Purpose

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) announces the availability of funds to supplement existing NIDA-supported research projects to develop and incorporate computational and theoretical modeling approaches in ongoing research. NIDA-funded researchers studying behavioral, cognitive and neurobiological processes, and cellular and molecular mechanisms of drug abuse and addiction would be eligible for supplemental funding. It is anticipated that funds would be used to bring state-of-the-art computational and theoretical modeling approaches to the analysis of ongoing research projects. Funding will be available through administrative supplements. Existing grants eligible for supplemental support under this notice include NIDA supported research projects with at least one year of support remaining. Supplements may be requested for up to 2 years of support.

Background

NIDA currently supports a wide-array of basic research aimed at understanding the basic behavioral, cognitive and neurobiological processes, and cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with drug abuse and addiction. Researchers have made great strides in determining the cellular and neural mechanisms, and the behavioral and cognitive processes involved in and associated with drug abuse and addiction. The discovery of these processes and mechanisms conveys the complexity of drug abuse and addiction problem and the need to study it at various levels of scientific analysis with innovative methods, such as theoretical and computational approaches.

Current approaches alone will not likely account for all possible aspects of the addiction process or make predictions about possible interactions among biological processes involved in drug addiction, such as the transition from casual to compulsive drug-taking. The process of developing models of addiction-related phenomena will likely involve protracted model refinement and intense interaction between computational and theoretical modelers and researchers, and continued and sustained interaction as new experimentally based information becomes available, and as models begin to shape future experimentation. It is expected that the development and testing of new models that will provide a framework for the design of experiments and the generation of new hypotheses that can help explain phenomena related to drug abuse, such as the addiction process, transition to addiction, consequences of drug abuse and other related phenomena.

The purpose of this administrative supplement program is to allow NIDA-funded researchers the opportunity to begin exploring model development with appropriate experts or to obtain the necessary computer hardware and software to implement modeling approaches. The type of model development and implementation could be quite varied, depending on the biological system or behavioral process under study and the current form of the existing data set, and could use a wide-array of approaches including: modeling network properties of the brain, developing mathematical models describing intracellular signaling, using conductance-based models to describe neuronal activity, applying connectionist and/or dynamical approaches to model cognitive processes, or applying mathematically-based principles of economics, decision-making and judgment to behavioral data. Toward that end, it is anticipated that supplement funds will be used by NIDA grantees to (1) purchase necessary software and computer hardware for developing and implementing computational models and analyses using existing data sets from ongoing research, (2) support postdoctoral fellows with expertise in computational and theoretical model development, or with related skills who would be interested in applying their skills to, and learning about complex problems in drug addiction, (3) to form partnerships with established computational and modeling experts for the purpose of exploring preliminary avenues of model development, or (4) support grantees and/or their associates to train in and learn about computational and theoretical modeling approaches with the intent of applying these approaches to their ongoing research.

Supplements may be awarded for work that is within the original scope of the project that will add value consistent with its originally approved objectives to develop and or apply computational theoretical models to ongoing research that could fundamentally advance our approach to understanding drug abuse and addiction.

Special Requirements

Budget/Administrative issues

For FY 2001, approximately $1,000,000 will be available to fund administrative supplements to existing NIDA research projects. This funding is contingent upon receipt of highly meritorious applications and continued availability of funds.

Administrative supplements are provided to cover unanticipated cost increases that are associated with achieving the objectives within the original scope of a project and include cost increases that result from making modifications in the scope of a project in order to take advantage of opportunities that would increase the value of the project consistent with its originally approved objectives and purposes. Administrative supplemental funding is generally limited to 25 percent of the Council-approved direct costs for the current FY 2001 budget year of the project or $100,000, whichever is less. If two years of support are requested, the second year of requested support will also be limited to 25 percent of the Council-approved direct cost for the current FY 2001 budget year or $100,000, whichever is less. Administrative supplements will undergo a program, grants management, and budget review within NIDA.

Administrative supplements may be submitted at any time for the remainder of FY 2001, but no later than May 3, 2001. It is anticipated that all supplemental funding decisions will be completed by September 30, 2001. Under this notice, an administrative supplement is limited to two years of support and cannot exceed the stated life of the parent project.

Application Procedures

The PI should submit an application packet, which includes the following:

1. A cover page citing this NOTICE and requesting an administrative supplement, including the PI name, grant number and title, amount requested, name and title of the institutional official, and phone, email, and address information for the PI and institutional official, signed by the PI and countersigned by an authorized institutional official, which is required for issuance of an award.
   
2. A letter (7-page limit) describing the project, should include the following:
   
   • An Abstract
     
   • Description of the existing data set, the system, mechanism, or process to be modeled
     
   • The possible modeling approaches to be attempted or applied to the problem
     
   • The type collaboration or formal training if proposed
     
   • Discussion of future directions of the proposed activity beyond the supplement period
     
   • Budget with justifications
     
   • Biographical Sketch of the PI and all key personnel
     
   • Specific Aims from the original grant
     

Send the original signed application and three photocopies in one package to:

Director, Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research
National Institute on Drug Abuse
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 4S-4282, MSC 9555
Bethesda, MD 20892-9555

For deliveries from non-US mail carriers, send the application to:

Director, Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research
National Institute on Drug Abuse
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 4S-4282,
Rockville, MD 20852

Supplement packets may be submitted at any time for the remainder of FY 2001, but no later than May 3, 2001. If an application is received after that date, it will be returned to the applicant without review.

Review Considerations

Applications will be reviewed administratively.

Review criteria:

• The completeness of the data set and understanding of phenomena to be modeled.
• The appropriateness collaboration and or adequacy of the training plan, if one is proposed.
• Expertise of the key personnel involved.
• The relevance of the supplemental plan to the Specific Aims of the parent grant.
• The relevance to program priorities of the institute.
• The potential impact the proposed research plan will have on future research, model development and the research community.

Inquiries

Inquiries concerning this notice are strongly encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issue or questions from potential applicants is welcome.

Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to:

David Shurtleff, Ph.D.
Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral
National Institute on Drug Abuse
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 4S-4284, MSC 9555
Bethesda, MD 20892-9555
Telephone: (301) 443-1887
Email: ds171a@nih.gov

Direct fiscal inquiries to:

Pamela G. Fleming
Grants Management Branch
6101 Executive Boulevard
Suite 250 MSC 8403
Bethesda MD 20892-8403
Telephone: (301) 443-6710
Email: pf49e@nih.gov