens of the United States or its territories or possessions, or persons lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. Resident aliens must include their green card number in their application.
• Citizens of any nation exclusive of high income countries as defined on the World Bank web site may apply for this award. Non-US citizens or permanent residents MUST apply in partnership with one of our 37 vetted Fellows sites to be eligible for this fellowship.
• US Citizens and permanent residents can propose alternate sites. Eligible sites must be a recipient of U.S. government research or evaluation support and must have a standing Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Federal Wide Assurance (FWA) as documented in good standing as of December 5, 2008 at the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) web site.  There are no exceptions to these two requirements for site eligibility, i.e., the site is in receipt of U.S. government health-related funding in research or evaluation and the site has an active IRB and FWA.  All of the 37 vetted ICRF sites are eligible and we encourage prospective applicants to consider them as research venues (http://www.fogartyscholars.org/fellows/sites).
• Persons eligible for this award must be engaged in clinical or research residency programs (known as clinical registrarships in many countries) or in post-residency fellowships, or they must be persons with doctoral degrees in other health-related disciplines (human or animal) who are currently post-doctoral fellows and qualified to do clinically-related research.  Since international applicants may not have US-style fellowships or post-doctoral programs, they may apply if they are within three years of completing their training (e.g., registrar, residency, fellowship, doctoral program).

Selection

Applications are received by the Institute for Global Health at Vanderbilt University as described in the RFA section -- Submitting an Application -- later in this RFA. Vanderbilt University conducts a scientific review of all proposals and makes awards in consultation with the relevant Program Officials at the Fogarty International Center and other participating NIH institutes and offices.  The Vanderbilt-organized review considers issues of potential conflicts of interests of reviewers and other key issues following guidelines of the Center for Scientific Review of the NIH.  The Principal Investigator at the Support Center at Vanderbilt serves as the administrator for these reviews, but does not vote on any proposal.

Orientation

All fellows will be brought to Bethesda, Maryland, USA for an approximately 2-week intensive Orientation session on NIH Campus from July 6-19, 2009.  Economy-class air travel (or suitable ground transportation for persons near to Washington, DC) and lodging will be provided, as well as up to $200 visa costs and added administrative facilitation for non-US ICRF trainees from overseas.

Stipends

For US Citizens & Permanent Residents- The standard stipend for a US Fellow regardless of site is $45,000. US Fellows will receive stipend payments directly from Vanderbilt University via its ICRS Support Center in the Institute for Global Health.

For Non-US Citizens or Permanent Residents- There is no standard stipend for non-US Fellows. Applicants must indicate a stipend level that is fair and equitable with salary ranges at their institution commensurate with the experience and qualifications of the applicant. Applicants will be asked for documentation demonstrating the basis for your proposed stipend. Under no circumstances will this stipend exceed $45,000 per annum (full-time), no matter what the circumstances are at the host institution. Non-US fellows will receive their stipends via subcontract to their host institution.

Health & Evacuation Insurance

Fellows who are not citizens of the country in which they are working will receive health and evacuation insurance. Fellows can choose to retain their current health insurance of the institution where they are residents, clinical fellows or post-doctoral research fellows, and can opt for a reimbursement up to $4,500 for their expenses.  Overseas fellows who are doing ICRF in their own nations are expected to have pre-existing health insurance from their home institutions that should be continued unabated through the ICRF year; if this is not done, the Support Center at Vanderbilt should be notified at least three months before the commencement of the ICRF so that the NIH can be informed and the ICRF award can be reconsidered. Fellows who are citizens where they will be working and whose institutions provide no health insurance coverage should contact the Support Center at Vanderbilt as soon as they receive their award notice. Fellows should consult with their home and host institutions to determine the best way to obtain the needed health insurance coverage. Non-US fellows will receive health insurance coverage for their 2 week stay in Bethesda, Maryland, arranged by the FICRS Support Center.

Pre-Departure Support for fellows who are US citizens or US permanent residents only:

The ICRF Program support to your partnering US institution (if any) is:

• $5,000 administrative support payable to the US institution (this amount is only applicable towards one fellow, if more than one fellow is administered out of the same US institution the institution will receive an additional $1,500 per fellow)
• Up to $1,200 for suitable travel and pre-travel medical consultation and services (anti-malarial and anti-diarrheal drugs, and indicated vaccinations), upon presentation of receipts as required by the subcontracted institution
• Up to $300 towards visa and passport fees for each US fellow, upon presentation of receipts as required
• Up to $5,000 for roundtrip airfare to overseas sites for each US fellow, upon presentation of receipts as required
• Up to $200 miscellaneous transportation/arrival costs at overseas site such as taxi, upon presentation of receipts as required.

