Evaluating the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic-related Food and Housing Policies and Programs on Health Outcomes in Health Disparity Populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

Evaluating the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic-related Food and Housing Policies and Programs on Health Outcomes in Health Disparity Populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) is sponsored by National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) - NIH. This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

Expired RFA-NR-23-003: Evaluating the Impact of Pandemic Era related Food and Housing Policies and Programs on Health Outcomes in Health Disparity Populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) This notice has expired. Check the NIH Guide for active opportunities and notices. Department of Health and Human Services Part 1.

Overview Information Participating Organization(s) National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) Components of Participating Organizations National Institute of Nursing Research ( NINR ) National Institute of Mental Health ( NIMH ) National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities ( NIMHD ) All applications to this funding opportunity announcement should fall within the mission of the Institutes/Centers.

The following NIH Offices may co-fund applications assigned to those Institutes/Centers.

Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, Office of Disease Prevention ( ODP ) Funding Opportunity Title Evaluating the Impact of Pandemic Era related Food and Housing Policies and Programs on Health Outcomes in Health Disparity Populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) R01 Research Project Grant NOT-OD-22-195 - New NIH "FORMS-H" Grant Application Forms and Instructions Coming for Due Dates on or after January 25, 2023 NOT-OD-22-189 - Implementation Details for the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy NOT-OD-22-198 - Implementation Changes for Genomic Data Sharing Plans Included with Applications Due on or after January 25, 2023 NOT-OD-23-012 - Reminder: FORMS-H Grant Application Forms & Instructions Must be Used for Due Dates On or After January 25, 2023 - New Grant Application Instructions Now Available Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number Companion Funding Opportunity See Section III.

3. Additional Information on Eligibility . Assistance Listing Number(s) Funding Opportunity Purpose The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to identify and evaluate the ongoing and long-term health impacts of disruptions in food and housing security experienced during the pandemic era and the role of targeted policy and programmatic actions in mitigating those impacts.

For the purposes of this FOA, the pandemic era is defined as the period from 2020 to present, which includes ongoing widespread adverse social, behavioral, and economic disruptions.

This FOA requests applications that propose examinations of how governmental (local, state, tribal, federal) food/nutrition and housing policies and programs aimed at reducing disruptive impacts of the pandemic era, influence health and health equity in individuals, families, and communities from health disparity populations.

Health disparity populations include racial and ethnic minority populations (as defined in OMB directive 15 ), less privileged socioeconomic status (SES) populations, underserved rural populations, sexual and gender minorities (SGM), and any subpopulations that can be characterized by two or more of these descriptions.

Open Date (Earliest Submission Date) Letter of Intent Due Date(s) Renewal / Resubmission / Revision (as allowed) All applications are due by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date. No late applications will be accepted for this Funding Opportunity Announcement.

Required Application Instructions It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Research (R) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide , except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts). Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced.

Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV . When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions. Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

Part 1. Overview Information Part 2. Full Text of Announcement Section I.

Funding Opportunity Description Section II. Award Information Section III. Eligibility Information Section IV.

Application and Submission Information Section V. Application Review Information Section VI. Award Administration Information Section VII.

Agency Contacts Section VIII. Other Information Part 2. Full Text of Announcement Section I.

Funding Opportunity Description The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to identify and evaluate the ongoing and long-term health impacts of disruptions in food and housing security experienced during the pandemic era and the role of targeted policy and programmatic actions in mitigating those impacts.

For the purposes of this FOA, the pandemic era is defined as the period from 2020 to present, which includes ongoing widespread adverse social, behavioral, and economic disruptions.

This FOA requests applications that propose examinations of how governmental (local, state, tribal, federal) food/nutrition and housing policies and programs aimed at reducing disruptive impacts of the pandemic era, influence health and health equity in individuals, families, and communities from health disparity populations.

Health disparity populations include racial and ethnic minority populations (as defined in OMB directive 15 ), less privileged socioeconomic status (SES) populations, underserved rural populations, sexual and gender minorities (SGM), and any subpopulations that can be characterized by two or more of these descriptions. The pandemic era has disrupted lives globally, triggering health, human, economic, and social crises.

In the United States disruption in food and housing access are among the long list of circumstances associated with multilevel adverse health outcomes during this era. While there are promising signs of economic recovery, many households have yet to recover from job losses or reductions.

