FY20 GHERI Call for White Papers.pdf

Global Health Engagement Research Initiative (GHERI) FY 2020

Global Health Engagement Research Initiative (GHERI)

Fiscal Year 2020 Pre-Application (Call for White Papers)

Program Description

The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (OASD(HA)); Defense Health Agency (DHA), Research & Development Directorate (J-9); and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) Center for Global Health Engagement’s (CGHE’s) Research Division employ a programmatic-focused research strategy for funding Global Health Engagement (GHE) research through the GHE Research Initiative (GHERI).

Objectives: The CGHE Research Division is soliciting White Papers from interested parties for research related to operational efforts that will meet the needs of the Joint Force in either:

1) Improving the understanding and/or execution of DoD GHE or

2) Utilizing DoD health research activities to engage a partner nation/partner nations (PN/PNs) in support of Theater Campaign Plan (TCP) objectives to further research

The GHERI is funded through Defense Health Program (DHP) RDT&E funds in accordance with guidance from OASD(HA) and DHA J-9. The GHE research needs of the warfighter are expressed by the regular demand signal of the Joint Force through the Joint Staff Surgeon's Office and the Combatant Commands (CCMD) Surgeons' Offices. This demand signal is captured through ongoing coordination between the CCMDs Surgeons’ Offices, the Military Services, and CGHE.

Demand Signal (Research Area): This call for White Papers seeks initial concepts for research to advance the above mentioned objectives and address at least one element listed under the research area below through a novel approach, methodology, or capability with trans-regional and/or trans-functional applications that will improve the ability of the Joint Force to conduct GHE.

CCMD GHE research priorities

1. AFRICOM:

a. Determine Partner Nation ability and willingness to develop sustainable infectious disease programs

b. Determine effectiveness of medical engagement in developing Partner Nation deployable medical capabilities

c. Collection and analysis of information regarding the design and implementation of GHE activities

d. Analysis of long-term effectiveness of civil affairs medical engagements within the Horn of Africa

e. Determine Partner Nation ability and willingness to develop One Health and veterinary focused programs

2. CENTCOM

a. Determine effectiveness DoD implementation for establishing funding authority and appropriation to support DoDI 2000.30

b. Economic rationale for investing in GHE

c. Evaluate effectiveness of current GHE AM&E processes in CENTCOM AOR and/or develop/implement AM&E tools.

d. Evaluate impact of overseas lab closures to the GHE community.

e. Evaluate impact of GHE activities on infectious disease surveillance in the CENTCOM AOR

f. Evaluate process and impact of establishing new overseas research laboratory for strengthening US partnerships.

g. Evaluate cost-benefit and relevance of overseas lab to TCP objectives

h. Evaluate Health trends in the USCENTCOM AOR. Determine how health trends support pandemics CONPLANS and inform TCP medical security cooperation efforts

i. Determine GHE operational reach in meeting the requirements of the civilian populations across the conflict continuum.

j. Evaluate methods of cross-walking civilian and military medical systems within the CENTCOM partner nations.

k. Determine the relevance of GHE to Services readiness platform priorities.

l. Assess the value of military aid across all phases of operation Assess the proposed causal relationship between health and security/stability

m. Determine the cost benefit and effectiveness of Cooperative Biological Engagement Program (CBEP) in Jordan

n. Assess the facilitators and barriers to HIV among military forces in the

USCENTCOM AOR

3. INDOPACOM:

a. Overall focus on Oceania with emphasis on FSM, RMI, Palau, Fiji

b. Health workforce development for US Freely Associated States and territories, and partner nations in SE Asia

c. Military and civilian medical capability and capacity building- developing models that build sustainable capacity/capability

d. Global Health Security- capacity and workforce development across the One Health spectrum to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease threats

e. Oceania assessments (health-related), including stakeholder and network analysis

f. Healthcare partnership strengthening: understanding how GHE strengthens partnerships

g. GHE and building interoperability: understanding interoperability and how GHE strengthens or builds interoperability

h. Biosurveillance network analysis

i. Women's health

j. The health effects of climate and sea level

k. Healthcare delivery and virtual health delivery over large distances

4. SOUTHCOM:

a. Assessments, Monitoring, and Evaluation projects to demonstrate return-on-investment of GHE activities

b. Establishing JMPT modeling in support of migrant operations to determine best mix of capabilities to meet TCP requirements.

c. Evaluate appropriate funding authorities in view of the multitude of stakeholders and the multi-system approach needed to build partnership capacity though GHE activities

d. Operational gap for treatment methodology and transportation of patients with highly infectious diseases in a Transport Isolation System or equivalent platform on DoD Aeromedical Evacuation systems

e. Tele-mental health for Service Members working abroad

5. EUCOM:

a. Poland and Baltics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania):

i. Evaluation of civilian trauma systems, the interface of civilian trauma systems with military systems and capabilities, and how and where to target military-civil GHE activities to support US and NATO operational requirements.

