 Hello and welcome to today's webinar, the pre application webinar for the entry level modules. My name is Renee writer, and I am a program officer with NHG or I. And I'm going to share my slides with you. Okay, here we are. I'd like to go over some logistics for today and that is to ask you that if you can please change your zoom profile to show your name and affiliation. Also please do keep yourself on mute unless you're speaking. If you have a question there are two different ways that you can ask that at the bottom of your screen. There should be a bar that has a Q&A you can type any questions into that whenever you want. And then at the very end we are going to be having a question and answer session. Feel free to raise your hand and at that time we can unmute you if you'd like to ask a question out loud, otherwise, you can keep putting questions into that Q&A in the chat. So as far as today's session goes, I did want to give you a brief overview. This is the welcome. We will also be going over the purpose of the funding opportunity will talk about a quick overview and talk about the institute specific interest so there are three questions that have signed on to this funding opportunity each will tell you the types of modules that they're interested in. We'll also talk about eligibility criteria who can apply to the funding announcement, application tips, important dates, and then finally that question and answer that we were talking about. The purpose of the entry level modules. This funding opportunity is intended to support the development implementation and evaluation of genomic training modules for the entry level research workforce by supporting lead sites teamed with partner sites. I think it's really important that you guys understand what we mean when we're saying the entry level genomics research workforce. What we're talking about are positions that do not require a bachelor's degree, however, they often do require dedicated training and specific skills. More and more those positions are needing basic genomic knowledge. Some examples are research assistants, medical assistants, nursing assistants, laboratory assistants, genetic counseling assistants, and pharmacy assistants. We have gotten a few questions on the entry level research workforce so I'd like to go over a few of those. We have been asked if there are some specific professions which are considered if they're considered entry level. Those are community health workers, genomic counseling assistants, and we recently were asked about medical translators. For most of those positions, they actually encompass a range of entry level and non entry level. For example, community health workers. There are some programs that are targeting what we would consider that be the entry level that those are community health workers that don't require bachelor's degrees. And then there are other programs that actually do require a bachelor's degree. So we don't base the decision as to whether or not it's in scope on the position. We base it on what the program requires. So if your program doesn't require a bachelor's degree, then we would consider it entry level. Also associated with that we've gotten a question is to our associates degree programs entry level and yes they are. We consider anything that would come before a bachelor's degree to the entry level. Can universities have entry level programs? Absolutely they can as long as they don't require a bachelor's degree. And then one other question was does everyone we train need to go into the research workforce? And the answer to that is no. For example, a medical assistant program. Everyone who graduates from a medical assistant program will necessarily go into the research workforce. However, some of them will. I think that when we're talking about training at the entry level, they don't have programs that are for people or the research force training for the research workforce is a focus of the program. You know, it definitely needs to be a focus when you're designing these modules they do need to be applicable for people who will eventually go on to the research workforce. Okay, so moving on to the next slide. Actually, when did we have any more questions about that I in the chat. And I'll just go on. As far as the programmatic approach goes, what we're really looking for are collaborations between lead sites and partner sites. And what we mean by that is, when people applied the applicants would be the lead sites if they actually become a grantee. We're looking to fund up to three lead sites. And those are the teams that will be collaborating with each other and with the partner sites. We're looking for teams that have demonstrated capacity for relationships with those identified partner sites. Those are the people who are actually going to develop the educational modules, they'll then provide training and support for implementation of those modules at the partner sites. The partner sites on the other hand, are going to be those community colleges, technical colleges, the sites that are actually training the entry level workforce. They're the ones that have programs that train the entry level workforce like those certificate programs or the associate programs. And they're the ones that have the staff that are going to be trained and supported by the lead sites. Using the modules, they're the ones who are going to be providing the training to the education to the participants to the students. We've got a couple questions about that one question was can the communities college be a lead site and absolutely yes they can be. You know, we can also have we also foresee that some sites could be both a lead site