If your partnership is directly with an overseas institution, the Support Center at Vanderbilt will provide these services directly.  Vanderbilt University requires receipts prior to any and all reimbursements.

Research Training Costs for all Fellows

The following financial support will be sent via subcontract to your US institution that will provide support to your overseas site as applicable. If you do not have a partnering US institution, these amounts will be handled via cost-reimbursement by the Support Center at Vanderbilt or subcontracted directly to your site.

•  $10,000 infrastructure and administrative support for the overseas site
• Up to $15,000 discretionary and research-project related funds for scholar-related expenses per Fellow, such as support for supplies, analysis, equipment, meetings, supplies, language courses, computer, software, etc. We expect your partner institutions to have most of the necessary equipment and supplies in place for a fellow’s project. These funds are supplementary, and must be justified in the application. 

Program Timeline

1. December 5, 2008:  Applications due by 5PM Eastern Standard Time (USA)
2. January 4, 2009: US-based finalists will travel to Nashville, Tennessee, USA for interviews after which final awardees will be selected by the Fogarty selection committee.  Non-US based finalists will undergo telephone interviews, given the costs and logistics of bringing foreign citizens to the USA on short notice.
3. On or near January 20, 2009: Awards will be announced.
4. On or near April 1, 2009:  Fellows will confirm their health insurance arrangements with the Support Center at Vanderbilt.
5. July 6-19, 2009: Fellows will participate in a 2 ½ week orientation on the NIH campus, followed by 2-3 days at the US academic or other affiliate of the overseas research site, if any.
6. August 1, 2008: ICRF awardees will begin their overseas work on-site and will be on-site for at least 10 months.
7. After completion of the research training year: Invited ICRF fellows will return to Bethesda, MD, to present their findings at a Fogarty Trainee Conference in March 2011, depending upon the availability of funds provided by the Support Center at Vanderbilt. In addition, the completion of a brief questionnaire (anticipated to be approximately four questions) about their current career decisions plus a copy of their current curriculum vitae (including basic contact information, training and research experiences, awards, publications, and employment history) will be required every two years for the next 20 years.  This is part of the NIH-mandated long-term career tracking function of the Support Center at Vanderbilt in order to assess the impact of the training.

Eligible Sites

A total of 37 sites have been competitively selected as vetted ICRF Fellowship sites.  Information on these sites can be found at http://www.fogartyscholars.org/fellows/sites.

Non-US applicants in particular are required to apply to conduct their research training at one of these 37 sites.   

Applicants affiliated with one of these sites are not required to submit a Site Application along with the rest their application; however, all applicants are able to chose sites other than those that have been vetted.  To be eligible to host a fellow, a site must demonstrate US federal government supported research and/or evaluation (e.g., PEPFAR*) funding, e.g., from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, or the United States Agency for International Development. This funding support must be extant during the year that a fellow is on-site (i.e., for the 2008-2009 ICRF, US federal funding must extend through June 2009).  IRB and FWA requirements are given earlier in this RFA.

(*President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief: www.pepfar.gov)

Submitting an Application

Applications are due electronically to Catherine Lem, MPH (c.lem@vanderbilt.edu) by 5 pm EST on December 5, 2008.  It is expected that all candidates will submit electronically.  However, if a candidate is unable to submit the application electronically, please contact Cat Lem, Program Manager, by November 10, 2008 to make alternative mailing arrangements.  Please anticipate these deadlines and avoid a last minute submission as there will be no applications accepted after this deadline.

Where to Direct Inquiries

Questions about the program, including issues regarding the eligibility of a given individual or suitability of a proposed research topic may be directed to: fellows2008inquiries@fogartyscholars.org. All general-interest queries will be posted to the web site and answered therein. Please read “Frequently Asked Questions for the FICRF Program” on the following web site: www.fogartyscholars.org to see if a given query has already been addressed.

 Queries by telephone to the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health will be abstracted such that questions and answers are also summarized on the web site.  You may contact the following resource persons for this solicitation:

The Principal Investigator of the Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars/Fellows Support Center at Vanderbilt/AAMC is an additional resource person:

END OF RFA