Purpose.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA), issued by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the Office of

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Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), encourages the submission of grant applications that propose hypothesis-driven projects exploring associations between the built environment, other contextual features of where people of all ages live and work and health behaviors related to energy balance.

These projects should use population level data from health surveys and other large health studies.

It is expected that the proposed projects will be designed to add/include contextual variables at diverse levels of geographic aggregation to such studies on behaviors that affect individual energy balance and thereby health.?Subsequent analyses should be aimed at understanding the relative importance of the contextual variables (including home, work, school, and/or other environments) as determinants of energy balance-related health behaviors.

Grant applications will be expected to use population level data from diverse sources for:
1) generation and addition of new geographic information system (GIS) data layers for analysis of contextual variables such as measures of the built and natural environments, to existing studies; 2) analyses of existing confidential geographic-based data either on site, at survey data centers, or other protected sites; and/or 3) merging multiple health-related data resources to allow new analyses of associations between contextual variables and energy balance-related health behaviors.



Mechanism of Support.

This FOA utilizes the NIH Exploratory/Developmental Grant (R21) mechanism and runs in parallel with an FOA of identical scientific scope, PA-08-192, that solicits applications under the NIH Research Project Grant (R01) mechanism.





Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards.

Awards issued under this FOA are contingent upon the availability of funds and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications; therefore, the anticipated number of awards is not known.

Because the nature and scope of the proposed research will vary from application to application, it is anticipated that the size and duration of each award will also vary.

The total amount awarded and the number of awards will depend upon the mechanism numbers, quality, duration, and costs of the applications received



Budget and Project Period.

The total project period for an application submitted in response to this funding opportunity may not exceed two years.

Direct costs are limited to $275,000 over an R21 two-year period, with no more than $200,000 in direct costs allowed in any single year.

The R21 is not renewable.



Application Research Plan Component Length:
The R21 application Research Plan component of the PHS398 (Items 2-5) may not exceed 15 pages, including tables, graphs, figures, diagrams, and charts.

For information on NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (R21



Eligible Institutions/Organizations.

Institutions/organizations listed in Section III, 1. A.

are eligible to apply.





Eligible Project Directors/Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs).

Include Individuals with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research are invited to work with their institution/organization to develop an application for support.

Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.





Number of PDs/PIs.

More than one PD/PI (i.e., multiple PDs/PIs), may be designated on the application.





Number of Applications.

Applicants may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.





Resubmissions.

Applicants may submit a resubmission application, but such application must include an Introduction addressing the previous peer review critique (Summary Statement).



Renewals.

Exploratory/developmental grant support is for new projects only; competing renewal (formerly ?competing continuation?) applications will not be accepted.