and a partner site. For example, you know, a university that has a genetic counseling program might want to make these modules, but they might also have a medical assistant program that they would implement those modules at that program. Another question was can two partner sites be within the same institution. And that is also yes. For example, if a community college had both a medical assistant program and a laboratory assistant program, that could be two different partner sites. Yes. Yes, what's the next question. The first one could you clarify the specific aims page requirements number one do we need to include specific aims page as would traditionally include in our one type application. And then, if you want to answer that and then I'll move on to the second one. So, as far as a specific aims page that what I'm going to ask you to do and this I have a, let me just fast forward real fast to show you. What I recommend there is to go to the how to apply application guide. The website is there and this actually has you can select for every type of application at the NIH like the R01 R21 and for this program particular the R25, yes the R25, and it will say exactly what is needed in the application. So I would really recommend going to that this website here and looking at those instruction applications, or application instructions sorry I got that backwards. Okay. So, the, the next thing that I wanted to talk about today are the modules. We're really envisioning that people are going to be creating standalone units of curriculum that supplement existing training with genomics material. So, for example, you might have a class already that talks about taking a family history, but you really want to add a module on how to take a genetic family history. So it would supplement the training that's already being provided. There are lots of ways that you can arrange this material you could choose to do online coursework or you could have lesson plans for in person classes. You could have suggested readings or activities to reinforce the lessons or combinations of all of the above. How you structure the coursework and the modules really depends on the needs of your students and what they have already have in place. Examples of possible modules that you could do are basic concepts such as DNA and genes or genetic testing strategies or methodologies. I think that some people might want to have modules on legal, ethical and social implications of genetics research. Here at NHGRI we are interested in modules that focus on all of the types of genetic research that that are Institute funds, and that can be resources and approaches that tech and technologies that accelerate genomic research focus on the structure and biology of genomes. We're also interested in the genomics of disease, the implementation and effectiveness of genetic, genomic medicine. Our institute also has particular interest in computational genomics and data science, and we also are looking for modules that impact the impact of genomic technology advances and implementation on health disparities and health equity, and then again those else issues. We're going to turn this over to our co funding Institute so next in ICHD can you introduce yourself and talk about your slide. Sure. I'm Tracy King can you hear me. Yes. Great. Thank you so much to NHGRI for hosting this webinar and organizing this funding opportunity. I don't need all of them bullets here but what I'd like to emphasize is that and I see these priority populations are infants children, adolescents, and young adults, pregnant and lactating persons and persons with disabilities. And so a lot of the mod, a lot of the bullets here refer to those populations so we're specifically interested in genomic issues that impact reproductive care and pregnancy, the role of genomics in diagnosis and treatment of conditions in our priority populations, and so on and so forth. We also particularly have an interest in ethical, legal and social issues in genomics related to an ICHD priority populations. And I'll stop there but welcome any questions, either in the Q&A or separately by email. Okay, thanks. And next, I'd like to hear from the National Cancer Institute. Okay, hello. I'm Maryam Eljan, a program director in the Center for Cancer Training at the National Cancer Institute. And so as far as the NCI is concerned, we accept all area of research training as long as they are cancer focused. So that's the key. So make sure that your program is cancer focused to be funded by NCI. Some examples of training programs we would fund are, for example, genetic testing for cancer risk. Here it's mostly understanding the statistical concepts that underlie the results of the genetic tests, exempt the difference between overall and relative risk, and not necessarily calculation since that is a biostatistics which is a graduate level course that will not be funded by this program. Another example is genomic issues that increase cancer risk, such as how several genes interact and influence each other's function, and how they're combined influence lead to cancer initiation, cancer growth and metastasis. The next is how to use family history to understand risk pertaining to cancer risk genes and syndromes. Another one is the role of genomics in diagnosis and treatment and or the prognosis of cancer. Another example is how genetic and genomics impacts cancer screening recommendations. A good example is BRCA gene family mutations where screening starts at age of 25 or 30, as opposed to age of 50 for the general population. Implementation of pharmacogenomics in cancer research, so how a person's genetic background affects how they