Drafting an NIH Grant Proposal: Significance and Innovation - PowerPoint Presentation

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Drafting an NIH Grant Proposal: Significance and Innovation

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Kim

M.

Gans

, PhD, MPH, LDN

Professor, Dept. of Behavioral & Social Sciences and

Director

, Institute for Community Health

Promotion

Brown

University School of Public HealthSlide2

Who am I?1992-present: Assistant to Associate to Full Professor at Brown University School of Public Health

2009-present: Director, Institute for Community Health Promotion

Starting in Fall 2014: Professor, Department

of Human Development and Family Studies and

CHIP, University of Connecticut Research: Intervention studies in community-based settings to improve eating habits, increase physical activity and prevent/treat obesityMany grant review committeesPast 4 years - standing member of CLHP study section

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Who am I?Funded continuously on federal grants

since 1986PI grants:

1 USDA grant

1 R21 grant

4 R01 grants (Another R01 pending)2 R18 grants (like R01 but translational research)1 R13 (pending)4 Foundation grants (RWJF and Tufts Health Plan Foundation)

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Overall ImpactFunction

of Importance and Likelihood1. Importance—the

significance and innovation of the research problem—its ability to move the frontier of knowledge

forward

2. Likelihood—the ability that you, the PI, can achieve your ends, as judged by your experimental design, the expertise of your team, and the resources at your disposal to execute the projectImpact = function of importance (significance, innovation) and likelihood (approach, investigator, environment)

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Significance vs. Impact

Significance is how important your research would be if everything worked perfectly

Impact

is the likelihood that the project, as written, will change the

relevant scientific field and make a difference in human health“Significance” is whether the project is worth doing“Impact” is what NIH gets for its money at the end of the projecthttp://www.i2at.msstate.edu/pdf/NIH_R01_Series_Part4_Research_Plan.pdf

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Significance and Innovation

The peer review criteria reviewers use to assess the importance of your

application

Must highlight

these factors effectively“Sales job”6Slide7

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Good quote

“NIH doesn’t want all the detailed minutiae about what reagent you’re going to use, who the vendor is, and what temperature you’re doing the experiment at.

If

you’re conveying those things, without having spent the time (i.e. space) to

convince the reader in the first place about the value of the work that you’re doing, then your proposal will be received much like a proposition for a long night of sex after one short speed date.”http://morganonscience.com/grantwriting/nih-grant-writing-tips-the-new-format-significance-innovation-approach/8Slide9

NIH Study Section9Slide10

So if Significance and

Innovation both speak to Importance, what’s the difference between them?

Significance

The

positive effect

that successful completion of your research project is likely to have as the result of

solving an important, NIH-relevant

problem

Innovation

A

new

and

substantially

different

way of considering/addressing an important, public-health relevant problem that results in substantive

departure from the status quo

, thereby enabling

new horizons

that are pertinent to

NIH

Both seek to advance the field and speak to the importance of the research

Russell

, SW and Morrison, DC. The grant application writer’s workbook. National Institutes of Health Version

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SignificanceW

ill your project advance your field and fit the NIH mission to improve health through science?

Whether

the project is worth doing

How important your research would be if everything worked perfectlyIt does not take into account your ability to conduct the researchAssumes success - that the “aims of the project are achieved” and/or will be “successfully completed”

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Significance: NIH Reviewer Criteria

Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field?

If

the aims of the project are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved?

How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services or preventative intervention that drive this field?

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What is told to reviewers about SignificanceScore the Significance criterion independently of your evaluation and scoring of the other 4 review criteria

Consider whether this specific project advances the field; not whether

the field

is important

 Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field, or has the ability to improve knowledge, technical capability or clinical practice in a major (1-3), moderate (4-6) or minor (7-9) way?Relevance to human disease is not required for significance

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Significance: One ApproachThree parts to significance:

Review literature and write contribution statement

Statement of significance

Discussion of benefits

Russell, SW and Morrison, DC. The grant application writer’s workbook. National Institutes of Health Version

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Significance: One ApproachPart 1: Review primary literature that substantiates why its an important problem that needs to be addressed

Explain the importance of the problem (i.e.

prevalence

data, morbidity, etc.)

Background of the fieldDetail existence of research gaps/needs/opportunities

Frame why this is an important problem to solve

Conclude

with a sentence that explicitly describes the contribution that you expect to make.

Should relate back to your specific aims

The expected contribution of the proposed research is…

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Significance: One ApproachPart 2: Statement of significance

Why the expected contribution is important / significant.What is the positive impact that your contribution will have?

Most important sentence that you will write in the application

Simple and direct

Specific and substantiveUse Bold or italics

The

proposed research will have a significant positive impact on the field of public health because

….:

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Significance: One ApproachPart 3: Discussion of benefitsAdvancement of the field

Relevant to NIH’s missionHow will proposed research enable subsequent thinking and researchHow will it decrease morbidity/mortality, improvements in QOL and/or medical outcomes, reduction in costs,

etc.

Provides support for the significance statement

Include references17Slide18

Another approachPrepare an outline with

Bullets of the points you want to make

Then

Expand into

sentences - Subheadings are one sentence that highlight a key pointThen evidence given for that point followsSummarize all points of significance at the end

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PointersIf you are using a specific Program

Announcement, mention it , use specific language from it and cite it. Scan review committee roster to see who potential reviewers might be

Determine how well reviewers may know your field and add write

accordingly

Cite reviewers on the committee if possiblePreliminary studies?19Slide20

Pointers (cont.)

