On March 15, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of the Director announced a new funding opportunity allowing investigators with active NIH awards to request administrative supplements to expand their existing research on Sexual & Gender Minority (SGM) populations. The deadline to apply for a supplement award is May 8, 2018. Application budgets are limited to no more than the amount of the current parent award, and must not exceed $100,000 in total costs.

The NIH Office of the Director intends to commit up to $1 million to fund approximately ten awards in 2018. The supplements are designed for grants that already have an SGM focus; however, projects that do not have an SGM focus, but are focused on health issues relevant to SGM populations, can be expanded to include SGM participants as a sub-group. Those who are interested in pursuing this option are invited to contact Northwestern University’s Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health (ISGMH) for assistance: (isgmh@northwestern.edu). ISGMH faculty and staff can provide advice on high priority SGM health research questions, recruitment approaches, measures, and help form connection to community organizations. Research administrators within ISGMH are also available to assist with proposal development and submission.
 

National Institutes of Health

Administrative Supplements for Research on Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) Populations

FOA#: PA-18-713

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of the Director announces the availability of administrative supplements to expand existing research to focus on Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) health. Program Directors/Principal Investigators holding specific types of NIH research grants, listed in this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) are notified that funds may be available for administrative supplements to meet increased costs that are within the scope of the approved award, but that were unforeseen when the new or renewal application or grant progress report for non-competing continuation support was submitted.

Applications for administrative supplements are considered prior approval requests (as described in Section 8.1.2.11 of the NIH Grants Policy Statement) and will be routed directly to the Grants Management Officer of the parent award. Although requests for administrative supplements may be submitted through this FOA, there is no guarantee that funds are available from the awarding IC or for any specific grant. All applicants are encouraged to discuss potential requests with the awarding IC.

SGM populations include, but are not limited to, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and individuals with differences or disorders of sexual development (sometimes referred to as “intersex” or as specific diagnoses). This trans-NIH effort, which involves multiple Institutes, Centers and Offices from across NIH, is intended to encourage investigation in this growing field of research.

This FOA calls for research that will enrich scientific understanding of how sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or being born with DSD/Intersex conditions relate to health and health risks, perceptions and expectations about health, health behaviors, and barriers and access to health-related services.

Appropriate topics/studies for these supplements include, but are not limited to, those listed below:

1. • Addition of SGM individuals to a study which either originally excluded them or has not enrolled enough SGM participants to make any meaningful comparisons between groups; studies need to have sufficient power to allow for meaningful comparisons
   • Expansion of an ongoing SGM study focused on one group to add another; sample sizes need to be powered to allow for meaningful comparisons
   • Expansion of questionnaires administered in any setting where it is relevant to address issues of sexual attraction, sexual behavior, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression
   • Assessment of reliability and validity of measures relevant to sexual attraction, sexual behavior, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression
   • Methodological innovations to improve the recruitment and retention of SGM individuals in any research initiative
   • Ethical, legal, or social science research on the implications of genetic and other research findings on SGM populations.

This announcement is for supplements to existing projects. To be eligible, the parent award must be active and the research proposed in the supplement must be accomplished within the competitive segment. The proposed supplement must be to provide for an increase in costs due to unforeseen circumstances. All additional costs must be within the scope of the peer reviewed and approved project.

IMPORTANT: The research proposed by the NIH grantee in the supplement application must be within the original scope of the NIH-supported grant project.