respond to a different type of cancer treatments in order to have effective treatment and avoids severe toxicity. Another example is social and behavioral genomics in cancer field, distinguishing between germline and tumor genetics and genomics. The importance of enhancing inclusion of underserved or marginalized groups in genetics, studies of cancer, and ethical and legal social issues related to genomic specific to cancer patients. These are just few examples. We are always open to great ideas from the research community, and I'll stop there. Thank you so much. Okay, so next I'd like to just give a quick overview of the budget information because that is a popular topic. I do want to let everyone know that because this is an R25, there is a cap, a maximum amount that you can request for indirect costs, which for this particular activity type is 8%. As far as your maximum allowable budget that does change from year to year, that in the first two years, the maximum budget that you can request in direct costs is 210,000. It slightly decreases in the third year just because that year we think has less cost intensive activities, and that year will be 130,000, which means that for the whole program over three years, the maximum that you can request is 550. If you include those indirect costs, we expect budgets to be no more than 594,000. The funds need to be, we would provide those to those lead sites, and then you could use mechanisms in order to get those funds to the partner sites for implementation. For example, you could use contracts that would be really be up to you how you organize that program. As far as the timeline goes, we've done a lot of questions about what we expect as far as a timeline goes, and this is just a simple timeline of a traditional academic year. And by that we're really talking about schools that start in September, go on break for the summers. So we would expect that in that first grant year that, you know, for the time between now and September, that would be the time that you'd be establishing collaborations and refining plans for developing those modules. Once the academic year starts, we would expect you to be ready to start making those modules. That's also the time that you can start training those partner sites on curriculum. And then finalize the technology if you're doing online coursework. And this is also a time that you need to share those modules among the other lead sites, because you might be developing a module that they want to put into implementation at their site. We would expect those modules to be ready for fall term. I did at someone recently asked me if it would be possible to phase in modules and absolutely it would be maybe you have half of your modules ready for fall term, and then you'd have half of your modules ready for spring term, how you arrange that would be completely up to you. But what we do want is in that next academic year, that those modules are actually in use at those partner sites so that you can actually see how they are being implemented and if there are any places that improvement needs to happen. So that's the additional phases of implementation for spring and summer terms. And then in that next academic year, the very, the last half really of the third year of the grant, that's the time that we would be asking everyone to evaluate and refine the modules. Also to disseminate those modules once they're refined disseminate them among all the lead sites, and also to do program evaluation. During this time, we in each year I would be hosting yearly meetings that first year we would have a meeting where you can share project plans and exchange ideas for implementation and by you I mean that the three people, the three members that get grants under this program. In year two it would be a time for discussing plans for sharing completed modules implementation and evaluation. And then in year three at that yearly meeting we would expect people to share implementation project progress, and to discuss plans for program evaluation dissemination. One question that we did get was can we adjust the timeline for different academic calendars, and you can absolutely adjust this calendar to fit the needs of your sites, as long as you get all of the, the things that need to be done you know as long as you have had time as you adjust it make sure that you have time to actually implement the modules to evaluate them and refine them. So next, as far as eligibility criteria we've really tried to open this funding opportunity up so that higher education institutions can apply and that's both private and public colleges, universities, and also community colleges. Nonprofits can apply for profit organizations or governments. The only group really that's not eligible to apply are non US entities so we did get some inquiries from foreign universities they would not be eligible to apply for this funding opportunity. We do have some tips for application and the biggest one is that we do recommend that you schedule a meeting to discuss your potential application with the program directors. At NHGRI we're more than happy to meet with people who would like to discuss their applications. You know if you have an application that's very specific to the cancer field or to children, then we would recommend that you meet with those program officers at those institutes also with Maryam or Tracy. As you write the application we really do recommend that you give as much detail as possible. It's important to know that when we select reviewers for the review panels, they are experts they have a lot of knowledge but they may not have the exact same knowledge as you do. So, you know, making sure