The long-term effects of these pandemic-era disruptions on health and well-being continue to unfold and extend beyond the direct consequences of acute disease. Of particular concern is the impact of the ongoing disruptions on populations who experience health disparities.

COVID-19, other recent viral threats (e.g., respiratory syncytial virus, monkeypox, and influenza), and their associated disruptions have highlighted ongoing disparities in social, behavioral, and economic conditions that influence health and health equity. Two social determinants of health that continue to be impacted by the current-day disruptions of the pandemic era are food/nutrition security and housing security.

Food and nutrition insecurity are well-known social determinants of health for both adults and children. For example, adults in households with more severe food insecurity are more likely to have chronic health conditions such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and depression, as well as increased risk of mortality.

Children who are food insecure are twice as likely to report fair or poor health compared to those who are food secure. Among children, food insecurity is also associated with adverse behavioral and academic outcomes. The pandemic era has disrupted food access and negatively impacted food security, which is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes.

The overall prevalence of food insecurity rose sharply to 20% of adults in spring 2020; however, it declined in spring 2021 due to safety net responses. Unfortunately, food insecurity rose again in 2022 due to inflation in food prices along with elevated costs for other basic needs such as transportation and housing. These all factor into eroding food budgets in the past year.

Furthermore, some of the safety net policies and programs that buffered food insecurity in 2020 and 2021 are no longer in place. Housing is another important social determinant that influences health and wellbeing from birth across the lifespan. The disruptions experienced during the pandemic era have highlighted the ways in which various aspects of housing impact health.

Housing insecurity has been key to the spread of communicable diseases. Transmission has been associated with living in congregate settings and crowded conditions, making it difficult for people to maintain safe distance from others when they are sick. Individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups are more likely than White individuals to live in crowded conditions (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021).

The risk of infectious disease outbreaks has also been high in homeless shelters and long-term care facility settings where people identifying as racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). During the pandemic era, stable housing was recognized as critically important for community control of disease.

Stable housing allows individuals who become ill or who are at risk of transmitting infectious diseases to self-isolate. This was a major rationale for the national eviction moratorium and other moratoriums at the local and state levels.

As a result of the Supreme Court’s August 26, 2021 decision, the CDC’s eviction ban is no longer in place, although states, counties, and cities can still prohibit evictions and enact other tenant protections. Additionally, many pandemic era rental assistance programs have begun to sunset.

Little is known about how the discontinuation of housing security programs influence health outcomes and what influence ending such programs has on health equity. Additionally, there have been steep increases in the cost of rents and mortgages during the pandemic era. Health disparity populations struggle to afford housing and suffer negative mental and physical health outcomes as a result of poorer housing and neighborhood conditions.

Local, state, tribal, and federal policies and programs have attempted to blunt disruptions during the pandemic era by addressing key social determinants of health, including food/nutrition insecurity and unstable housing and housing displacements. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, Congress and the USDA strengthened the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to expand its case load to 6. 2 million more participants.

The creation of the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer program enabled households with children who relied on free or reduced priced school meals to access extra monetary benefits while schools were in distance learning.

Other food/nutrition policies and programs included the following: a) changes in subsidized/free meal programs (e.g., schools); b) parents picking up school meals for children to eat at home; c) additional funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and d) systems that allow people to enroll in food programs remotely.

Unstable housing and housing displacement interventions included the following: a) moratorium on evictions; b) emergency rental assistance and housing; c) elimination of single-family zoning; and d) mortgage relief.

These and other local, state, tribal, and federal pandemic-era food and housing policies and programs that were developed in response to the disruptive conditions, as well as future policies and programs, can be evaluated using a “natural experiment” approach to examine their influence on health, health disparities, and health equity.

While there are some cross-sectional studies using modeling and simulation to assess the impact of governmental strategies aimed at lessening the effects of pandemic-era disruptions, longitudinal studies treating policies and programs as natural experiments can help identify specific causal pathways connecting policies and health.

Changes in policy, including sunsetting of eviction moratoriums, rental assistance, and expanded subsidized/free school meal programs and others, can provide additional opportunities to study the extent to which these policies reduced the health and health equity impacts of the pandemic era or caused unintended consequences.

Studies explicitly addressing how context modifies policy effects, how policies and programs influence health disparities, and that elucidate the intersectional nature of food and housing security or with other social determinants of health in the pandemic era are encouraged.

