Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

 

To recruit and retain health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds to conduct clinical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by providing for the repayment of educational loans for participants with substantial amounts of educational debt relative to income, who agree by written contract to engage in clinical research as employees of the NIH for a minimum two-year period.

Active 93.220 National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services B - Project Grants; C - Direct Payments For Specified Use Fiscal Year 2018 In 2018, it is projected that two awards will be provided.
Fiscal Year 2017 In 2017, it is projected that no awards will be provided.
Fiscal Year 2016 In 2016, there were no awards granted. There were no awards granted in 2016. Public Health Service Act, Title IV, Part G, Section 41631, Public Law 100-43, 288-5 U.S.C. Eligible applicants must: (1) Be a citizen, national, or permanent resident of the United States; (2) possess a M.D., Ph.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.V.M., D.P.M., A.D.N., B.S.N., or equivalent degree; or hold the position of Physician Assistant; (3) come from a disadvantaged background as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services; (4) have qualified educational debt, which results from governmental or commercial loans obtained to support their undergraduate and/or graduate education, in excess of 20 percent of their annual NIH salary on the program eligibility date; (5) be appointed under any temporary or permanent employment mechanism in the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, so long as their employment has the potential to last a minimum of 2 years; (6) are not eligible to participate in the CR-LRP if they have an existing service obligation to Federal, State, or other entities, until such obligation is discharged or unless it is deferred during the period of program service; (7) submit an application to participate in the CR-LRP; and (8) sign and submit to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, at the time of agreeing to accept repayment of educational loans, a contract agreeing to engage in clinical research as an employee of the NIH for a minimum of 2 years. Clinical researchers from disadvantaged backgrounds who have unpaid educational loans will benefit from this program. Applicants must submit documentation of the following, as appropriate: (1) Copies of loan applications and agreements from governmental or commercial educational loans which are being submitted for repayment; (2) copies of the standard student budget from each school attended during period when debt was incurred; (3) copies of recommendations, special skills, certifications, or other copies of loan documentation; (4) certification from the school(s) attended that the applicant qualified for participation in an educational assistance program for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds which are sponsored by the Secretary of Health and Human Services or self-certification describing circumstances which qualify him/her under the Secretary's definition of an individual from a disadvantaged background; and (5) other documentation as may be required by law. Preapplication coordination is not applicable. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. Applicants must access and submit the Loan Repayment Program application electronically via the website www.lrp.nih.gov; seek qualified employment with a sponsoring Institute or Center (IC) of the NIH. Once an application has been submitted, the Loan Repayment Committee reviews it at a regularly scheduled review meeting and a determination of loan repayment recipients is made. The NIH Loan Repayment Committee (LRC) will review, rank, and approve or disapprove applications recommended for program participation by each Institute or Center (IC). Applications approved for program participation by the LRC will be notified by the Program Director. The Secretary, or his designee, will sign the service contract of program participants, provide a copy to the participant, and notice of the amount of approved loan repayment. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines From 90 to 120 days. The approximate time for approval/disapproval is 3 months. From 90 to 120 days. Employees of the NIH who are not approved as a result of this process may ask for reconsideration through the standard appeal procedures available to employees. From 90 to 120 days. At the conclusion of the initial 2-year contract, participants may apply and be recommended for subsequent 1-year continuation contracts under the application and approval procedures specified above. Applicants are approved for participation in the NIH Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program after the LRC determines that the applicant will conduct qualified clinical research and qualifies as being from a disadvantaged background. LRC approval, in part, is based upon the scientific merit of the research and the credentials of the applicant as they relate to performing qualified clinical research. To provide repayment of extant educational loans incurred by health professionals engaged, as employees of the NIH, in clinical research. Recipients must agree by written contract to engage in such research, initially, for a minimum of 2 years; individuals who have conflicting service obligations may not participate in this program until those obligations are satisfied or have been deferred during the period of program service. One-year continuation contracts are available, dependent upon the level of debt and continued involvement in clinical research. Maximum program benefit is $35,000 per year in loan repayments and $13,650 per year in Federal tax reimbursements. Recipients must have qualified educational debt in excess of 20 percent of their annual salary, which is referred to as their "debt threshold." An amount equal to half of this "debt threshold" will not be repaid by NIH and must be paid by the Program participants. Not applicable. Not applicable. The NIH will maintain applicant records for 3 years after rejection and participant records for 6 years after completion of final service obligation. Grantees generally must retain financial and programmatic records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other records that are required by the terms of a grant, or may reasonably be considered pertinent to a grant, for a period of 3 years from the date the annual FSR is submitted. For awards under SNAP (other than those to foreign organizations and Federal institutions), the 3-year retention period will be calculated from the date the FSR for the entire competitive segment is submitted. Those grantees must retain the records pertinent to the entire competitive segment for 3 years from the date the FSR is submitted to NIH. Foreign organizations and Federal institutions must retain records for 3 years from the date of submission of the annual FSR to NIH. See 45 CFR 74.53 and 92.42 for exceptions and qualifications to the 3-year retention requirement (e.g., if any litigation, claim, financial management review, or audit is started before the expiration of the 3-year period, the records must be retained until all litigation, claims, or audit findings involving the records have been resolved and final action taken). Those sections also specify the retention period for other types of grant-related records, including F&A cost proposals and property records. See 45 CFR 74.48 and 92.36 for record retention and access requirements for contracts under grants. In accordance with 45 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 74.53(e), the HHS Inspector General, the U.S. Comptroller General, or any of their duly authorized representatives have the right of timely and unrestricted access to any books, documents, papers, or other records of recipients that are pertinent to awards in order to make audits, examinations, excerpts, transcripts, and copies of such documents. This right also includes timely and reasonable access to a recipient's personnel for the purpose of interview and discussion related to such documents. The rights of access are not limited to the required retention period, but shall last as long as records are retained. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Assistance is available for a minimum 2-year period. One-year, continuation contracts are available for individuals whose educational debt exceeds the maximum repayable amount for 2 years and whose renewal ranking scores within the funding range. Payments are made directly to lenders, following each quarter of the participant's satisfactory service, unless otherwise agreed upon by the participant and Secretary of Health and Human Services. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Quarterly. None/Not specified. Patricia A. Cole, PhD
Office of Intramural Training and Education
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Building 2, Room 2E18,
2 Center Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-0230 US
colep@mail.nih.gov
Phone: 3014021283
Fax: 3014802942 http://www.lrp.nih.gov 75-6846-0-1-552 (Project Grants) FY 17$0.00; FY 18 est $31,882.00; FY 19 est $102,550.00; FY 16$0.00; - During Fiscal Year 2016, there were no new or renewal applications submitted to the Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds. However, it is projected that there will be three submissions in 2017. For initial 2-year contracts, loan repayments range from $4,000 to $70,000, Tax reimbursements range from $1,977 to $34,598. The average contract cost which includes loan and tax reimbursement is $68,454. Pertinent information is contained in Public Law 103-43, Section 1631; Section 487E of Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 288-5); Public Law 105-392; Federal Register, Volume 59, No. 201, October 19, 1994; 42 CFR Part 68a Federal Register, Volume 63, No. 210, October 30, 1998. Fiscal Year 2018 In 2018, the funded projects will focus on qualified approved research within the clinical and translational areas that contribute to the NIH Mission.
Fiscal Year 2016 In 2016, the funded projects will focus on qualified approved research within the clinical and translational areas that contribute to the NIH Mission. There were no funded projects in Fiscal Year 2016.
Fiscal Year 2017 In 2017, there no funded Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program projects submitted from Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds that focused on qualified approved research within the clinical and translational areas that contribute to the NIH Mission.