Announcement of Requirements and Registration for “Stories of Basic Science to Medical Advances” Challenge, 42803-42805 [2014-17330]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
• National Institutes of Health

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 141 (Wednesday, July 23, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42803-42805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-17330]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Announcement of Requirements and Registration for ``Stories of 
Basic Science to Medical Advances'' Challenge

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 3719.
SUMMARY: The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), 
one of the components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 
announces a challenge titled ``Stories of Basic Science to Medical 
Advances.'' This Challenge aims to track medical advances stemming from 
NIGMS-supported basic science.

DATES: Submission Period: July 21, 2014--October 20, 2014.
    Judging Period: October 21, 2014--November 20, 2014.
    Winners announced: 14 days after judging is complete.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Darren Sledjeski, Ph.D. 301-594-0943, 
nigms_challenges@mail.nih.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The mission of NIGMS is to support basic, 
non-disease-targeted research that increases understanding of life 
processes and lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, 
treatment, and prevention. NIGMS-funded researchers seek to answer 
important scientific questions to increase our knowledge about the 
mechanisms and pathways involved in diseases and develop new tools and 
techniques that have medical applications. NIGMS' strategic plan states 
that one of its goals is to ``advance awareness and understanding of 
the basic biomedical research enterprise, including its value, 
requirements, and potential impact.'' Accomplishing this goal, however, 
can be difficult because the path between basic discoveries and their 
applications is often long, and the connections can be hard to track.
    In addition to tracking the medical advances stemming from NIGMS-
supported science, the Challenge is also intended to attract more 
interest and attention to the basic science research funded by NIGMS; 
stimulate innovation by acknowledging the key role that NIGMS funded 
research plays in laying the foundation for advances in disease 
diagnosis, treatment and prevention; and advance the statutory purpose 
of NIGMS to ``conduct and support research and health information 
dissemination with respect to general or basic medical sciences and 
related natural and behavioral sciences which have significance for two 
or more other national research institutes or are outside the general 
area of responsibility of any other national research institute.'' 42 
U.S.C. 285k.
    Subject of Challenge: NIH seeks the public's help in capturing 
NIGMS' progress toward its strategic goal to ``advance awareness and 
understanding of the basic biomedical research enterprise, including 
its value, requirements, and potential impact.'' The goal of the 
Challenge is to identify past advances that are serving (or have 
served) to improve human health and well-being but not ongoing studies 
that may, in the future, have a major impact. NIGMS will use these 
examples to help inform the historical context of scientific 
breakthroughs and NIGMS'

[[Page 42804]]

role in supporting them. These examples will augment the institute's 
ongoing efforts to link advances in human health and well-being to 
taxpayer-supported basic research and to stimulate further innovation 
by explaining the value and the impact of basic research on human 
health.
    Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Challenge; Official 
Rules: The Challenge is open to any ``Contestant.'' A ``Contestant'' 
may be (i) an entity or (ii) an individual or group of individuals 
(i.e., a team), each of whom is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident of 
the United States and 18 years of age or older. Contestants may submit 
more than one entry.
    1. To be eligible to win a prize under this Challenge, the 
Contestant
    a. Shall have registered to participate in the Challenge under 
these rules.
    b. Shall have complied with all the requirements set forth in this 
Notice.
    c. To the extent a private entity shall be incorporated in and 
maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and to the 
extent an individual, whether participating singly or in a group, shall 
be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
    d. May not be a Federal entity.
    e. May not be a Federal employee acting within the scope of the 
employee's employment and, further, in the case of HHS employees, may 
not work on their submission(s) during assigned duty hours.
    i. Note, Federal employees seeking to participate in this Challenge 
outside the scope of their employment should consult their ethics 
official prior to developing their submission.
    f. May not be an employee of the NIH, NIGMS, a judge of the 
Challenge, or any other party involved with the design, production, 
execution, or distribution of the Challenge or the immediate family of 
such a party (i.e., spouse, parent, step-parent, sibling, step-sibling, 
child, or step-child).
    2. Federal grantees may not use Federal funds to develop their 
Challenge submissions unless consistent with the purpose of their grant 
award.
    3. Federal contractors may not use Federal funds from a contract to 
develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of 
their Challenge submissions.
    4. Submissions must not infringe upon any copyright or any other 
rights of any third party.
    5. By participating in this Challenge, each individual agrees to 
assume any and all risks and waive claims against the Federal 
government and its related entities, except in the case of willful 
misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, 
revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, 
arising from participation in this Challenge, whether the injury, 
death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise.
    6. Based on the subject matter of the Challenge, the type of work 
that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis of the likelihood 
of any claims for death, bodily injury, property damage, or loss 
potentially resulting from Challenge participation, individuals are not 
required to obtain liability insurance or demonstrate financial 
responsibility in order to participate in this Challenge.
    7. By participating in this Challenge, each individual agrees to 
indemnify the Federal government against third party claims for damages 
arising from or related to Challenge activities.
    8. A Contestant shall not be deemed ineligible because the 
individual or entity used Federal facilities or consulted with Federal 
employees during the Challenge if the facilities and employees are made 
available to all individuals and entities participating in the 
Challenge on an equitable basis.
    9. By participating in this Challenge, each Contestant grants to 
NIGMS irrevocable, paid-up, royalty-free nonexclusive worldwide license 
to post, link to, share, and display publicly on the Web the submitted 
document. All Contestants will retain all other intellectual property 
rights in their submissions.
    10. Contestants must comply with all terms and conditions of these 
Official Rules, and participation in this Challenge constitutes each 
Contestant's full and unconditional agreement to abide by these 
Official Rules which can also be found on the NIGMS Web site. Winning 
is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein.
    Submission Requirements: The submission is a written document that 
describes the basic research and how it directly led to improvements in 
human health, well-being, or other tangible benefits to the public 
NIGMS support must have played a major/critical role in one or more of 
the underlying discoveries, but a history of continuous or exclusive 
NIGMS support is not required. The subject of the submission must fall 
into one or both of the following categories:
    1. Major advances funded by NIGMS that have led to improvements in 
human health, well-being, or other tangible benefits to the public.
    2. Applications in medicine, industry, technology or elsewhere that 
have their roots in NIGMS-funded research projects. Examples include 
commonly used diagnostics, therapeutics, devices or technologies used 
in medical, industrial, agricultural or other fields.
    Submissions are limited to 2500 words and must be clearly written 
in English, substantially free of scientific jargon, and understandable 
by readers without scientific/technical backgrounds. A complete 
submission includes:
     A brief historical background that puts the research in 
context. For example, why were scientists studying the system(s)? What 
were the most pressing research questions in the field at the time? 
What was already known prior to the key discovery? Were there competing 
hypotheses?
     The advance(s), the researchers most responsible for them, 
and the relevant NIGMS-funded projects that supported the work. Include 
references to seminal papers.
     An explanation of how the advance(s) led to the 
application(s). Reference relevant papers, collaborations, synergies or 
other factors that catalyzed the development of the application(s). 
Include the role of other funding sources, if known.
     A description of the impact of the application(s) on 
people's lives. If possible, provide quantitative information on 
economic impact and/or return on investment. Measures could include 
reduced mortality, reduced health care costs, improvements in quality 
of life, tangible contributions to the United States economy, etc.
    Contestants may submit more than one submission. However, the 
advances(s) and application(s) described in each submission must be 
distinct. If a Contestant enters substantially similar submissions, as 
determined by NIGMS, the institute may disqualify the later entries or 
require the Contestant to choose one entry to enter into the Challenge.
    Contestants have the option to include a link to a public or 
unlisted video on YouTube.com, Vimeo.com, or other internet accessible 
site with interviews or other material best displayed by video that 
supports the written submission. The submission may be disqualified if 
the video is primarily promotional, as determined by NIGMS. If a video 
is submitted, it must:
     Be in English if dialogue is present;
     Be no longer than five minutes. Any part of a video 
exceeding five minutes will be disregarded;
     Not include music or other copyrighted material unless the 
Contestant has obtained written permission to use such material;
     Not include proprietary information; and

