Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP)
Competitive Renewal (2005-2010)

PROPOSAL TEXT SUMBITTED MAY 20, 2004 (click here)

The Regional Workbench Consortium (RWBC) will drive the SBRP's
Research Translation Core and Community Outreach Core

CONTENTS

Potential Applications of the SBRP's Basic Research, click here
March 16 powerpoint presentation, click here

UCSD's SBRP and RWBC (excerpt from 2000 application, 2003 update, RWBC)
Purpose of the SBRP (excerpt from the current RFA)
Research Translation Core vision and requirements (excerpt from the current RFA)
Community Outreach Core vision and requirements (excerpt from the current RFA)
SBRP proposal-writing guidelines (Translational Research and Outreach Cores)

Links related to the competitive renewal:
SBRP background and RFA, Bioremediation/Phytoremediation
Biomarkers/ Biosensors, Water/Soil/Sediment Testing Methods (click here).

Tribal Links (click here)

UCSD's SBRP (excerpt from the original 2000 application)

"Analyzing patterns of gene expression in vivo and in vitro will provide more accurate biomarkers of environmental injury and lead to better mechanistic endpoints that can be used for risk assessment and remediation decisions. "

."....the proposal will produce new methodologies and techniques to assess the dangers of exposure to toxic chemicals and augment analytical tools and remediation procedures now in use by regulatory agencies."

UCSD SBRP Annual Progress Report: December 2003 pdf file.

UCSD currently has a five-year SBRP grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) (Molecular Mechanisms and Models for Exposure, 2000-2005). The Regional Workbench Consortium (RWBC) is a major component of UCSD's SBRP Outreach Core. We are now in the process of submitting a competitive renewal for our SBRP grant (2005-2010). The complete application is due on April 20, 2004. The excerpts and links provided below are for the convenience of those helping us articulate a strategy for our SBRP's "Research Translation Core" and the new "Community Outreach Core."

RWBC

The Regional Workbench Consortium (RWBC) is a collaborative network of university and community-based partners dedicated to enabling sustainable city-region development. We promote multidisciplinary research and service learning aimed at understanding how problems of environment and development interrelate across local, regional and global scales. The RWBC focuses on the Southern California-Northern Baja California transborder region--especially the San Diego-Tijuana city-region and coastal zone. RWBC partners come from academia, industry, government, and community organizations. Our partnership-driven approach explicitly integrates issues of equity, environmental stewardship, and economic efficiency (the so-called 3 Es of sustainable development). In the process, we are weaving together advances in four domains: Information and Communications Technology, New Regionalism, and Sustainability Science, and Ethics. Click for more detail.

The RWBC's main source of funding has come from the Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP), a grant provided by the NIEHS.

Purpose of the SBRP (an excerpt from the 2005-2010 SBRP-NIEHS Request for Applications (RFA)
http://www-apps.niehs.nih.gov/sbrp/rfa/

The mission of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is to promote research that will ultimately reduce the burden of human illness and dysfunction from environmental causes. Complementary to this mission are the goals of the national Superfund Program, established by Congress in 1980 to: identify uncontrolled hazardous wastes; characterize the impacts of hazardous waste sites and emergency releases on the surrounding environment (i.e., communities, ecological systems, and ambient air, soil, water); and, institute control or remediation approaches to minimize risk from exposure to these contaminants. With the 1980 passage of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), better known as Superfund, it soon became clear that the strategies for the cleanup of Superfund sites, and the technologies available to implement these cleanups, were inadequate to address the magnitude and complexity of the problem. In 1986, the NIEHS Hazardous Substances Basic Research and Training Program [the Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP)] was created under the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA). Congress, under SARA, authorized NIEHS to develop a university-based program of basic research and training grants to address the wide array of scientific uncertainties facing the national Superfund Program. The assignment of the SBRP to the NIEHS underscored an emphasis on human health effects, evaluation and prevention.

The scientific parameters under which the SBRP operates were included in the SARA legislation, which mandates that the research funded by this Program should include development of (1) methods and technologies to detect hazardous substances in the environment; (2) advanced techniques for the detection, assessment, and evaluation of the effect on human health of hazardous substances; (3) methods to assess the risks to human health presented by hazardous substances; and (4) basic biological, chemical, and physical methods to reduce the amount and toxicity of hazardous substances.

