Dear AG, EFG, HE, IFM, ME, and PE Researchers -
I am writing to bring a potential funding opportunity for Covid-19
research to your attention. The message below, from the director of one
of the Institutes at the NIH, indicates an interest in supporting
research on the macroeconomic effects of the Covid-19. The way NIH is
proposing to support this work, however, is likely to be unfamiliar to
many economists. They want economists to team up with researchers who
are currently funded through an existing NIH research program, and then
to submit grant proposals for funds that would supplement the existing
researcher's NIH grants but support the new work on macroeconomic
effects. The existing NIH researchers are not economists -- they are
infectious disease modelers. The attached spreadsheet lists the names
of the current NIH grantees who could be eligible to apply for
supplemental funds. NIH grants can be more generous than their NSF
counterparts, and can provide funds for term-time research assistants as
well as summer support. If you are interested in exploring this
possibility for cross-disciplinary work, and if you reach out to any of
the NIH grantees on the attached list to explore some type of
collaboration and discover that there is mutual interest, the NBER
grants team (which has substantial experience working with NIH grants
and supplements) would be happy to work with you in developing the
supplement proposal. The NIH supplemental award could be structured as
a sub-award from the current grant holder's institution to the NBER, so
that the supplemental grant could in effect be administered at the NBER.
I know that this is a complex process and I have tried to convey
that if the goal is advancing macroeconomic research in this area, NIH
should consider supporting stand-alone projects by economists. I will
let you know if there are any future opportunities along those lines.
All best wishes.
Jim Poterba
***
We have an Urgent Award Notice of Special Interests (NOSI) out to
provide competing revisions (supplements) to allow certain NIGMS
grantees to expand the scope of their work to include research related
to COVID-19:
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-GM-20-025.html
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https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-GM-20-025.html__;!!KGKeukY!gNTpPuArO13x6QaEiIq2wze1ZK-Pf_KfYW-F6Kab3cXi8z_3OfTiIMxKRzzZQtS17yA$>
In particular, one area we are looking for revision applications in is
* Incorporation of data related to SARS-CoV-2 into ongoing research
efforts to develop predictive models for the spread of SARS-CoV-2
and other related infectious agents (all relevant grants).
It occurred to us that there is a need to incorporate economic models
related to health and well-being into these efforts. For example, see
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/mathematics-life-and-death-how-disease-models-shape-national-shutdowns-and-other
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https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/mathematics-life-and-death-how-disease-models-shape-national-shutdowns-and-other__;!!KGKeukY!gNTpPuArO13x6QaEiIq2wze1ZK-Pf_KfYW-F6Kab3cXi8z_3OfTiIMxKRzzZ3pNyROk$>
/“Long lockdowns to slow a disease have catastrophic economic impacts
and may devastate public health themselves. “It’s a three-way tussle,”
Leung says, “between protecting health, protecting the economy, and
protecting people’s well-being and emotional health.”/
/The economic fallout isn’t something epidemic models address, Longini
says—but that may have to change. “We should probably hook up with some
economic modelers and try to factor that in,” he says.”/
We want to get the word out to the economics research community (e.g.,
through NBER) that we would be interested in supporting collaborations
between NIGMS-funded infectious disease modelers and economists as part
of the COVID-19 competing revision supplements described above. Could
you help us get the word out to your colleagues? Needless to say, we are
hoping to get awards made as rapidly as we can, so time is of the essence.
I have attached a list of infectious disease researchers currently
funded by NIGMS who are part of our Models of Infectious Disease Agents
Study Network
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https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/midasnetwork.us/__;!!KGKeukY!gNTpPuArO13x6QaEiIq2wze1ZK-Pf_KfYW-F6Kab3cXi8z_3OfTiIMxKRzzZYD4UzyM$>.
All of them should be eligible for supplements that could include this
kind of a collaboration.
Please let me know if you could help us and if you have any thoughts or
suggestions. Many thanks in advance. I hope you and your families are
well.
Jon Lorsch, Ph.D.
Director, National Institute of General Medical Sciences,National
Institutes of Health
Received on Thu Apr 02 2020 - 07:31:58 EDT
