NIH CENTERS FOR AIDS RESEARCH (CFAR)
P30 NONCOMPETING CONTINUATION (Type 5) APPLICATIONS
Supplemental Guidance for Applicants using PHS 2590 Form
I. Using this Guidance
This guidance is intended to help CFAR faculty and staff members fill out the provided templates for a CFAR
P30 noncompeting continuation (Type 5) application (“Progress Report”). For the purposes of illustration,
examples of completed narrative and appendices sections are provided as they might have been compiled by
a hypothetical “Urban University CFAR” for submission to NIH for their current reporting period, which covers
Project Year YR10 (8/1/14 – 7/31/15). These examples are for illustration purposes only.
II. Purpose
These guidelines provide information about the preparation of your annual progress report for the NIH CFAR.
The Narrative and Appendix templates and instructions provided here are designed to solicit information about
the CFAR program that can be used by NIH Program Officials to:
 Describe the benefits of the CFAR program to NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) that are considering
participating in the program;
 Justify continuation of the program to currently participating NIH ICs, AIDS researchers, Congress, and
the public;
 Assess the progress of individual CFARs in:
o Accomplishing their previous year’s specific aims,
o Modifying, as needed, their next year’s plans in response to the evolution of the research
environment of their institution(s) and to feedback from their users and advisory committees
(external and internal),
o Providing “value added” activities,
o Shaping the AIDS research agenda at their institution(s), and
o Increasing the number of independent, NIH funded HIV/AIDS researchers.
III. Content of the Progress Report. The narrative should:
1. Be explicit…Make it easy for NIH readers to tell others exactly what Value Added your CFAR provided;
2. Be organized…Make it easy for NIH readers to locate the same information in the reports of multiple
CFARs;
3. Be brief…Don’t pad the narrative;
4. Be original…Don’t provide information that you have reported in previous progress reports;
5. Be quantitative…Provide numerical summaries of anything for which this information would be useful to
an NIH reader;
6. Be focused…Provide particulars only for NIH-funded projects supported by the CFAR.
IV. Format of the Director’s Overview
• Use the provided template to create the Director’s Overview.
• Adhere to all standard NIH formatting guidelines re: margins, font, and line spacing.
• After using the template to complete your Director’s Overview, convert it to a pdf and then upload it to
Section B.2 of the “Director’s Overview” component the RPPR (see section V. below)
V. Submitting the CFAR Progress Report
Forms:
Create your progress report using the online Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) system
available through eRA Commons (https://public.era.nih.gov/commons/commonsInit.do).
Rev 10/23/14
Deadline:
Progress reports allow NIH to assess the need to continue support and must be submitted at least two
months before the beginning date of the next budget period. For example, if your budget year begins on
August 1st, your Progress Report for the current reporting period is due on June 1st.
Submission:
Submit your progress report electronically via grants.gov.
Simultaneously, send a courtesy paper copy of the entire application* (narratives and appendices)
by FedEx to:
Candice Beaubien, MPH
Division of AIDS
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Room 9G21A
5601 Fisher’s Lane
Rockville, MD 20852
beaubiencm@niaid.nih.gov
VI. Questions
Candice Beaubien at beaubiencm@niaid.nih.gov or (240-627-3098)
Ann Lee at anamkung@niaid.nih.gov or (240-627-3099)
*Include a Table of Contents in the paper copy of the Narrative that is FedExed to NIH.
Fill out using TOC Template.
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DEFINITIONS
CFAR Beneficiary: An individual who receives assistance of any sort from the CFAR. Not all CFAR
beneficiaries are counted as CFAR users.
CFAR Member: There is no official NIH CFAR definition of a CFAR “member.” Each CFAR should establish
its own criteria for membership in their CFAR.
CFAR User: A CFAR beneficiary who is eligible to serve as PI on any NIH funding mechanism. Only CFAR
Users are counted when filling out Appendix A or each Core’s section I.B (Core Users) in the Narrative.
Categories: All CFAR users will fall into one or more of six categories. All CFAR users will fall into
Categories 1-4. Some CFAR users may also fall into Categories 5-6
NIH AIDS PIs
Category 1
A researcher who is or has ever been PI on an R01 equivalent
grant in HIV/AIDS
NIH PIs being
brought into
AIDS research
Category 2
A researcher who is or has ever been PI on an R01 equivalent
grant, but never in HIV/AIDS
Category 3
NIH “New Investigators,” An NIH definition that encompasses
individuals who have received funding as a PI from NIH*, but not
yet at the R01 equivalent level.