that you connect the dots for them is really important. We also recommend that you ensure that you have all of the required components of your application. As I said before this website here really gives you a good idea of how to apply to these grants. Make sure that you look at all of the submission requirements and actually have those in your application. The other thing that we recommend is if you search the PAR, the funding announcement for review criteria, you're going to find a whole section on review criteria. These are the questions that are going to be asked when the scientific reviewers are looking over this application and scoring it. So pay attention to those as you develop your application and make sure that you're developing an application that you want that will fit those review criteria. We also recommend that you have someone from outside of your team review your application before you submit it because they're going to have those questions that you may not think of but the reviewers who don't have your expertise would think of. The other thing to know is that the application deadline is June 1 and there's only one application cycle for this for this funding opportunity so there will be no opportunity to revise or resubmit. There are important dates we do ask that you send in letters of intent by May 1. The applications are due June 1. The scientific merit review will occur in approximately November of 2023. After that that will go to our advisory councils for reviews and that will happen in January or February of 24, and then award notices will be sent out in approximately March or April of 24. We have gotten a few more questions that I wanted to address at this point and those are the first one was what in what role, for example, a co-investigator or a collaborator should we include the faculty at the partner sites. And we do not specify how you include the faculty at the partner sites it really depends on how you put together your program. But I do recommend that you go to the NIH websites there is a glossary that you can look at and after today's webinar, I will be putting a link to that in our frequently asked questions that will be on the webpage that you registered for this webinar from. And that really does talk about exactly what a collaborator is exactly what a co-investigator is so that you can look at how you've put your program together and what role the faculty at the partner sites are really the filling. But as far as our program goes we do not have any requirements. The next question was how who is doing the scientific merit review that will be happening by a special emphasis review panel at an HDRI. And then the last question we've gotten a couple times is will this funding opportunity be offered again. And at this time we do not have plans to offer it again that. So, this is the due date if you want to apply. Next I do want to open it up to some questions I did get two more questions emailed right before today's session so I wanted to go over those. The first question is would reviewers prefer projects that focus on one professional group or more than one. When we are not telling our reviewers to focus on to give preference to either of those groups, but as you're deciding which, which way you want to go I would recommend that you look at the review criteria. So I actually did look at the review criteria there is a section on approach and modules, you know and the two criteria that really I think are applicable are the scope and content of the modules adequate and are the proposed modules likely to be useful to the broader community. So those are the two questions that if I were putting together this program it would be asking myself when making the decision if I wanted to focus on one group or more than one. And it you know it just really depends you know if you have one group you might be making modules that are broadly applicable, but you could have three different professions that you're focusing on that are really niche, and they wouldn't be applicable so just those are things for you to keep in mind as you're making decisions on your program. The next question was to what extent is it necessary that all materials be developed, be able to be shared between different awardee sites and or outside groups once the project has ended. And that sharing the materials that you develop is a requirement of this funding opportunity, all materials developed need to be broadly distributed. So this question, the main emphasis was once the project has ended. If you'll go back to our timeline we did actually recommend that you put build time into the timeline for distribution. So we would recommend that you make sure that you leave enough time to refine the modules and distribute those modules before the end of the award period. Okay, those are all the questions we have so I'm actually going to stop sharing my screen and then we can take more questions. When did you have more questions that have been brought up in the, in the Q&As. Yes, I do. So, going back to the question about the aims page we had some clarification. I wanted to clarify the second question about the specific aims. Is this separate from the 25 page research education plan, or part of the 25 page research education plan. I'm going to ask Lucia do you know that the answer to that question. I think I would direct the applicants to the resource that you initially put up, which is the research instruction so I just want to make sure I understand the question I think if you go there you'll see that the specific aims are part of the overall research strategy section as, as is the research education. I think we call the research