Such research will yield lessons for mitigating the disruptive effects of future pandemics and for addressing persistent structural factors influencing health equity. The research objective is to use study designs that allow for the examination of food and housing policies and programs (such as those federal actions described at nutrition. gov and hud.

gov ) that aim to reduce the impact of pandemic-era disruptions on health, health disparities, and health equity, to understand the pathways of these effects, and to describe long-term consequences.

This FOA may support studies where an exposure or change is not directly manipulated by the researcher, and where comparable control data are available and confounding variables can be limited through study design, sample selection, and statistical analysis. Other rigorous experimental designs are allowable including prospective interventional studies, if the study fits within the scope of the FOA.

Rigorous efforts to address potential sources of bias related to causal inference are encouraged and, where appropriate, attention should be paid to advances in the analysis of natural experiments arising in various disciplines. Applicants should also account for unintended consequences of policies and programs on health, where applicable.

The investigations proposed in response to this funding opportunity should be generalizable to the target population of the study. Given that the most effective policy solutions may be those that are targeted to the covered population, studies evaluating policies or programs designed and implemented by local, state or tribal administrations are not expected to be generalizable to the U.S. population.

Applicants can propose research that study one or more policies and programs and their combined impacts on child and/or adult health.

Examples of topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Studies examining changes in food/nutrition insecurity following implementation of policies and programs responsive to disruptions experienced during the pandemic era; examination of the impact of such policies and programs on the health of populations, including dietary behaviors, and diet-related diseases, both in those newly experiencing food/nutrition insecurity and those with longer term experience (i.e., started pre-pandemic era) Studies of the health impacts of housing-related policies and programs aimed at mitigating risk factors (e.g., over-crowded living conditions, homelessness, doubling-up, couch surfing, transiency) during the pandemic era Studies embedded in existing research cohorts that take advantage of their rich longitudinal data.

Such studies should take care to clearly address measurement of specific policy exposures related to housing and/or food insecurity in the cohort and address health equity Examination of pandemic era disruption related factors that hinder or enhance the successful implementation of food/nutrition security policies and programs (e.g., disrupted supply chains, depleted food pantries, empty store shelves, fear of close proximity to other shoppers) and the resulting impact on health and health equity Studies of existing population and/or community-level barriers that reduced the widespread utilization of benefits or provisions due to pandemic era food/nutrition security policies and programs – e.g., decreased access to healthy foods (food deserts), higher food prices, closures of grocery stores, transportation gaps, insufficient access to SNAP-eligible food markets, and the impact on health outcomes Research on the long-term impact of pandemic-era food/nutrition and/or housing security policies and programs for reducing risk and severity of chronic illnesses (e.g., hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, mental illness), symptoms of stress, substance misuse, and/or mental health outcomes (e.g., suicidal behavior, depression, anxiety) Studies of the impact of ending or the de-implementation of pandemic era food/nutrition and/or housing security policies and programs on health and health equity Studies of interactions between pandemic era food/nutrition and/or housing security policies and programs and other government policies and programs that address other social determinants of health in place prior to the onset of the pandemic era In addition to the above areas of interest, interests of selected participating Institutes and Centers (ICs) are summarized below.

Applicants are encouraged to contact the Scientific/Research contact at the intended IC to ensure that proposed aims of the project are consistent with IC mission and priorities. Applications must include a Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives (PEDP) submitted as Other Project Information as an attachment (see Section IV ).

The PEDP will be assessed as part of the scientific and technical peer review evaluation, as well as considered among programmatic matters with respect to funding decisions. National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) NINR supports research to solve pressing health challenges and inform practice and policy optimizing health and advancing health equity into the future.

NINR discovers solutions to health challenges through the lenses of health equity, social determinants of health, population and community health, prevention and health promotion, and systems and models of care.

Drawing on the strengths of nursing’s holistic contextualized perspective, core values, and broad reach, NINR funds foundational, intervention, and implementation research that examines the factors at multiple levels that impact health, health disparities, and health equity across the many settings in which nurses practice, including homes, schools, workplaces, clinics, justice settings, and the community.

Areas of programmatic interest to NINR include but are not limited to studies that try to understand what happens when pandemic era policies and programs are sunset/discontinued; studies that attempt to comprehend the intersectional nature of food and housing security along with other social determinants of health in a pandemic era; and studies that address experiences and outcomes based on the intersection of social identities (e.g. being Black and female, etc.).

