NIH LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAMS

1
NIH LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAMS
Dr. Kenneth Warren September 10, 2004
2
NIH LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM

• Established by Congress to counter economic
  disincentives for well qualified, newly trained
  investigators to embark on biomedical research
  careers.
• Also envisioned as an incentive to attract
  investigators into specific areas of research.

3
NIH EXTRAMURAL LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAMS

• Five Loan Repayment Programs (LRP) have been
  established
• NIAAA participates directly only in the first
  two
• Clinical Research LRP (Most ICs) -- NIAAA
• Pediatric Research LRP (Most ICs) -- NIAAA
• Clinical Research LRP for Individuals from
  Disadvantaged Backgrounds (NCMHD)
• Health Disparities LRP (NCMHD)
• Contraception and Infertility Research LRP (NICHD)

4
Clinical Research LRP

• Loan Repayment Program for Clinical Researchers
  was authorized under the Clinical Research
  Enhancement Act (PL 106-505) to promote
  participation in clinical research by qualified
  health professionals.

5
DEFINITION OF CLINICAL RESEARCH

• Standard NIH Clinical research definition
  patient-oriented research that is conducted with
  human subjects..., or ...involving material of
  human origin for which an investigator or
  colleague directly interacts with human
  subjects...or epidemiologic or behavioral
  studies, outcomes research or health services
  research

6
Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Program

• The Loan Repayment Program for Pediatric Research
  was established under the Children's Health Act
  (PL 106-310).
• Pediatric Research is defined in the Act as
  research that is directly related to diseases,
  disorders, and other conditions in children.

7
COMMON FEATURES OF ALL LRPs

• May repay up to 35,000 per year towards
  outstanding eligible educational debt.
• In return, participants must sign a contract
  agreeing to conduct qualified research activities
  for a minimum of 2 years.
• Applicants may apply for additional one-year
  renewal contracts.

8

• Debt must be greater than 20 percent of salary
  and compensation.
• Amount of the actual repayment is determined on a
  sliding scale. For 35,000 per year, loan debt
  must be equal to or above 140,000.
• Loan repayment benefits represent taxable income.
  Payments equal to 39 percent of total loan
  repayments will be credited directly to IRS
  account.

9
OBLIGATIONS OF RECIPIENT AND HOME INSTITUTION

• The institution at which the applicant is engaged
  in research must provide assurance of research
  support through the end of the two-year contract.

10
TO QUALIFY AN APPLICANT MUST HAVE GOVERNMENT OR
NONPROFIT RESEARCH FUNDING

• An applicants research must be funded by a
  domestic nonprofit or U.S. Government (federal,
  state, or local) entity
• An NIH grant award is not required
• Salary support and/or research funding from
  participants university department is acceptable
  if employer is nonprofit.
• Applicant must be in a position to commit at
  least 50 of time to research in qualifying
  area

11
REVIEW

• At each IC, a review panel composed of extramural
  scientists will review and rate the applications.
  NIAAA uses AA-3 Committee for this purpose.
• Review criteria emphasize potential to become a
  contributing scientist in the area of the program
  (e.g., clinical research, etc.)
• Standard NIH scoring (100 500) is used.

12
Funds Available

• The funding level for the LRP program is set each
  year by NIH on a formula basis related to the
  size of an Institutes clinical research
  portfolio.
• Extramural LRP funds can be expended for either
  the Clinical or Pediatric Programs.

13
OVERVIEW FY 2004 NIAAA LRP

• NIAAA awarded 39 LRP contracts totaling
  1,575,000
• 35 Clinical 4 Pediatric
• 8 Renewals 31 New
• The mean cost was 32,122
• Range 5,778 to 106,057

14
FY 2004 NIAAA LRP contd

• 39 applications were assigned directly to NIAAA
  and 37 of these were awarded
• 2 Additional meritorious applications were
  transferred to NIAAA

15
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

• An applicant
• must be a U.S. citizen, a U. S. national, or
  permanent resident of the United States.
• hold a Ph.D., M.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.P.M.,
  Pharm.D., D.C., N.D., or equivalent doctoral.

16
HOW TO APPLY

• Application must be submitted electronically at
  www.lrp.nih.gov
• Applicants must choose one Loan Repayment Program
  from the 5 extramural categories, e.g., Clinical
  Research, Pediatrics, etc.
• Only one Loan Repayment Program can be selected
  by the applicant.

17
RECEIPT DATE

• Only one receipt date for each year
• December 15, 2004 is the next receipt date

18
OTHER IMPORTANT POINTS

• Applications not awarded in one year cannot be
  carried over into next. A new application is
  required.
• NIAAA Lead Contact Carmen Richardson
• More Information at www.lrp.nih.gov, or
  www.niaaa.nih.gov/extramural/extramuralloan.htm

19
NIH LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAMS