The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research educational activities that complement other formal training programs in the mission areas of the NIH Institutes and Centers. The overarching goals of the NIH R25 program are to: (1) complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs; (2) encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, to pursue further studies or careers in research; (3) help recruit individuals with specific specialty or disciplinary backgrounds to research careers in biomedical, behavioral and clinical sciences; and (4) foster a better understanding of biomedical, behavioral and clinical research and its implications.
The over-arching goal of this National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) R25 program is to support educational activities that help recruit individuals with specific specialty or disciplinary backgrounds to research careers in biomedical, behavioral and clinical sciences. To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on:
Research Experiences: The program needs to provide research experiences with the intention to extend the skills, experiences, and knowledge of genetic counselors. The program should provide experiences that allow the genetic counselors to enhance skills necessary to formulate and conduct genomic research independently and that is not available through other formal NIH training mechanisms. Research experiences should be in one or more of the areas relevant to NHGRI's research programs - genome sciences, genomic medicine, and ethical, legal, and social implicaions in genomics research.
The nature of the research experiences should be tailored to the needs of the participants. It is expected that mentoring will be provided in conjunction with a planned research experience. Programs are required to have an individual development plan (IDPs) for each trainee that is compatible with their needs and prior experience. The programs should provide educational/research experiences that enhance the participation and productivity of participants from diverse backgrounds, including participants from underrepresented groups. Research on NHGRI mission-relevant health disparities is also encouraged.
In addition to hands-on research experiences, programs are expected to include complementary activities that support the participants' scientific development, such as scientific writing, presentation skills, grantmanship, etc.
This FOA is explicitly intended to support the entry of genetic counselors into the genomics research workforce. Genetic counselors with considerable research experience cannot be supported under this announcement. Participants cannot be enrolled in a doctoral program. Doctoral research will not be supported under this funding opportunity announcement.
Support is for individuals who have graduated from an accredited master’s degree in genetic counseling program. The research experience cannot be a continuation of a research project that was the focus of the master’s degree program.
Research education programs may complement ongoing research training and education occurring at the applicant institution, but the proposed educational experiences must be distinct from those training and education programs currently receiving Federal support. R25 programs may augment institutional research training programs (e.g., T32, T90) but cannot be used to replace or circumvent Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) programs.
Interested applicants should upload the following documents in sequence in one PDF file (File name: Last name_NIH-PAR-21-074_2022) no later than 4:00 p.m. on the internal submission deadline:
1. Cover Letter (1 page, pdf):
- Descriptive title of proposed activity
- PI name, departmental affiliations(s) and contact information
- Co-PI's names and departmental affiliation(s)
- Names of other key personnel
- Participating institution(s)
- Number and title of this funding opportunity
2. Project Description (no more than two pages, pdf) identifying the project scope that addresses the key aspects and elements of the sponsor's solicitation, principal investigators, collaborators, and partner organizations. References may be included on an additional page.
3. 2-page CV's of Investigators
Formatting Guidelines:
Font/size: Times New Roman (12 pt.)
Document margins: 1.0” (top, bottom, left and right)
Standard paper size (8 ½” x 11)