Also of interest are studies that attempt to determine which policies and programs would best be continued to create the widespread and sustainable changes required to address factors that create social marginalization and poor health. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) NIMH does not support clinical trials in this announcement. To learn more about how NIMH defines clinical trials, please see https://www.

nimh. nih. gov/funding/opportunities-announcements/clinical-trials-foas .

Investigators interested in pursuing clinical trials may wish to consider alternate funding mechanisms such as PAR-21-129 , PAR-21-130 or PAR-21-131 .

NIMH supports non-clinical trials research for this funding announcement, including quasi-experimental studies, survey or qualitative research methods, clinical epidemiology, and development and evaluation of new research methods, measures, financing approaches, or statistical approaches related to mental health services research.

NIMH is committed to supporting research that reduces disparities and advances equity in mental health interventions, services, and outcomes.

Accordingly, this FOA encourages research studies that seek to reduce disparities for racial and ethnic minority groups, individuals limited by language or cultural barriers, sexual and gender minorities, individuals living in rural areas, socioeconomically disadvantaged persons and other underserved groups.

NIMH encourages a deployment-focused model of intervention and services design and evaluation that takes into account the perspective of relevant stakeholders (e.g., service users, providers, administrators, payers) and the key characteristics of the settings (e.g., resources, including workforce capacity; existing clinical workflows) that are intended to implement optimized mental health interventions.

This attention to end-user perspectives and characteristics of intended clinical and/or community practice settings is intended to ensure the resultant interventions and service delivery strategies are acceptable to consumers and providers, the approaches are feasible and scalable in the settings where individuals are served, and the research results will have utility for end users.

NIMH encourages research on potentially scalable preventive, therapeutic, and services interventions that focuses on practice-relevant questions. Accordingly, collaborations between academic researchers and clinical or community practice partners or networks are encouraged.

When possible, studies should capitalize on existing infrastructure (e.g., practice-based research networks such as the NIMH-sponsored Mental Health Research Network (MHRN), electronic medical records, administrative databases, patient registries, institutions with Clinical and Translational Science Awards) to increase the efficiency of participant recruitment (i.e., more rapid identification and enrollment) and to facilitate the collection of moderator data (e.g., clinical characteristics, biomarkers), longer-term follow-up data, and broader, stakeholder-relevant outcomes (e.g., mental health and general health care utilization, value and efficiency of intervention approaches).

Office of Disease Prevention (ODP) The ODP is the lead office at the NIH responsible for assessing, facilitating, and stimulating research in disease prevention. In partnership with the 27 NIH Institutes and Centers, the ODP strives to increase the scope, quality, dissemination, and impact of NIH-supported prevention research.

The ODP is interested in providing co-funding support for research that has strong implications for disease prevention and health equity and that include innovative and appropriate design, measurement, and analysis methods. ODP has specific interest in projects that propose evaluation of policy and programmatic actions to address food/nutrition and housing security and the resulting effects on reducing health disparities.

The ODP also is interested in applications that propose to study impact of pandemic related food and housing mitigation strategies on long-term health effects of the pandemic (e.g., on risk and severity of chronic conditions, such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes and behavioral health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, substance use).

Non-responsiveness criteria : Applications will be considered non-responsive to this FOA if the proposed study: Does not focus on one or more of the following populations within the United States: Racial and ethnic minority populations Less privileged socioeconomic status (SES) populations Underserved rural populations Sexual and gender minorities (SGM) Any subpopulations that can be characterized by two or more of the descriptions above Does not focus on local, state, tribal, or federal food/nutrition policies or programs and/or housing policies or programs Focuses only on surveillance of health outcomes (e.g., # of lives saved) related to the governmental programs and policies of interest without investigation of the causal pathways underlying those health outcomes Does not include a Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives Applications must include a Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives (PEDP), submitted as an Other Project Information attachment (see Section IV; further below).

The PEDP will be assessed as part of the scientific and technical peer review evaluation, as well as at the programmatic level with respect to funding decisions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, April 19).

Health Equity Considerations & Racial & Ethnic Minority Groups. Retrieved from https://www. cdc.

gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity. html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, December 10).

