Website National Institutes for Health
Summary
The objective of the Diabetes Research Centers (DRCs) is to bring together, on a cooperative basis, basic and clinical investigators to enhance the effectiveness and synergy around research in diabetes, its complications, and related areas of endocrinology and metabolic disease. DRCs are meant to improve communication among investigators and to integrate, coordinate, and foster interdisciplinary research. To accomplish this mission, the Diabetes Research Centers support a group of established investigators actively conducting programs of important, high-quality research and provide the opportunity to synergize, through the DRC structure, with other Centers and NIDDK programs. It also provides a rich environment to enhance workforce development of both basic and clinical investigators. The overall purpose of the Diabetes Research Centers program is to provide the capability for accomplishments greater than those that would be possible by individual research project grant support alone.
Institution and Research Base
The DRC program is intended to bring together investigators from a variety of scientific disciplines in a manner that enhances and extends the effectiveness of their research. A DRC must be an identifiable unit either within a single institution, such as a university medical center, or a consortium of cooperating institutions. DRC applications must demonstrate an existing strong base of successful external research funding in basic and/or clinical research in diabetes and/or related areas of metabolism and endocrinology within NIDDK’s mission. Program excellence includes a consistent and outstanding record of publications and peer-reviewed research funding in related areas. DRCs are expected to leverage relevant skills and collaborations with other institutions and affiliated agencies to demonstrate a diverse scientific base that includes well-established and funded academic diabetes researchers and multidisciplinary expertise for addressing the scientific themes proposed.
The research base for the Center, including any affiliated hospitals and proposed partners, must consist of at least $3 million per year in direct costs of peer-reviewed research projects. At least 30 percent of the total funding contributing to the research base must be secured from the NIDDK. Collaborations with investigators outside of the applicant institution/consortium or between DRCs are highly encouraged as these often benefit the DRC’s research base.
The DRC must have a central research focus or theme in diabetes and/or related endocrinology and metabolic diseases. The organization and structure of the DRC should reflect the goals of the Center, encourage collaboration, develop and implement Center-wide initiatives, promote the use of shared core resources, and oversee the funding of Pilot and Feasibility projects. The structure of the DRC can change as needed based on new scientific opportunities and partnerships thus allowing for modifications of programmatic and scientific activities to fully capitalize on the most exciting research opportunities.
Eligibility
UCI is allowed to submit up to 1 proposal to the NIH DRC program. If you are interested in pursuing this center opportunity, please apply via the UCI Review site with the following information by Tuesday, April 30th at 11:59pm:
- A project summary (no more than 3 pages) outlining the aims, cores and scope of the center being proposed. Please also identify the directors of the cores and the collaborators on your proposed team.
- CVs (no more than 3 pages) for the core directors.
If necessary, an expedited review will be conducted to determine which team may submit a proposal to the DRC program.
The NIH Diabetes Research Centers solicitation can be found here.
Questions regarding this call for expressions of interest can be addressed to Mike Gallo in the Office of Research at (magallo@uci.edu).