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8/12/2008

Health-Related Research Solutions Sought
by Mildred Holley, Technology Programs Manager

On August 7 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its 2009 Solicitation for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Contract Proposals. This solicitation is for Phase I proposals and for NIH Phase I/Phase II Fast-Track proposals where applicable. The deadline for proposal receipt is 5:00 p.m. ET on November 3, 2008. Contract solicitations are still submitted in paper form so delivery time must be considered when submitting them.

The estimated award dates vary among the agency units and will be from May through September 2009. Phase I awards, typically up to $100,000, will be firm fixed-price contracts; Phase II awards, normally up to $750,000, will be cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts. Note that some awards offer budget maximums that exceed the norms stated above.

HHS encourages small businesses to apply for these research and development dollars to conduct projects of interest to the agency. Two component agencies of HHS are participating in this announcement: National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The number of research topics, along with each awarding component's estimate of the number of Phase I contracts to be made, is listed below. View or download the complete solicitation by visiting http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir.htm.

Nat'l Cancer Institute: 18 topics, 52 – 70 contracts.
National Center for Research Resources: 1 topic, 6 contract awards.
Nat'l Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: 10 topics, 26 contracts.
Nat'l Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: 3 topics, 4 – 9 contracts.
Nat’l Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: 1 topic, 1 – 6 contracts.
Nat'l Institute on Drug Abuse: 14 topics, 14 – 19 contracts.
Nat'l Institute of Mental Health: 1 topic, 3 contracts.
Nat'l Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities: 7 topics, 4 contracts.
Nat’l Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: 3 topics, 7 contracts.
Immunization Safety Office: 1 topic, 9 contract awards.
Nat’l Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases: 1 topic, 1 contract.

Please note that contract proposals will be accepted only if they respond specifically to a research topic as described in the solicitation. Unlike the agency's grant solicitation issued in January, the NIH/CDC contract solicitation does not seek nor accept investigator-proposed research projects. Proposals must propose solutions to the described topics only. If you want to propose investigator-initiated research, you should respond to the agency’s 2008 Omnibus Grant Solicitation available at the same website cited above.

Arkansas entrepreneurs and researchers interested in learning more about this or other SBIR/STTR opportunities are encouraged to contact Mildred Holley lcfine@ualr.edu, 501.683.7700 or 800.862.2040 (AR only).

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The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration through a partnership with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business and other institutions of higher education. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. It is the goal of UALR to eliminate discriminatory harassment and to promote equal opportunity regardless of race, gender, color, national origin, sexual orientation, age, religion, veteran's status, or disability.