Increased Risk Factors for Exposure: Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Retrieved September 29, 2021 from Risk of Exposure to COVID-19 | CDC See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.

Investigators proposing NIH-defined clinical trials may refer to the Research Methods Resources website for information about developing statistical methods and study designs. Section II. Award Information Grant: A support mechanism providing money, property, or both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity.

Application Types Allowed The OER Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types. Only those application types listed here are allowed for this FOA. Optional: Accepting applications that either propose or do not propose clinical trial(s).

Need help determining whether you are doing a clinical trial? Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications. Issuing IC and partner components intend to commit an estimated total of $4 million to fund 4-6 awards.

Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. Although application budgets are not limited, applicants proposing budgets of $500,000 or more in direct costs in any one year (excluding consortium F&A) are strongly encouraged to discuss the research project application with the listed NINR Scientific/Research Contact before submitting the application.

The scope of the proposed project should determine the project period. The maximum project period is 5 years. NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made from this FOA.

Section III.

Eligibility Information Higher Education Institutions Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education Private Institutions of Higher Education The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education: Hispanic-serving Institutions Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education) Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education) For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses) City or Township Governments Special District Governments Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized) Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized) Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government U.S. Territory or Possession Independent School Districts Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments) Faith-based or Community-based Organizations Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply. Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement , are allowed. Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award.

All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.

System for Award Management (SAM)– Applicants must complete and maintain an active registration, which requires renewal at least annually . The renewal process may require as much time as the initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not already been assigned a CAGE Code.

NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code – Foreign organizations must obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)- A UEI is issued as part of the SAM. gov registration process.

The same UEI must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application. eRA Commons - Once the unique organization identifier is established, organizations can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their Grants. gov registration; all registrations must be in place by time of submission.

eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application. Grants. gov – Applicants must have an active SAM registration in order to complete the Grants.

gov registration. Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s)) All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account. PD(s)/PI(s) should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate their existing account with the applicant organization in eRA Commons.

If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.

Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal Investigator) Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with their organization to develop an application for support.

Individuals from diverse backgrounds, including underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and women are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. See, Reminder: Notice of NIH's Encouragement of Applications Supporting Individuals from Underrepresented Ethnic and Racial Groups as well as Individuals with Disabilities, NOT-OD-22-019 .

For institutions/organizations proposing multiple PDs/PIs, visit the Multiple Program Director/Principal Investigator Policy and submission details in the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Component of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. 3.

Additional Information on Eligibility Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct. The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time, per 2. 3.

7. 4 Submission of Resubmission Application . This means that the NIH will not accept: A new (A0) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of an overlapping new (A0) or resubmission (A1) application.

A resubmission (A1) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of the previous new (A0) application. An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review (see 2. 3.

9. 4 Similar, Essentially Identical, or Identical Applications ) Section IV. Application and Submission Information 1.

Requesting an Application Package The application forms package specific to this opportunity must be accessed through ASSIST, Grants. gov Workspace or an institutional system-to-system solution. Links to apply using ASSIST or Grants.

gov Workspace are available in Part 1 of this FOA. See your administrative office for instructions if you plan to use an institutional system-to-system solution. 2.

Content and Form of Application Submission It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the Research (R) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced.

Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review. Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows IC staff to estimate the potential review workload and plan the review. By the date listed in Part 1.

Overview Information , prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information: Descriptive title of proposed activity Name(s), address(es), and telephone number(s) of the PD(s)/PI(s) Names of other key personnel Participating institution(s) Number and title of this funding opportunity The letter of intent should be sent to: All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.

Instructions for Application Submission The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this FOA. All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed. SF424(R&R) Project/Performance Site Locations All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

SF424(R&R) Other Project Information All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions: Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives (PEDP) In an "Other Attachment" entitled "Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives," all applicants must include a summary of strategies to advance the scientific and technical merit of the proposed project through expanded inclusivity.

The PEDP should provide a holistic and integrated view of how enhancing diverse perspectives is viewed and supported throughout the application and can incorporate elements with relevance to any review criteria (significance, investigator(s), innovation, approach, and environment) as appropriate. Where possible, applicant(s) should align their description with these required elements within the research strategy section.

The PEDP will vary depending on the scientific aims, expertise required, the environment and performance site(s), as well as how the project aims are structured. The PEDP may be no more than 1-page in length and should include a timeline and milestones for relevant components that will be considered as part of the review .