b. Romania, Bulgaria, and Balkans (Albania/Bosnia/Croatia/Kosovo/Macedonia/Montenegro/Serbia/Slovenia):

i. Development of coordinated biodefense and biosurveillance strategies involving multiple sectors of government/society and multinational regional stakeholders to define, report, and mitigate risks associated with endemic and emerging diseases. Zoonotic and vector-borne diseases are of particular emphasis in this region.

c. Evaluation of the effectiveness of multi-phase GHE efforts to build partner nation capabilities

(e.g., NATO Role 1 and Role 2 expeditionary medical capabilities).

6. NORTHCOM:

a. Arctic Region

i. Force Health Protection within the Arctic Region (extreme cold, disease, climate change, etc.)

b. Mexico

ii. Diseases of concern for Global Pandemic Response Plan

iii. Diseases of the SouthWest US Border Ports of Entry

7. SOCOM, TRANSCOM: No additional priority areas specified.

Other Information: The GHERI is funded annually subject to availability of funds and pursuant to the needs of the Joint Force. The Government is not obligated to make any award as a result of this announcement. The Government anticipates awarding grants and cooperative agreements pursuant to statutory authority 10 U.S.C.

2113(g)(1)(A). As such, this Call for White Papers is for non-profit and government entities. Collaboration with industry is encouraged via subawards. Non-Profit entities must submit White Papers through Grants.gov.

Government entities (e.g., DoD Labs, Military Training Facilities, Government/National laboratories, military educational institutions, etc.) are encouraged to submit White Papers for consideration of funding through a direct fund citation (e.g., MIPR, IAA, etc). Government Entities are subject to applicable direct competition limitations. Government entities should submit White Papers directly to Mr. Julian Lantry, Francis.Lantry.CTR@USUHS.edu

Applicants planning to fulfill their prescribed research objectives in collaboration with federal government entities must clearly define the role of the government organization in their proposal. Proposals must fully describe any intended reimbursements to federal government entities planned via CRADA. Direct research conducted by federal government entities, i.e., research performed by federal government personnel and/or at federal laboratories and sites, will be funded by GHERI directly to those entities.

The maximum period of performance for any award will be three (3) years. Total budgeted costs (direct and indirect) for the entire period of performance should not exceed $950,000 per award. There is no requirement for Cost-Sharing or Matching. Funded recipients must comply with and successfully complete yearly scientific and programmatic reviews in order to continue being funded for the next year. Interim reports will be evaluated for performance/technical merit as part of the Government’s yearly scientific and programmatic reviews and Go/No-Go decisions will be made for continued funding into the next year’s period or performance.

Submission Information

Submission is a two-step process requiring both: 1) a pre-application package (White Paper) and 2) a full application package. The full application package is by invitation only. All documents must be submitted in English.

Address to Request Application Package. The application package may be retrieved from the Grants.gov website (https://www.grants.gov/). Everything needed to apply is available on this website. If there are difficulties downloading the attachment, please contact Grants.gov Applicant Support at 1-800-518-4726 or via email at support@grants.gov.

Content and Form of White Paper Submissions. The White Paper package is submitted through http://www.grants.gov. Because the invitation to submit a full application package is based on the White Paper package submission, the title and research objectives should not be changed from the White Paper package submission to the full application package submission. PIs and Organizations identified in the White Paper package submission should be the same as those identified in the full application package submission. If changes are necessary after the submission of the White Paper, please contact the Grants Officer, Rita Holliday via email at Rita.Holliday@usuhs.edu.

White Papers: The following information comprises the White Paper submission package. Applicants with successful White Paper reviews will be invited to submit a full application. The following must be completed and submitted in order to be eligible for a White Paper review. White papers should be no more than 4 pages in total comprised of a cover page (1 page), project abstract (2 pages maximum) and Research Budget (1 page).

1. SF 424 Research & Related (R&R) Application for Federal Assistance. Please compile the cover page, project abstract, and research budget (details below) as one PDF and upload to SF 424 field #20 (pre-application field).

a. Cover Page: Title, Period of Performance, Total Estimated Budget of Effort (Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM)), Name of Company and Key Contact(s) Information, and Research Area being addressed (applicable CCMD and/or GHE research priorities).

b. Project Abstract: Include the research project’s specific aims, scientific abstract/technical summary and relevance to the objectives and Demand Signal outlined herein. The specific CCMD to be engaged or visited (i.e. PACOM, SOCOM) should be listed at the beginning of the abstract, as applicable. Note: All overseas engagement/visits supported by a GHERI award must be coordinated through the CCMDs; CGHE will assist in coordination upon request.

c. Research Budget: White Papers must provide a ROM of their proposed budget.

