Below are answer to frequently asked questions about our RFA. For more details, please refer to the full RFA document found here.
- Who should apply and what are the evaluation criteria?
- What are the OAIC Cores that scholars are required to utilize?
- What is the research component and how is it evaluated?
- What is included in and required for salary support and training?
- What is the application process?
- When will applicants receive notification of award?
- What are requirements for publications under the Pepper Scholar Program?
- Who should I contact with questions about the RFA?
Who should apply and what are the evaluation criteria?
Basic science and clinical researchers who are early stage faculty or post-doctoral associates are encouraged to apply. Applicants may originate from any Colleges within the University of Florida or the VA Medical Center, and can include collaborations with other institutions, particularly those with OAIC’s.
Primary Qualifications:
- Faculty appointment at the Assistant Professor, Post-Doctoral Associate, or equivalent level
- A proposed research project relevant to “Understanding the Multi-complexity of Mobility Loss with Aging” through interdisciplinary approaches to promote mobility and independence
- Commitment to a research career with an aging focus
- Not having received as PI an NIH R01 or similar grant awards, or K award or other career development awards
- Sufficient protected time (min 50%) to accomplish the research career development plan
- Explicit support of Department Chair / Division Chief
- US citizenship not required, foreign nationals are eligible to apply
Selection Process:
- Peer review committee evaluates applicants
- Appointment by the Pepper Center Executive Committee
- Endorsement by External Advisory Committee
- Approval from the National Institute on Aging Program Officer
What are the OAIC Cores that scholars are required to utilize?
Scholars MUST utilize select OAIC Cores as a research resource described below in “Research Component”. A brief description of each core follows.
The Research Education Core led by Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, PhD (cleeuwen@ufl.edu) and Roger Fillingim, PhD (RFillingim@dental.ufl.edu) which recruits and supports talented early stage investigators and provides mentored research and personalized training, including a common core of activities that increase the aptitude for translational science.
The Clinical Research Core, led by Stephen Anton, Ph.D. (santon@ufl.edu) provides expertise for conducting and translating clinical research across the spectrum of investigation of both behavioral and pharmaceutical clinical trials. It also engages with observational studies of risk and outcomes related to mobility and prevention of disability.
The Metabolism and Translational Science Core, led by Christiaan Leeuwenburgh PhD (cleeuwen@ufl.edu), research asserts that healthy aging depends upon knowledge of specific protein, RNA, and DNA biomarkers, as well as measurements of metabolism in isolated mitochondria and white blood cells.
The Systems Physiology and Multi–Omics Core led by Karyn Esser, PhD (kaesser@ufl.edu) provides expertise in systemic measures of mouse activity, circadian rhythms and bioinformatics expertise for genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics datasets metabolism and feeding.
The Biostatistics Core, led by Peihua Qiu, PhD (pqiu@ufl.edu), creates operational definitions for outcome variables and other covariates to be measured, analyzes pilot/exploratory studies to obtain data useful for planning future studies, provides pre-study and pre-proposal study design guidance: performs power analyses, calculates appropriate sample size for testing intervention effects and develops statistical analysis plans.
The Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence Core, led by Todd Manini, PhD (tmanini@ufl.edu) and Sanjay Ranka, PhD (ranka@cise.ufl.edu), provides a central hub of expertise in computer science, biomedical engineering, biomedical informatics, data science, applied technology, epidemiology, and content expertise in the assessment of mobility.
What is the research component and how is it evaluated?
Basic science projects and secondary data analyses projects are allowed up to $25,000 per year and clinical research projects which involve human subjects are allowed up to $50,000 per year in direct costs for the 2- year funding period. Each project should be for no more than 2 years (project end date 3/31/2027) and it is the expectation that all funds will be expended within each award year: no carryover of funds and no indirect costs are allowed.
The research component is evaluated upon:
- Significance, innovation, methodological approach, and investigator
- Relevance to the RFA theme: “Understanding the Multi-complexity of Mobility Loss with Aging”
- Potential to result in subsequent larger NIH funded projects. A paragraph is required to describe the aims of the subsequent project and to outline how the research will provide data that are needed for the major grant.
- Quality and Commitment of Primary Mentor and Mentoring Team
- Multidisciplinary Investigative Team
- Environment and use of Pepper Center Cores
- Budget and timeline appropriateness
- Early stage investigator qualifications (publications, impact of research, previous training, etc.)
What is included in and required for salary support and training?
- In addition to funding for the research component, salary support of 50% effort, up to $60,000/year is allowable by the OAIC contingent upon support of a minimum of 50% protected research time from the applicant’s department chair and mentor
- One or two highly qualified primary mentors actively participating in their mentoring and research education components
- Access to a formal mentoring team (3-5 members total including primary mentor(s)) with whom the applicant meets at least every six months to monitor progress
- Priority access to OAIC research cores
- Applicants must clearly lay out their career development plan including attendance of all OAIC seminars, CTSI seminars for early stage faculty, didactic scientific education through their research project and formal coursework
- Awards levels are contingent upon the type of project proposed, availability of funds and approval by the OAIC External Advisory Board and the National Institute on Aging
Allowable Costs
- Only direct costs that support the advancement of the research proposal are allowed. No indirect costs will be awarded.
- Awardees must comply with the broad policies governing Cost Accounting Standards.
Provisions Applicable to Direct Costs
- Domestic travel is permitted for project-related scientific meetings to discuss or present research. Foreign travel is not allowed.
- Scientific equipment (not to exceed $5000) is allowed if specifically budgeted for and awarded. Upon completion of the project, any equipment purchased utilizing REC funds will remain under the title of the UF Pepper Center.
- General purpose office equipment is not allowed.
- Costs of publications and open access fees are allowable.
- Food is not allowed, except for research purposes for research study participants.
- Principal Investigator and key personnel (Co-Investigators) salaries are not permitted (except the Research Education Scholar salary as outlined above), but supporting scientist and staff salaries are allowed.
What is the application process?
Submit Letter of Intent (LOI)
A letter of intent to submit an application is due by November 1, 2024.
The following information should be included in the submission.
- Your name, title, email, department and college, other demographic Information.
- Relevance to the OAIC theme as described in this RFA
- Core(s) you plan to utilize for your project
- Short summary, specific aims and research plan
LOIs can be submitted via REDCap and are due by 5PM on November 1, 2024.
Submission of Full Application
You will receive application instructions if your letter of intent is accepted for this RFA. Full applications will be due January 10, 2025.
When will applicants receive notification of award?
Notification of award is projected after April 2025.
Funds will be distributed sometime after July 2025. The distribution of awards is contingent upon approval of the project from the local Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) as appropriate.
Applicants must include the IRB/IACUC submission process in their timeline.
What are requirements for publications under the Pepper Scholar Program?
All publications need to follow the NIHMS guidelines. If funded, investigators will be asked to acknowledge that “Support was provided by the University of Florida Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center P30AG028740” and must be in PMCID compliance.
Who should I contact with questions about the RFA?
For additional information or clarification please contact Christiaan Leeuwenburgh (cleeuwen@ufl.edu), Roger Fillingim (rfilling@ufl.edu), or Rui Xiao (rxiao@ufl.edu) for questions regarding this RFA and guidance in developing relevant research proposals. Please attend our informational workshop on October 21, 2024 if you are interested in applying.
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Request for Scholar Applications
The University of Florida Claude D. Pepper Older American’s Independence Center (OAIC) is seeking applications for its Pepper Scholar Program from early-stage investigators conducting research related to the OAIC theme of “Understanding the Multi-complexity of Mobility Loss with Aging”. Download to learn more.