No more than 2 pages (

shorter for non-R01)

Use

bolding, italics, and sectioning to highlight key points and make it easier for reviewers to read If significance section is somewhat long, summarize it at the end If you have trouble writing significance, explain the significance to others verbally and tape yourself (or use Dragon software). Complete Approach

section before tackling

Significance

because you will have a clearer overall perspective of your proposal

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Example of ending paragraph to significance sectionThus, the proposed research is significant because it: 1) focuses on an

important public health problem (childhood obesity); 2) aims to reduce health disparities by including higher-risk low-income and Latino children

; 3) focuses on FCCHs--i

mportant, understudied, environments

for childhood obesity prevention; 4) includes Spanish-speaking providers-a widespread, yet understudied childcare intervention population; 5) builds upon lessons learned from our previous studies, increasing the likelihood of efficacy; 6) will fill significant gaps in the fields of childcare, peer counseling and tailored intervention research; and 7) has high potential to be sustainable, replicable and widely disseminated.

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√ Significance CheckpointPoint out the project's significance throughout the

application (not just in significance section)Should extend and validate Specific Aims

section

D

escribe importance of your hypothesis to the field and human diseaseShows that you are aware of opportunities, gaps, roadblocks, and research underway in your field

States how your research will advance your field, highlighting knowledge gaps and showing how project fills one or more of them

Don’t forget to discuss sustainability, dissemination capability

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InnovationHow

advancement of the field results from using innovative approaches that deviate from traditional approaches

Not

just “novelty

”Implies not only newness, but a sense of unique

utility

An innovative grant proposal will propose to

solve a problem in new

ways

Show

how your proposed research is new and unique, e.g., explores new scientific avenues, has a novel hypothesis, will create new knowledge

.

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Innovation: NIH Reviewer Criteria

Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions?

Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense

?

Is a refinement, improvement, or new application or theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?

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Innovation: One ApproachPart 1: Document ( with citations) what the norm has been to this point

Create a literature-based foundation that will allow reviewers to appreciate what the status quo is

Part 2: Statement of innovation:

The proposed research is innovative, in our opinion, because [what sets your research apart from existing research]

Part 3: Discuss positive impact – advancement that would have been unlikely without the departure from the status quoRussell, SW and Morrison, DC. The grant application writer’s workbook. National Institutes of Health Version

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Innovation Tips

NIH’s three

bullet points

for Innovation

are good guidelines, but don’t make each a subhead and

address

them

individually

Provide

a narrative that demonstrates you have thought about the

pioneering

nature of what you are proposing and that you have considered how your

approach

is different from

others

Highlight significance and innovation in other parts of the application, such as the Abstract, Aims, Summary of Strengths

http://www.i2at.msstate.edu/pdf/NIH_R01_Series_Part4_Research_Plan.pdf

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Innovation Tips

Length: No longer than a paragraph

or

two. ½ to ¾ page max

Don’t try to pretend that your science is innovative when it isn’t. Describe how your project is new and unique, but not too far out of the boxUsually do not see grant applications that are shifting paradigmsThey

are using new approaches or models, working in new areas, or testing innovative

ideas

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ExampleWe believe that the proposed research is very innovative

because: 1) It is focused on FCCHs – a novel setting for obesity prevention research; 2) It will include Spanish-speaking FCCPs,

which no prior studies in

any

child care setting have done; 3) It will utilize peer counselors to support and empower FCCPs to change FCCH environments, a novel approach for obesity prevention interventions in childcare settings. Moreover, while peer counselors have previously been shown to be effective in changing individual health behaviors in certain populations outside of childcare, studies have not adequately evaluated their ability to foster environmental change, which will be our focus.; 4) It will integrate peer counseling with tailored written materials and videos, which is a novel intervention strategy never before studied. Dr. Gans has piloted this approach with families; but only using tailored print materials, not tailored videos, and not in childcare settings. The proposed research will expand our knowledge about the efficacy of this innovative approach.

Overall, the intervention setting, target population and intervention approaches are all novel. The proposed research will move the frontier of obesity prevention research in childcare forward.

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Difference between impact of significance and innovation

Positive impact of significance

stems from the

concrete benefit

that is relevant to NIH’s mission.Positive impact of innovation stems from advancement because of the departure from the status quo.

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Formatting and Writing Tips

Writing style

Clear, Direct, Succinct

writing

Simple declarative sentencesNIH suggests no more than 20 words per sentenceIf the writing is unclear, often the thinking is unclear.Write so that reviewer can

summarize in 2 to 3

sentences

If you want

to make a number look large,

precede

it with the word “fully,”

(fully 30%).

If

you want to

make a number look small,

precede

it with “only,”

(only 70%).

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S and I Checkpoint √

Application makes a solid case for the reason

your research

is

importantFocus on how

your project

addresses critical research opportunities that can move the frontier of knowledge in

your

field

forward

H

ighlight

significance

and innovation in

other parts of the application, such as the

Abstract, Aims, Summary of Strengths at end of grant

http

://www.niaid.nih.gov/researchfunding/grant/strategy/pages/3significance.aspx

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References and Additional ReadingRussell, SW and Morrison, DC. The grant application writer’s workbook. National Institutes of Health Version

Pequegnat, W; Stover, E and Boyce, CA. How to write a successful research grant application. A guide for social and behavioral scientists 2

nd

editionMorgan Giddings: http://morganonscience.com/32Slide33

Sample grants from NIAIDhttp://www.niaid.nih.gov/researchfunding/grant/Documents/Ratnerfull.pdf

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/researchfunding/grant/Documents/Parrishfull.pdf

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How are grants scored?http://public.csr.nih.gov/ReviewerResources/MeetingOverview/Documents/OrientationtoPeerReviewFinaltoPostCAK.pdf

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Questions35