Include a ROM estimate for the entire period of performance of funding requested.

ROMs should provide top level estimates for each year by cost element (labor, travel, materials, equipment, sub-awards, etc.). Indirect costs should be budgeted in accordance with the organization’s negotiated indirect rate. No budget will be approved by the Government exceeding $950,000 per award or using an indirect rate exceeding the organization's negotiated indirect rate, if any (all direct and indirect costs of any sub-award must be included in the total direct costs of the primary award). A more detailed budget will be required for applicants with successful White Paper submissions.

Each applicant may submit up to two White Papers within the parameters of this Call. The purpose of this Call for White Paper is to preclude unwarranted effort on the part of any applicant whose proposed work is not of interest to the Government. Those White Papers found to be consistent with the intent of this Call and of interest to the Government may be invited to submit an application. Complete instructions for application preparation and submission will be forwarded with any application invitation, if any. Such invitation does not assure that the submitting applicant will be awarded a subsequent grant or cooperative agreement.

Other Submission Requirements. Prior to submission of the White Paper package, confirm the status of the applicant’s Entity registration in the System for Award Management (SAM). Allow 3 to 4 weeks to complete the entire SAM registration process. An organization can register in SAM online at https://www.sam.gov.

Collecting the information (Employer Identification Number [EIN] or Tax Identification Number [TIN]) can take 1 to 3 days (on average). If your organization does not have either an EIN or TIN, allow at least 2 weeks to obtain the information from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. If you have the necessary information, online SAM registration will take approximately 1-2 hours to input, depending upon the size and complexity of your organization.

NOTE: Applications will be rejected by Grants.gov IF: (1) the organization’s Entity registration in SAM is not active, and (2) during the registration process, the organization did not answer “Yes” when asked, “Do you want to be eligible for grants and other federal assistance?”

The Government utilizes the Exclusions within the System for Award Management (SAM), formerly the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS), to identify individuals and organizations unqualified to receive federal awards. More information about Exclusions reported in SAM is available at https://www.sam.gov/.

Submission Dates and Times. The Pre-Application White Paper Package must be submitted through Grants.gov no later than 02/14/2020. The Government anticipates Invitations to Submit Full Application Packages on or about 03/20/2020.

Each White Paper submission must include a completed package. If the applicant does not follow the submission guidelines or submits an incomplete package, the application will not be accepted or reviewed.

Allowances or exceptions cannot be made resulting from delays in submission due to applicant organization system or technology problems.

White Paper Review Information

All White Papers will be reviewed by the respective CCMD Surgeons’ Offices to determine technical merit and relevance to the GHERI Objectives and current Demand Signal (Research Area). White Papers will be reviewed based on the following criteria for acceptability or non-acceptability:

1. The overall scientific and/or technical merits of the White Paper.

2. The potential contributions of the proposed approach to overall GHERI Objectives

3. The feasibility of the ROM and schedules.

No further evaluation criteria will be used in the selection process. Each application is evaluated for its own merit, independent of other applications.

Federal Awarding Agency Contacts

Only an appointed Grants Officer may obligate the government to the expenditure of funds. No commitment on the part of the government should be inferred from discussions with any other individual. The award document signed by the Grants Officer is the official authorizing document.

Technical/programmatic questions regarding this Call should be submitted to:

Col Rachelle Paul-Kagiri Director, CGHE Research Division

Email: Rachelle.Paul- Kagiri@usuhs.edu

Tel: 301-400-4135

Audrey Berard Program Manager, CGHE

Email: Audrey.Berard.ctr@usuhs.edu

Tel: 301-400-4151

Julian Lantry Program Coordinator, CGHE

Email: Francis.Lantry.ctr@usuhs.edu

Tel: 301-400-4132

For administrative/business questions, please contact Rita Holliday via email at Rita.Holliday@usuhs.edu

For questions related to pre-application submission through Grants.gov, please direct questions to the Grants.gov Contact Center, which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (closed on U.S. Federal holidays).

Phone: 800-518-4726; (international) 1-606-545-5035 Email: support@grants.gov

Other Information

Proprietary Information. Do not include proprietary information in the submission package, unless it is required. Proprietary information should only be included in a full application as necessary for evaluation.

When including proprietary information, please ensure the information is clearly and legibly marked and distinguished from non-proprietary content.

Proprietary information submitted in an application may be disclosed outside the government for the sole purpose of technical evaluation. Evaluators must agree that proprietary information in the application will be used for evaluation purposes only and will not be further disclosed or used.

All applications may be subject to public release under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to the extent that they are incorporated into an award document. Applications that are not selected for funding will not be subject to public release.