Research Translation Core vision and requirements (draft)

SBRP defines Research Translation to be "communicating research findings emanating from the program in the manner most appropriate for the intended audience." Examples of appropriate audiences are EPA Headquarters, EPA Regional Offices, ATSDR, state and local governments, health professionals, industry, etc. Under this Core, a strategy must be developed that describes how partnerships and other communication tools can be employed to ensure that the program's research is being appropriately applied to immediate environmental and health issues. As part of this strategy, the applicant should describe opportunities for receiving feedback from the designated audience confirming the utility and appropriateness of the communication tools selected. The SBRP envisions that this Core will be the proactive communication arm of the program. Required components of this Core are as follows:

o Partnerships with Governmental Agencies: Of paramount importance to this effort is the establishment of ongoing communication with the federal, state and/or local agencies charged with protecting human health and the environment. Each program is required to propose a plan explaining how interactions with the appropriate regional or national governmental agencies will be achieved. The intent of this is to ensure that governmental offices have first-hand access to the valuable resources the program can provide, and that the investigators have knowledge of the real and immediate needs faced by their counterparts in the public sector. In the past, one valuable activity for some projects and cores has been to conduct research or collect samples from Superfund sites. These activities, of course, are always done in concert with appropriate site officials. If this type of activity is part of the program, the applicant should propose a method for documenting and communicating these activities as part of their plan for partnering with government agencies.

o Technology transfer: It has always been necessary and important that the research generated within a program find its way into the hands of an end- user, whether that is in the commercialization of a product or the use of that information/data in decision-making. Therefore, it is imperative that the applicant considers the ultimate use or application of the research emanating from its program. Each applicant must include in the Research Translation Core a plan for identifying opportunities for moving research findings into application. For some applicants, the plan may include formal technology transfer (i.e., application for patents), and for others, technology transfer may be conducted on a less formal basis (i.e., non- patented application of research advances -- moving research from bench scale to demonstration). Regardless of the approach, the plan should include a description of how research within the program will be identified for technology transfer and outline the anticipated steps involved in the process.

o Communicating to Broad Audiences: The applicant should consider who are the other stakeholders for his/her program, and how to ensure that these groups have timely access to research findings. Accordingly, as part of the Research Translation Core, the applicant must identify the mechanism to be used for sharing research findings and engaging important stakeholders. Examples of approaches that the applicant may develop, include, but are not limited to:

- Sponsorship of workshops, short symposia, or web-based symposium. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate opportunities for advancing their program's discoveries using this mechanism. These would typically be one-day events that are local or regional in nature and could potentially involve not only academics but also other stakeholders (e.g., industry or local or regional health departments).

- Development and use of advanced communication tools or methods such as web- based systems, geographic information systems or other technologically innovative systems.

- Development and use of more traditional communication tools such as the translation of complex research findings into print and web materials intended for the lay public based on communication best practices.

Community Outreach Core vision and requirements (draft)

SBRP defines community outreach to be "extending support or guidance to communities, community advocates or community organizations living in proximity to or affected by hazardous waste sites." For example, appropriate community groups could include local government, tribal councils, established groups/organizations focused specifically on local environmental/site issues, or community service groups focused on educating the community about local issues. As an outgrowth of this activity, it is expected that interactions with the community will also serve to enhance the program's research agenda. The SBRP encourages that community outreach activities be done in full partnership with the target community. In other words, the community should participate in the design and approach of the activity at the onset of the project. It is also appropriate that community outreach activities be done in conjunction with the EPA, the ATSDR, or other technical assistance programs. At the same time, it is important that the applicant ensure that their efforts do not duplicate other agencies activities. The Community Outreach Core should build from the strengths of the research program, and offer the community expertise and knowledge that draws from the program as well as from other resources. However, if outreach involves communication to lay audiences, it is suggested that individuals be included with expertise in fields such as technical communication, risk communication, health education and promotion, or health communication to ensure quality and to avoid unintended effects. Community outreach activities may be either very broad or very focused. Examples that are appropriate for a Community Outreach Core are:

o Sponsoring short courses or workshops to improve the community's awareness and understanding of environmental health issues (e.g., conducting a workshop that provides information on exposure levels that may or may not pose serious health risks and why, and develop an approach for addressing the issues).

o Increasing access to relevant information and serving as a resource (e.g., responding to community's questions on cumulative risk or the need for comprehensive risk assessments, assisting them in accessing pertinent information or translating materials into the community's native language).

o Education on health and technical issues (e.g., sponsoring a short course on risk assessment, or developing health effects fact sheets).

o Establishing collaborative projects among communities, investigators and other colleagues to address environmental problems (e.g., partnering with tribes in determining exposure pathways specific and relevant to their traditional and cultural practices).

