NOFO QA Full List_05132022 for CDC-RFA-CK22-2204.docx

Q&A NOFO

https://www.cdc.gov/amd/whats-new/PGCOE-NOFO-QA.html

Section 1: Overview

Questions and answers from this call will be posted on this page.

Work of the network is intended to meet the needs of public health and to align with the strategic direction of CDC programs, and to incorporate new technologies and approaches from the rapidly evolving field of genomics. Therefore, the network and individual PGCoEs are expected to be agile and flexible in identifying, implementing, and amending specific activities, to the extent consistent with the terms of this cooperative agreement. Annually, by way of the PGCoE cooperative agreement continuation planning and process, projects will be evaluated and amended as necessary in light of public health priorities, advancement in the field and emerging issues and infectious threats.

As a Federal employee, the employee’s name may not be listed on any section of the application. Nor is the employee allowed to be a named participant in the execution of related grant activities. Additionally, the employee must refrain from taking any action to influence or represent the interest of the health department in the grant application.

Section 2: Eligibility

U.S. state, local, Tribal, or territorial public health departments or public health laboratories are eligible to be prime recipients.

U.S. state, local, Tribal, or territorial public health departments or public health laboratories are eligible to be prime recipients. If an FRFCC is a research organization with expertise in areas relevant to the cooperative agreement, they would be eligible to be an academic partner. FFRDCs operate under specific rules regarding the types of Federal funding they can accept and would need to consult with their own legal counsel regarding serving as an academic partner for this cooperative agreement.

2-21) Is it possible to have foreign collaborators or partners as part of this application?

Can we include foreign partners if they do not receive funding? Can we indicate foreign partners as recipients of fee-for-service funds?

This NOFO has been published as a domestic opportunity; therefore, foreign entities are not eligible to be prime recipients or primary academic partners.

Applicants may propose inclusion of entities in addition to the prime recipient and primary academic partner(s). Proposals may include foreign entities. Such proposals will be reviewed and considered; however, it is expected that inclusion of additional entities will not dilute the primary partnership between a public health department or public health laboratory and the primary academic partner(s).

2-23) Can one applicant have more than one partner?

The applicant must be a US state, local, Tribal, or territorial public health department or public health laboratory and must partner with at least one academic institution. There is no limit to the number of partners the recipient may have provided each partner has a meaningful and productive role.

The Centers of Excellence program was originally conceived of and budgeted to support a single health department paired with a single academic research center at each funded site. However, in recognition that there may be advantages in some cases for there to be more than two entities at certain sites, the funding opportunity allows applicants to propose including more than one academic or more than one public health organization. Such proposals will be reviewed and considered. However, any such arrangement should be organized in such a way that within the proposed site, both the public health and academic partners can contribute meaningfully to the partnership. The objective of the program is not to establish a network of sub-networks, with each of those sub-networks doing research disconnected from that being carried out by the others; rather the objective is to establish a network of a small number of sites, each an active partnership, with each site working collaboratively with other sites in the network to improve public health and public health practice.

2-24) Can one organization collaborate with more than one State DoPH?

The PGCoEs are expected to operate collaboratively as a network. One organization may collaborate with more than one state health department; however, the collaborating organization must not duplicate percent effort or budget with two or more recipients. Should applications from the multiple state health departments be selected for award, the collaborating organization's involvement in multiple awards will be assessed for possible overlap.

Added May 4, 2022

Section 3: Application

3-5) Is there a specific format required for the work plans to be included in the project narratives for each mandatory component? *

A separate work plan must be provided for each of the Components. For each component, the applicant must provide detailed work plan for the first year and a high-level work plan for subsequent years. For the Mandatory Component (Core) the work plan must be divided by strategy. The Mandatory Component (Core) has three strategies: Translation, Education, and Response Base. For the Mandatory Component (Core) strategies Translation and Response Base and for the Mandatory Component (Response Implementation), there should be a separate work plan for each of the 5 broad areas as described on pages 69-70. Activities proposed under the respective work plans must align with the approach (logic model, strategies, outcomes, and evaluation/performance measures) outlined throughout the NOFO. A sample table format for a work plan is shown on page 30. No specific work plan format is required, as long as it is clear how the components in the work plan crosswalk to the strategies and activities, outcomes, and evaluation and performance measures presented in the logic model and the narrative sections of the NOFO. This will ensure that the applicant sees the work plan as proceeding from what was presented earlier and not as a separate, standalone document.

3-6) What is the correct structure of the Project Narrative for the Translation strategy of the Mandatory Component (Core)? Should it include 5 separate IRB plans, one within each broad area section? This same question applies to the Project Narrative for the Mandatory Component (Core) strategy Response Base and Mandatory Component (Response Implementation), which also require multiple separate sections for each broad area.

Full Question:

For the Mandatory Component (Core) strategy Translation, for example, pages 69-70 of the NOFO specify a list of sections that should be included for each of the 5 broad areas. Therefore, our understanding is that the headings for this component narrative should look like this:

· Broad Area 1 (wet lab methods)

· Background

· Activities (with 11 required subheadings)

· Resource Sharing Plan

· Evaluation and Performance Measurement Plan

· Organizational Capacity

· Work Plan

· Bibliography

· Broad Area 2 (bioinformatics)

· Background

· Activities (with 11 required subheadings)

· Broad Area 3 (data standardization, etc.)

· Background

· Activities (with 11 required subheadings)

· etc.