education program plan or something like that those are all part of the research strategy sections I just maybe want to direct the applicant there to make sure that they can map the specific parts that they're asking about to the overall research strategy section which is my understanding is that's where the page limit is. Okay, thank you. And the next question, can you expand on the expectations from the modules how many credit should it be how many modules each lead site is expected to develop. I think you partially answered this question already when you're talking about all the different programs but it sounds like they need a little bit more clarification. Right, and we did not put a expected number of modules on this, simply because different sites might create modules that are have different amounts of content. You know, if you're creating a module that has a very brief lesson of here are three genetics terms that are important to know in this particular area, then that's really kind of quick and easy to do. If you're developing a module on, you know, everything you need to know about germline versus somatic, and that needs to have basic introductory material on genetics, that's a much bigger module. We did not put any, any numbers, you know what we recommend is just look at the amount of money in the budget how much time and resources you have and make the best use of that. I hope that's good enough of an answer for that. As far as the number of credits, we, you know, credits are really difficult one university or one community college may not have the same credit system as another one. But we also did envision that people could do programs after hire. So maybe a hospital has a training program to when they hire on new entry level employees they could institute this and they don't have any credit system. So we don't have any requirements for credits either. I want to answer the question then about if there's a minimum number of modules. Another question we had was, do we have to have two partner sites or is three and must. You have to have at least three partner sites. We are not limiting you to, you have to have at least three other institutions, we do consider a partner site to be a program. So you could, you could, you know, even partner with only one other community college if that program if that community college had three programs that you were partnering with, but there need to be at least three partner sites, partner programs. All right, and another question. I'm curious why you aren't expecting that formative evaluation will take place concurrently with implementation. In my experience evaluation needs to be part of the development process. We, this is just a sample timeline, you know, we expect people to do what works for them. You know, I know, you know, if you have an evaluation that you want to do as you develop it that's fine. The one thing that we are requiring is that you do have it implemented and get feedback from students, at least once. But how you add to that is up to you. And the next question, can anyone submit an application or do you need to be accepted per LOI. I'm not sure what LOI stands for. Okay, I think what they're asking is, if they do we have to accept their letter of intent before we accept an application for them. It's my understanding that no, even if you do not submit a letter of intent you can still submit an application. We would just really like people to send us letters of intent because it does help us develop our review panels. Another question. Can you please re show the slide of the NHGRI needed modules slash content areas of interest. And the participants have been told that the recording is going to be available and the FAQ will also be available. Definitely. So these are just NHGRI research interest areas. And they didn't really develop modules. You know they fit your programs and our research interest areas. So these are just ideas you don't have, you know, obviously these are very broad and you'll probably want to go a bit more specific in these areas. And the last question in the chat currently, can the funds be used to pay for quote unquote tuition for participants. So if you'll go to the, the, our funding opportunity announcement, I'll actually it's not called that anymore it's now called a notice of no foe and notice a funding opportunity that we do allow for people to use these funds to support the education costs tuition specifically. And of course we got another question that came in. We currently require genetic counselor assistance to have a BA. The idea is to find programs in community colleges that if supplemented these could train genetic counseling assistance without leading to a BA question mark. Yeah, so programs that require BAs would not be within scope of this. If someone wanted to focus on genetic counseling assistance it would have to be a program that does not require BA. And Northern Virginia Community College has put themselves out there as a potential partner site and are offering their email to everyone who if you're not monitoring the Q&A. Perfect. So if anybody needs a partner site, there you go. Are there any other questions? Okay, well thank you all so much for attending today. As I said we will be putting this recording on the, on our website so you can go back to this in the future. Also, if you have questions that come up in the future or would like to talk to us about your program, please feel free to send me an email. My email is Renee dot writer at NIH dot gov. And I will be happy to talk to you or connect you with one of our other program officers who who might be able to answer your questions. Thank you so much for attending.