[[Page 42805]]

     For any video with dialogue, captioning must be included.
    [cir] The video must remain posted at the URL submitted with the 
entry for at least one year after the Challenge closes. The video (or 
the link to it) may be displayed publicly on the NIGMS Web site.
    [cir] Before posting a video online, a Contestant must obtain 
consent from anyone appearing in the video. If a minor appears in the 
video, the contestant must obtain consent from the minor's parent or 
legal guardian.
    Registration and Submission Process for Participants: The 
registration and submission process for entering the Challenge can be 
found at: https://www.nigms.nih.gov/About/NIGMSAdvanceTracingChallenge/
    Amount of the Prize: The Challenge may have no more than 10 winning 
submissions. Winning submissions will receive an award of $500 and 
recognition on the NIGMS Web site and other outlets. If two or more 
submissions describe the same general advance and are judged to be 
equally meritorious, the prize will go to either the first submitted 
submission or the prize will be split between or among the Contestants 
at the discretion of NIGMS. If a team submits a winning entry, a single 
$500 prize will be awarded to that team. Winning is contingent upon 
fulfilling all requirements of the Challenge rules. The name, city, 
state, and submission of winning Contestants will be posted by 60 days 
after the close of the contest at https://www.nigms.nih.gov/About/NIGMSAdvanceTracingChallenge/).
    The prize-approving official will be the Director of NIGMS. The 
winners will be notified by email, telephone, or mail after the date of 
the judging. Prizes awarded under this Challenge will be paid by 
electronic funds transfer and may be subject to Federal income taxes. 
HHS will comply with the Internal Revenue Service withholding and 
reporting requirements, where applicable.
    NIGMS reserves the right to cancel, suspend, modify the Challenge, 
and/or not award any prizes if no entries are deemed worthy.
    Basis Upon Which Submissions Will be Evaluated: Submissions will be 
judged by a qualified panel of NIGMS program directors and other 
employees. The panel will evaluate and select winning submissions based 
on the following judging criteria:
     Quality, clarity and historical accuracy (data are 
presented accurately)
     Impact of the advance on people's lives
     Impact of NIGMS funding on generating the advance
     Originality. The Challenge submission cannot have been 
previously published.
    Additional Information: If Contestants choose to provide the NIGMS 
with personal information by providing a submission to this Challenge, 
that information will be used to respond to Contestants in matters 
regarding their submission, announcements of entry, finalists, and 
winners of the Challenge. Information is not collected for commercial 
marketing.

    Dated: July 17, 2014.
Judith H. Greenberg,
Acting Deputy Director, National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
[FR Doc. 2014-17330 Filed 7-22-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P