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General Policy Information
A Message to Potential Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) Applicants and National Cancer Institute (NCI) Grantees from
Dr. Barbara K. Rimer, Director, DCCPS
July 11, 2001
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Recently, Dr. Richard Klausner, Director of NCI, made presentations to
the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) and the Board of Scientific
Advisors (BSA) and outlined major budget challenges facing us today. I
want to highlight some of the important issues for DCCPS grantees and
potential applicants.
The Average Size of R01 Grants Has Increased Dramatically
Until 1998, it was almost unheard of for NCI to have R01s over $500,000.
In 1999, there were only 14 R01s over $500,000; in 2001, there were over
35 grants in this category, and the number continues to rise. Total costs
of awards for these large R01s also have risen dramatically as have average
total costs - now above $1.75M in 2001. The rise in costs has been driven
by many factors but has been aggravated by the fact that Center for Scientific
Review (CSR) committees no longer routinely review and provide detailed
feedback on applicant budgets. This change has paralleled the move to
modular grants. Thus, for 27 DCCPS large grants in the last review round,
the total costs recommended and those approved were identical.
The Consequences of This Increase
The rapid escalation in the number of large-cost grants and the rise in
costs per award have serious implications for the NCI budget for two reasons.
First, the unexpected dramatic increase in the number and costs of grants
places great strain on a budget that is predicated on the assumption that
a substantial part of the budget is required to meet outyear commitments
to already funded initiatives. Second, because the growth was unexpected
and unpredictable, it makes budget management extremely difficult. Whatever
our final budget allocation for FY02, there will be a several percentage
points shortfall between what we receive and our commitments (which require
~ a 16.5% increase).
Think of the NCI budget as your family budget. Out of your paycheck, you
pay for your car, food, insurance, mortgage and so on. Suddenly, you find
your mortgage is much higher than it was last year. You need your house.
So, of course, you pay the mortgage first. The NCI's commitment to Type
5 grant awards and the Research Project Grant (RPG) pool is analogous
to NCI's mortgage. We are committed to support these existing obligations
but do not want to preclude funding new grants. Our budget increases have
indeed been impressive, and we are grateful. But even with these increases,
our commitments outstrip available funds.
The Remedies
I give you this background to explain the reasons for the NCI's recent
cost control measures. These measures were needed urgently to protect
the RPG pool, to insure that we meet our commitments and that we continue
to fund exciting new science. As you probably have heard, we stopped processing
Accelerated Executive Reviews (AERs) for this year. NCI's Executive Committee
has not yet determined whether there will be AERs in FY 2002. Budget increases
for competing (Type 2) P01s will be limited to 20% above current budgets.
Due to the current fiscal situation, we cannot make exceptions to these
policies.
In addition, NCI soon will be issuing a PAS--Program Announcement
(with NCI review and a set-aside) for Cohort Studies in Cancer Epidemiology.
Proposals for new and competing large epidemiologic cohort studies ($500,000
or more direct costs in any year) should be submitted only through this
mechanism. The NCI will not accept "large" unsolicited cohort applications.
This new policy is essential if NCI is to engage in budget planning in
the face of rapidly escalating costs. It has the advantage of providing
grantees direct review through NCI's Division of Extramural Activities
peer review processes. Such ad hoc review groups are comprised of external
reviewers who have specific expertise in the conduct of epidemiologic
cohort studies. Using the PAS strategy should permit us to improve budget
planning by making the process of receiving, reviewing and awarding one
significant group of large cost studies more manageable and reliable.
NCI's Commitment to Cohort Studies
We want our epidemiology colleagues to understand, as Dr. Klausner has
stated on numerous occasions, how much we appreciate and value cohorts
and the enormous body of knowledge that has come from them. The PAS strategy
does not represent a lack of support for cohort studies. Indeed, this
area of research has grown dramatically over the last few years. The PAS
is our best approach to budgetary planning while assuring that this critically
important area of research receives appropriate review and continued support.
We will keep you informed about any additional changes. In addition, we
will post the PAS as soon as it is available. We are grateful for the
generous budgets NCI has received and for the significant contributions
our grantees have made to the science base in cancer control. Please contact
our program directors if you have any questions about how these policies
affect you. I am always available as well.
For More Information
Information on a number of NCI websites provides additional information
that may be helpful to you.
NCI Web site http://cancer.gov/
Extramural Funding Opportunities Web site http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/funding.htm
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences Web site http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov
Information on Large Grants http://dccps.nci.nih.gov/large_grants.html
Fiscal Year 2001 Funding Policy http://dccps.nci.nih.gov/2001_funding_policy.html
Dr. Sandra Melnick, Branch Chief, Analytic Epidemiology Research Branch,
will be the Program Director for the cohort PAS. She can be reached at
301-435-3914, or by email melnicks@mail.nih.gov.
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