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FY 2000 NCI FUNDING
PLAN
Appropriation:
The NCI budget for FY2000
is $3,311.7 million, an increase of $420 million or 14.5% over FY1999 obligations.
Funding Plan:
Research Project Grants:
The largest component of the NCI budget is the Research Project Grant (RPG)
category. In FY1999 over $1.36 billion was devoted to this area;
in FY2000 it is currently projected to increase to $1.51 billion, an increase
of $142 million or approximately 11% over FY 1999. It is estimated
that an additional 310 RPGs will be funded over last year, predominately
through an increased number of non-competing continuation grants.
Non competing Research
Project Grants:
An increase of over $100
million is required to support those non-competing commitments from prior
year awards, bringing the total non-competing segment to over $1.058 billion
or just short of 1/3rd of the NCI budget. Each grant will be funded
at its full committed level.
Competing Research
Project Grants:
An increase of over 20%
in dollars for competing RPGs within the payline is being provided. With
these funds, the expectation is that the NCI will fund approximately the
same number (740) of competing RO1 grants as last year, within the established
paylines.
Four major issues have put
downward pressure on the payline, despite the increase in funding:
1) the
number of applications assigned to NCI have increased again this year and
the number of grants within the payline has increased proportionately;
2) the average
cost being requested is increasing faster than the Biomedical Research
Deflator Price Index. Overall, the increase in average cost requested
by RO1 investigators is 20% higher than last year while the Program Project
Grant requests are nearly 50% greater than their last award. In part
this reflects that the technology of today's research is more costly. In
order to deal with these increasing costs, the NCI policy for FY2000 is
to support, on average, a cost increase for both RO1 and PO1 grants of
10% above last year.
3) the changing
mix of grants being supported; and
4) increased
continuing commitments for non-competing grants.
The proposed operating budget
for FY2000 translates into a success rate of approximately 30% in FY2000.
The payline is set at the 22nd percentile for R01 grants funded from the
RPG pool. The disparity between the apparent success rate vs. percentiles
reflects two major items: payment of grants as exceptions beyond the payline;
and second, differing success rates for non-percentiled award categories
funded on the basis of raw score.
Exception RPG Funding:
Approximately 10-12% of
the NCI RPG portfolio is funded through an internal exception process.
Included are grants funded as Accelerated Executive Review (AER); and Division-selected
exceptions. In FY2000, $36 million is currently projected for grants
that are outside the established payline. Over 100 additional RO1s and
PO1s will be funded via this exception process.
Other Categories Of Research
Division allocations and
some of the initiatives linked to extraordinary opportunities or challenge
areas of the Bypass Budget are as follows:
-
a 19% increase for the Division
of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD) for clinical trials systems, drug
discovery and development, diagnostics, repositories, imaging, and radiation
therapy;
-
a 22% increase for the Division
of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) for initiatives in the
areas of behavior (e.g. tobacco, health communications), epidemiology,
genetics, applied research and surveillance;
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an 18% increase for the Division
of Cancer Prevention (DCP) for activities which include prevention trials,
early detection (Prostate, Lung, Colon and Ovary [PLCO], Early Detection
Research Network [EDRN]), chemoprevention, nutrition, the Community Clinical
Oncology Program (CCOPS) and others;
-
a 16% increase for the Division
of Cancer Biology (DCB) to provide competitive and supplemental funding
for collaborative research and for supporting the Mouse Models of Human
Cancer Consortium and other preclinical models;
-
a 15% increase for Cancer Centers/Special
Programs of Research Excellence (SPOREs) reflecting the growth in both
the number and size of center budgets, and the proposed expansion of the
SPOREs;
-
a 44% increase for implementation
of the 5-year plan for the "K" series awards (K01 Temin awards, K07 prevention
and behavioral sciences awards, K22 patient-oriented prevention research
award); K23 patient-oriented mentored career award, and K24 mid-career
awards;
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Intramural Research continues
to decline as a percent of the total NCI budget and currently represents
under 16% of the NCI budget.
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