Under this structure, we would submit 5 different work plans within the Project Narrative for the Translation strategy of the Mandatory Component (Core). Similarly, the NOFO states that the “Approach” subsection (listed under the “Activities” section) should contain the IRB plan. Does that mean we should include 5 separate IRB plans, one within each broad area section? What is the correct structure of this Project Narrative? This same question applies to the Project Narrative for the Mandatory Component (Core) strategy Response Base and Mandatory Component (Response Implementation), which also require multiple separate sections for each broad area (background, approach, evaluation plan, organizational capacity, work plan; pages 70 and 71).

Answer:

The Narrative for the Mandatory Component (Core) strategy Translation should be organized according to the 5 broad areas listed on page 69. For each of these 5 broad areas, the narratives should be organized by sections in the list of 7 bullets and 11 sub-bullets that begins with "Background" and ends with " Bibliography and References." This means that a separate IRB plan should be provided for each of the 5 broad areas of the Mandatory (Core) Translation strategy. A separate work plan must be provided for each of the Components. For the Mandatory Component (Core) the work plan must be divided by strategy. For the Mandatory Component (Core) strategy Translation, there should be a separate work plan for each of the 5 broad areas as described on pages 69-70. For the Mandatory (Core) strategy Response Base and Mandatory Component (Response Implementation) the narratives should be organized into the 5 broad areas described on page 70 and within each of those 5 broad areas the narrative should include the 5 sections: Background, Approach, Application Evaluation and Performance Plan, Organizational Capacity of Applicants to Implement the Approach, and Work Plan. For the Mandatory (Core) strategy Education and for the Optional Component (Lead PGCOE for Education) the narrative should be organized into the 5 sections: Background, Approach, Application Evaluation and Performance Plan, Organizational Capacity of Applicants to Implement the Approach, and Work Plan.

For the Mandatory Component (Core) Translation strategy, each of the five broad areas listed should have a detailed description of the seven sections listed on pages 69-70. The seven sections are 1) Background, 2) Activities (note, this section has 11 sub-sections), 3) Resource Sharing Plan (including Data Management Plan), 4) Evaluation and Performance Measurement Plan, 5) Organizational Capacity of Applicant to Implement the Approach (Including Investigator qualifications and institutional Environment to successfully complete objectives), 6) Work Plan, 7) Bibliography and References Cited

3-12) Is there a limit on the number of academic partners and letters of support that can be submitted as part of this application? Should these be submitted as a single PDF file entitled “Academic Letter of Support” as listed in the NOFO, or should we submit a separate PDF for each letter of support? Additionally, can we submit letters of support from non-academic partners, such as non-prime public health institutes or industry partners? Can we also submit letters of support from other center applicants (to show existing collaboration) and should these be included in the single PDF?

All letters of support from academic partners should be submitted as a single PDF file entitled “Academic Letter of Support.” Additional letters of support may be provided as attachments.

The Centers of Excellence program was originally conceived of and budgeted to support a single health department paired with a single academic research center at each funded site. However, in recognition that there may be advantages in some cases for there to be more than two entities at certain sites, the funding opportunity allows applicants to propose including more than one academic or more than one public health organization. Such proposals will be reviewed and considered. However, any such arrangement should be organized in such a way that within the proposed site, both the public health and academic partners can contribute meaningfully to the partnership. The objective of the program is not to establish a network of sub-networks, with each of those sub-networks doing research disconnected from that being carried out by the others; rather the objective is to establish a network of a small number of sites, each an active partnership, with each site working collaboratively with other sites in the network to improve public health and public health practice.

3-14) What is the page limit for applications? If I’m reading correctly, base gives us 15 pages and then 4 additional pages per component. How many components are considered to be in this grant? Is it three- two mandatory (core and response) and one optional? Or is each strategy considered to be a separate component (making four mandatory components and one optional?)

Please see page 72 of the NOFO for instructions on page limits for the narratives (which include work plans): “Disregard page limits stated under Section D.10 on page 43 for "Program Narrative," (but do follow other page and type format instructions).”

The maximum number of pages for the Project Narrative file (which includes workplans) for the two Mandatory Components (Core, Response Implementation) combined is 75 (excluding budget, budget narrative, appendices, and required forms). Maximum number of pages for the Optional Component (Lead PGCoE for Education) is 25 (excluding budget, budget narrative, appendices, and required forms).

If an applicant chooses to apply only for the Mandatory Components (Core, Response Implementation) the total page limit for the application Narrative (which includes work plans) is 75 pages. If an applicant chooses to apply for both the Mandatory Components (Core, Response Implementation) and Optional (Lead PGCoE for Education) Component the total page limit for the application Narratives (which includes work plans) is 100 pages. There are no page limits for other sections of the application.

3-15) How can I create a workspace in order to draft this application?

This is a question that should be directed to the grants.gov helpdesk, as this is more of a systems and access question and does not relate directly to the content of the Notice of Funding Opportunity. A link to the support desk is below:

“d. Technical Difficulties: If technical difficulties are encountered at www.grants.gov, applicants should contact Customer Service atwww.grants.gov. The www.grants.gov Contact Center is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except federal holidays. The Contact Center is available by phone at 1-800-518-4726 or by e-mail at support@grants.gov. Application submissions sent by e-mail or fax, or on CDs or thumb drives will not be accepted. Please note that www.grants.gov is managed by HHS.”

The Mandatory Component (Core) Education strategy and the Optional Component (Lead PGCoE Education) may not include a research project or projects.