It is important that the Community Outreach Core define the approach it will use to identify a community/organizational unit with which it proposes to collaborate, and present a plan detailing the objectives and the methods (e.g. conducting small group discussion or listening sessions, producing informational materials, providing leadership mentoring, etc.) that will be used in establishing and maintaining involvement with the community. The SBRP also recognizes that any activity of this nature needs to be reviewed for lessons learned and outcomes. Accordingly, the SBRP anticipates that each Community Outreach Core should include in its plan how it will measure milestones or outcomes.

SBRP PROPOSAL WRITING GUIDELINES

Complete guide: http://www-apps.niehs.nih.gov/sbrp/rfa/rfa_guidelines.html

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html
Helvetica or Arial 12-point is the NIH-suggested font.

PROPOSAL SECTIONS AND PAGE LIMITS FOR THE SBRP

Research Translation Core. Follow instructions in the PHS 398 (a-i) for the Research Plan as is appropriate for describing the Research Translation Core. A narrative description should be provided that includes plans for (1) partnering with government agencies; (2) technology transfer; and (3) communicating with broad audiences. Discuss how the Research Translation Core will interact with the other research projects and cores in fulfilling the goals of this core, as well as a plan for communicating results to the Administrative Core. Indicate who will be responsible for each of these activities.

There is no Form Page for the Research Plan. The Research Plan should include sufficient information needed for evaluation of the project, independent of any other document. Organize Items a-d of the Research Plan to answer these questions:
1. What do you intend to do?
2. Why is the work important?
3. What has already been done?

RESEARCH TRANSLATION CORE (draft)

• Title Page: Include ‘Research Translation Core’ and Principal Investigator
• Project Description, performance sites and key personnel (Form Page 2)
• Relation of Core to Overall Program
• Research Translation Core Plan (a-d: 25 page limit)

a. Specific Aims
b. Background and Significance
c. Preliminary Studies/Progress Report
d. Design and Approaches

• Literature Cited (g)
• Consultants/Collaborative Arrangements w/ Letters of Commitment (if applicable) (h)
• Consortium/Contractual Arrangements (if applicable) (i)
• Resources (Resource Format Page) (if applicable)

Research Translation Core. Follow instructions in the PHS 398 (a-i) for the Research Plan as is appropriate for describing the Research Translation Core. A narrative description should be provided that includes plans for (1) partnering with government agencies; (2) technology transfer; and (3) communicating with broad audiences. Discuss how the Research Translation Core will interact with the other research projects and cores in fulfilling the goals of this core, as well as a plan for communicating results to the Administrative Core. Indicate who will be responsible for each of these activities

COMMUNITY OUTREACH CORE (draft)

Community Outreach Core. Follow the instructions in PHS 398 “Research Plan” (a - i) as is appropriate for describing the Community Outreach Core. A narrative description should be provided that describes how the goals of the Community Outreach Core relate to the programmatic theme of the application, and how the Core Leader will interact with the Project Leaders. Indicate how this Core will coordinate with established community outreach groups.

• Title Page: Identify by Title and Core Leader
• Project Description, performance sites and key personnel (Form Page 2)
• Relation of Core to Overall Program
• Community Outreach Core Plan (a-d: 25 page limit)

a. Specific Aims
b. Background and Significance
c. Preliminary Studies/Progress Report
d. Design and Approaches

• Literature Cited (g)
• Consultants/Collaborative Arrangements w/ Letters of Commitment (if applicable) (h)
• Consortium/Contractual Arrangements (if applicable) (i)
• Resources (Resource Format Page)

SBRP program administrators recognize that the goals for the Outreach Core as defined in the previous RFA have significantly changed. In the current RFA, this core specifically targets Community Outreach. Therefore, Outreach Cores from the previous funding that do not meet the goals of the Community Outreach Core described in the current RFA, should be listed in the “Table of Discontinued or Completed Projects and Cores”. New or substantially modified efforts should be included in the “Table of Continuing, New, or Substantially Modified Projects or Cores” and the Research Plan described as indicated above. It should be noted that many activities that used to be included in Outreach may be more appropriate to the Research Translation Core. Select a title that uniquely describes the activities of the Core.