December 12, 2019

VUMC Limited Submission Opportunity: CDC Modeling Infectious Diseases in Healthcare Research Projects; deadline is Dec. 16

 VUMC:  These instructions are for VUMC investigators. VU investigators should apply through InfoReady and address any questions to VU-LSO@vanderbilt.edu.

VUMC may submit only 1 application to the Modeling Infectious Diseases in Healthcare Research Projects to Improve Prevention Research and Healthcare Delivery (MInD Healthcare) opportunity, which is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services. This program supports innovative research to develop and apply computational tools and mathematical methods for:

  1. modeling the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and related antimicrobial resistant (AR) infections;
  2. predicting HAI outbreaks and trends in the burden of antimicrobial resistant and susceptible HAIs; and
  3. investigating the potential effectiveness of a wide variety of intervention strategies.

The models should be useful to researchers, policymakers, and public health workers who want to better understand and respond to HAIs and AR infections in the United States, allowing them to:

  • Gain a significantly better understanding of the burden of HAI pathogens;
  • Identify new risk factors and mechanisms for the spread of HAI pathogens;
  • Rank and prioritize the delivery of specific interventions that are most effective in combating HAIs and/or antimicrobial resistant HAIs;
  • Identify high priority research questions relevant to estimating the burden of disease, identifying key risk factors for transmission, determining if there are groups of people that have a disproportionate role in transmission, and/or intervening effectively to eliminate HAIs; and
  • Build HAI and antimicrobial resistant HAI modeling capacity for responding to emerging public health threats

This program will also create a network of leaders in the fields of HAI and AR modeling that will be a resource for informing the development of relevant evidence-based policy. Additionally, MInD-Healthcare will provide a network of experienced modelers to respond to evolving public health needs and emergencies. This network will be called the Modeling Infectious Diseases in Healthcare Network (MInD-Healthcare Network).

Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards: The estimated total funding available for the entire five-year project period is $11,000,000 to $13,000,000. It is anticipated that up to four awards will be made. The estimated funding (direct + indirect) for the first year of each individual award is estimated to range from $550,000 to $650,000.

See the full announcement for more information.

Internal Application Process:

Anyone interested in being considered as VUMC’s sole applicant must submit the following (in a single PDF) to LSO@vanderbilt.edu by 5 p.m. on December 16, 2019:

  1. Brief (2 page maximum) project description including summary budget
  2. Brief statement of support from department chair/center director
  3. NIH Biosketch

Please review the RFA for more information regarding the program. Following the internal process, the full proposal is due to CDC by February 18, 2020. Any questions about this opportunity may be directed to LSO@vanderbilt.edu.