NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH,
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
AUTHORIZATION:
Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 288-2, Title IV
(National Research Institutes), Part G (Awards and Training), Section 487B
(Loan Repayment Program For Research With Respect to Contraception and
Infertility), as amended by Public Law 105-392.
The CIR-LRP is designed to provide an incentive for
health professionals to work in areas of reproductive research directly
related to contraceptive development and/or infertility diagnosis and
treatment by providing assistance in repaying educational loans for
individuals. The CIR-LRP will pay up to $35,000 of the principal and interest
of a participant's educational loans for each year of commitment not to exceed
one-half of the remaining loan balance. In addition to the loan repayments,
the CIR-LRP may pay participants up to 39 percent of the amount paid to
lenders as partial payments on the increased income tax liability caused by
the Program's loan repayments. In return for these loan repayments, applicants
must agree to commit to a period of obligated service of not less than 2 years
conducting research with respect to contraception and/or infertility. The
long- range objective of the CIR-LRP is to stimulate the commitment of
researchers to sustaining a career focus on contraception and/or infertility
research.
TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:
Direct Payments for Specified Use. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
The assistance provided by the CIR-LRP is entirely of a financial nature in
the form of loan repayments. The monies provided by this program are
restricted to the repayment of pre- existing, qualified loans procured by the
participant for educational expenses incurred in the pursuit of undergraduate
or graduate degrees.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant Eligibility: Qualified health and allied
professionals including, but not limited to, physicians scientists, nurses and
physician assistants, as well as graduate students and postgraduate research
fellows training in the health professions are eligible to apply; with the
provision that they will be or are engaged at the time of inception into the
CIR-LRP in employment/training at an NICHD intramural laboratory or one of the
following NICHD-supported extramural sites: 1) A Cooperative Specialized
Contraception or Infertility Research Center; 2) a Cooperative Specialized
Research Center in Reproduction Research; 3) a Women's Reproductive Health
Research Career Development Center; 4) a reproductive medicine unit identified
as a clinical site for the National Cooperative Reproductive Medicine Network,
or 5) a contraceptive clinical trial unit identified as a site for the
Contraceptive Clinical Trials Network. In addition, fellows participating in
the Reproductive Scientist Development Program (RSDP) are eligible to apply.
All applicants will be expected to participate in research on infertility or
contraceptive development. Persons who are not U.S. citizens, Nationals or
permanent residents are not eligible to apply.
Beneficiary Eligibility: Assistance in the form
of loan repayments will be made to qualified health professionals (including
graduate students) who are participants in the CIR-LRP.
Credentials/Documentation: The applicant is
required to submit: 1) A completed and signed Applicant Information Form (Form
NIH 2756-1); 2) a signed Loan Verification Form for each loan to be considered
for repayment (Form 2756-2); 3) a completed and signed CIR-LRP Contract (Form
2756-3), and 4) a copy of an institutional assurance of employment/affiliation
with an NICHD intramural laboratory or eligible NICHD-supported extramural
site for no less than a two-year period from the anticipated effective date of
the CIR-LRP Contract. Graduate students must also provide evidence that he/she
is enrolled full time and is in good academic standing.
Pre-application Coordination: Information regarding
the CIR-LRP and the preparation of forms for application to the CIR-LRP can be
obtained by contacting the CIR-LRP headquarters office at the Center for
Population Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,
NIH or via the World Wide Web at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/cpr/rs/rs.htm.
This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application Procedure: Qualified individuals
interested in participating in the CIR-LRP should first request an application
form from the CIR-LRP headquarters office in the Center for Population
Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH or
they may download forms via the World Wide Web at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/cpr/rs/rs.htm.
The application will include: 1) A description of the applicant's proposed
role in the scientific research on contraception and/or infertility being
conducted in the NICHD intramural laboratory or eligible NICHD-supported
extramural site, and 2) a brief statement addressing the applicant's
long-range career plan for engaging in contraception and/or infertility
research. The application will be reviewed by the CIR-LRP Panel, chaired by
the Deputy Director, NICHD, and comprised of representatives of the NICHD's
Office of Administrative Management, the respective Program Officers of the
Center for Population Research, and special consultants as required. In
selecting applicants for participation in the CIR-LRP, the panel will consider
eligibility status, quality of the applicant, and applicant's career plan
focus. All selections are subject to final approval by the Director, NICHD.
The NICHD will notify the sponsoring grantee institution and the applicant of
the outcome of the review.
Award Procedure: Once the applicant is selected
to participate in the CIR-LRP, the applicant and the Director, NICHD, as a
designate of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, will sign a written
binding contract stating the terms and conditions for participating in the
CIR- LRP. The effective date of the contract will be the date it is signed by
the Director, NICHD, or the date employment/training begins at an NICHD-funded
Specialized Contraception or Infertility Research Center, whichever is later.
Deadlines: Applications can be received at any
time during the year.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time: The selection
process takes from 6 to 8 weeks following receipt of application.
Appeals: None.
Renewals: A CIR-LRP participant completing the
initial 2-year period of obligated service conducting research with respect to
contraception and/or infertility has an option to extend the obligatory period
of service on an annual basis.
ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula and Matching Requirements: This program has
no statutory formula.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance: The CIR-LRP
will pay equal quarterly payments to the lenders. Each payment will be made
shortly after the end of each full quarter of satisfactory service.
POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports: None.
Audits: None.
Records: None.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
Account Identification: 75-0897-0-1-552.
Obligations: (Direct Payments) FY 01 $976,579; FY
02 est $1,200,000; and FY 03 est $1,500,000.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance: The
range of financial assistance is between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000; Average: $1,250,000.
Forty (40) contracts for initial two-year obligation periods have been
executed since inception of the CIR-LRP in 1997 (two in fiscal year 1997, two
in fiscal year 1998, eight in fiscal year 1999, eleven in fiscal year 2000,
thirteen in fiscal year 2001, and four thus far in fiscal year 2002). It is
anticipated that a total of 24 applications will be received in fiscal year
2002 with eight additional applicants being approved for participation in the
CIR-LRP in fiscal year 2002. A 1-year renewal contract was executed in fiscal
year 2000, three 1-year renewal contracts were executed in fiscal year 2001,
and six 1-year renewal contracts are anticipated to be executed in fiscal year
2002. In FY 2003, 12 initial contracts and 5 1-year renewal contracts are
anticipated to be executed.
REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was approved by NIH on September 19, 2001,
and by the Department of Health and Human Services on December 31, 2001.
INFORMATION CONTACTS:
Regional or Local Office: Not applicable.
Headquarters Office: Dr. Louis V. DePaolo,
Director, Contraception and Infertility Research Loan Repayment Program,
Center for Population Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development, NIH, DHHS, Building 61E, Rm. 8B01, MSC-7510, Bethesda, MD
20892-7510. Telephone: (301) 435-6970; FAX: (301) 480-2389; E-mail: ld38p@nih.gov.
Web Site Address: http://nichd.nih.gov/cpr_rs/repayment_program.htm
