Contraception and Infertility Research Loan Repayment Program (93.209)
Program
93.209 Contraception and Infertility Research Loan Repayment Program
Federal Agency
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Authorization
Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 288-2, Title IV (National Research Institutes), Part G (Awards and Training), Section 487B (Loan Repayment Program For Research With Respect to Contraception and Infertility), as amended by Public Law 105-392.
Program Number
93.209
Last Known Status
Active
Objectives
The CIR-LRP is designed to provide an incentive for health professionals to work in areas of reproductive research directly related to contraceptive development and/or infertility diagnosis and treatment by providing assistance in repaying educational loans for individuals. The CIR-LRP will pay up to $35,000 of the principal and interest of a participant's educational loans for each year of commitment not to exceed one-half of the remaining loan balance. In addition to the loan repayments, the CIR-LRP may pay participants up to 39 percent of the amount paid to lenders as partial payments on the increased income tax liability caused by the Program's loan repayments. In return for these loan repayments, applicants must agree to commit to a period of obligated service of not less than 2 years conducting research with respect to contraception and/or infertility. The long- range objective of the CIR-LRP is to stimulate the commitment of researchers to sustaining a career focus on contraception and/or infertility research.
Types of Assistance
Direct Payments for Specified Use.
Uses and Use Restrictions
The assistance provided by the CIR-LRP is entirely of a financial nature in the form of loan repayments. The monies provided by this program are restricted to the repayment of pre- existing, qualified loans procured by the participant for educational expenses incurred in the pursuit of undergraduate or graduate degrees.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicant Eligibility
Qualified health and allied professionals including, but not limited to, physicians scientists, nurses and physician assistants, as well as graduate students and postgraduate research fellows training in the health professions are eligible to apply; with the provision that they will be or are engaged at the time of inception into the CIR-LRP in employment/training at an NICHD intramural laboratory or one of the following NICHD-supported extramural sites: 1) A Cooperative Specialized Contraception or Infertility Research Center; 2) a Cooperative Specialized Research Center in Reproduction Research; 3) a Women's Reproductive Health Research Career Development Center; 4) a reproductive medicine unit identified as a clinical site for the National Cooperative Reproductive Medicine Network, or 5) a contraceptive clinical trial unit identified as a site for the Contraceptive Clinical Trials Network. In addition, fellows participating in the Reproductive Scientist Development Program (RSDP) are eligible to apply. All applicants will be expected to participate in research on infertility or contraceptive development. Persons who are not U.S. citizens, Nationals or permanent residents are not eligible to apply.
Beneficiary Eligibility
Assistance in the form of loan repayments will be made to qualified health professionals (including graduate students) who are participants in the CIR-LRP.
Credentials/Documentation
The applicant is required to submit: 1) A completed and signed Applicant Information Form (Form NIH 2756-1); 2) a signed Loan Verification Form for each loan to be considered for repayment (Form 2756-2); 3) a completed and signed CIR-LRP Contract (Form 2756-3), and 4) a copy of an institutional assurance of employment/affiliation with an NICHD intramural laboratory or eligible NICHD-supported extramural site for no less than a two-year period from the anticipated effective date of the CIR-LRP Contract. Graduate students must also provide evidence that he/she is enrolled full time and is in good academic standing.
Application and Award Process
Preapplication Coordination
Information regarding the CIR-LRP and the preparation of forms for application to the CIR-LRP can be obtained by contacting the CIR-LRP headquarters office at the Center for Population Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH or via the World Wide Web at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/cpr/rs/rs.htm. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application Procedure
Qualified individuals interested in participating in the CIR-LRP should first request an application form from the CIR-LRP headquarters office in the Center for Population Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH or they may download forms via the World Wide Web at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/cpr/rs/rs.htm. The application will include: 1) A description of the applicant's proposed role in the scientific research on contraception and/or infertility being conducted in the NICHD intramural laboratory or eligible NICHD-supported extramural site, and 2) a brief statement addressing the applicant's long-range career plan for engaging in contraception and/or infertility research. The application will be reviewed by the CIR-LRP Panel, chaired by the Deputy Director, NICHD, and comprised of representatives of the NICHD's Office of Administrative Management, the respective Program Officers of the Center for Population Research, and special consultants as required. In selecting applicants for participation in the CIR-LRP, the panel will consider eligibility status, quality of the applicant, and applicant's career plan focus. All selections are subject to final approval by the Director, NICHD. The NICHD will notify the sponsoring grantee institution and the applicant of the outcome of the review.
Award Procedure
Once the applicant is selected to participate in the CIR-LRP, the applicant and the Director, NICHD, as a designate of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, will sign a written binding contract stating the terms and conditions for participating in the CIR- LRP. The effective date of the contract will be the date it is signed by the Director, NICHD, or the date employment/training begins at an NICHD-funded Specialized Contraception or Infertility Research Center, whichever is later.
Deadlines
Applications can be received at any time during the year.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
Appeals
None.
Renewals
A CIR-LRP participant completing the initial 2-year period of obligated service conducting research with respect to contraception and/or infertility has an option to extend the obligatory period of service on an annual basis.
Assistance Considerations
Formula and Matching Requirements
This program has no statutory formula.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
The CIR-LRP will pay equal quarterly payments to the lenders. Each payment will be made shortly after the end of each full quarter of satisfactory service.
Post Assistance Requirements
Reports
None.
Audits
None.
Records
None.
Program Accomplishments
Forty (40) contracts for initial two-year obligation periods have been executed since inception of the CIR-LRP in 1997 (two in fiscal year 1997, two in fiscal year 1998, eight in fiscal year 1999, eleven in fiscal year 2000, thirteen in fiscal year 2001, and four thus far in fiscal year 2002). It is anticipated that a total of 24 applications will be received in fiscal year 2002 with eight additional applicants being approved for participation in the CIR-LRP in fiscal year 2002. A 1-year renewal contract was executed in fiscal year 2000, three 1-year renewal contracts were executed in fiscal year 2001, and six 1-year renewal contracts are anticipated to be executed in fiscal year 2002. In FY 2003, 12 initial contracts and 5 1-year renewal contracts are anticipated to be executed.
Financial Information
Account Identification
75-0897-0-1-552.
Obligations
(Direct Payments) FY 02 $976,579; FY 03 est $1,200,000; and FY 04 est $1,500,000.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
The range of financial assistance is between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000; $1,250,000.
Regulations, Guidelines and Literature
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was approved by NIH on September 19, 2001, and by the Department of Health and Human Services on December 31, 2001.
Related Programs
93.162, National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program; 93.923, Disadvantaged Health Professions Faculty Loan Repayment and Fellowship Program; 93.936, National Institutes of Health Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Research Loan Repayment Program.
Information Contacts
Regional or Local Office
Not applicable.
Headquarters Office
Dr. Louis V. DePaolo, Director, Contraception and Infertility Research Loan Repayment Program, Center for Population Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, DHHS, Building 61E, Rm. 8B01, MSC-7510, Bethesda, MD 20892-7510. Telephone: (301) 435-6970; FAX: (301) 480-2389; E-mail: ld38p@nih.gov.
Web Site Address
http://nichd.nih.gov/cpr_rs/repayment_program.htm
Examples of Funded Projects
Not applicable.
Criteria for Selecting Proposals
Not applicable.