Category 4
CFAR Users who have not yet received funding from NIH* as PI or
Co-PI funding on any NIH grant mechanism
Category 5
Recipients of Core B funding, mentoring, and/or other services
Category 6
Recipients of NIH CFAR administrative supplements
AIDS-research
Pipeline
Developmental
Core Special
Emphasis
*An individual whose only history of NIH funding at the PI or PD level has come indirectly from NIH, for
example through the CFAR via an NIH CFAR Administrative Supplement, falls into Category 4
Extra-CFAR Collaboration: Collaboration between a CFAR and an academic, community, or government
organization to achieve mutual goals by contributing complimentary skills, expertise, or resources
Funded Research Base (FRB): The total dollar amount of research funding that the NIH CFAR counts
when determining, during competitive review, whether a given CFAR will receive funding at the Tier 1, Tier 2,
or Tier 3 level. Not all NIH funding mechanisms are included when calculating the FRB and not all projects
funded through allowable mechanisms are eligible for inclusion in a given year’s FRB. See the CFAR PA for
more details.
FRB Project: A project appearing on the “Allow” tab of an FRB Excel spreadsheet. FRB projects are
prioritized for attention from the CFAR.
FRB Report: An Excel spreadsheet provided annually by the NIH CFAR that contains a list of projects that
are counted in a CFAR’s FRB for a given NIH fiscal year.
Inter-CFAR Collaboration: Collaboration between two or more CFARs. These help contribute to the
collective NIH CFAR value added and are considered to be strongest when both CFARs report them.
Intra-CFAR Collaboration: Collaboration between two or more Cores/SWGs within the same CFAR.
Examples of Intra-CFAR synergy are considered to be stronger if each Core/SWG reports the same example
in their respective sections of the progress report.
Percent Use: The percent of a Core’s total time spent on a particular Core Usage table entry (see Appendix
D). Total percent use for a Core should add up to 100%.
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Project Period: Five-year increments of funding from NIH. e.g. “3rd” project period.
Project Year: An individual CFAR’s fiscal year, counted from its first year of NIH funding. e.g. YR12 = 12th
year of NIH funding, aka the second year of the third project period, assuming a 5 year D-CFAR project
period.
“R01 Equivalent” Grant: The NIH considers the following mechanisms to be “R01 equivalents:”
R01, R23, R29, R37 and, after 2008, DP2. The NIH CFAR also adds “P” series and “U” series to the list.
Reporting Period: The period of time since data for the previous progress report was gathered for
submission, without reference to a CFAR’s fiscal year.
Roles: The types of participation that CFAR users engage in. “CD” (Core Director) and “CU” (Core User) are
standard across all CFARs. For reporting in Appendix A.1 and A.2, each CFAR may define and label
additional roles that best describe their CFAR’s users participation.
Synergy: A “mutually advantageous collaboration between separate entities.” This may be two or more
separate CFARs (inter-CFAR), two or more Cores and/or SWGs within the same CFAR (intra-CFAR), or your
CFAR and another organization(s) at your institution or beyond (extra-CFAR).
Value Added: Resources provided by the CFAR that allow an individual or group to accomplish a goal they
otherwise might not be able to accomplish, or simply to accomplish it “better” (more rapidly, more cost
effectively, more collaboratively etc.) than they otherwise might, given the limitations imposed by other NIH
funding mechanisms.
Value Added Activities:
Consultation: Verbal assistance or feedback in a Core faculty member or staff’s area of expertise. For
example, helping to develop or critique a research study design
Equipment/Space:
Shared Equipment: Access to equipment that a Core user may use on his or her own, assuming the
presence of proper training and supervision. For example, handheld data collection devices or lab
equipment.
Shared Space: Access to research space that a Core user may use to perform studies. For example,
access to space for use in recruiting into or performing clinical or behavioral studies.
Materials: Portable items given to Core Users. For example, tissue samples, chemicals, labware, and/or
documents.
Services:
Developmental Services: Activities that Core staff undertake in order to develop a greater capacity for
assisting Core Users in the future. For example, optimization, standardization, and validation of novel
assays.
Requested Services: Activities that Core staff undertake at the request of a Core User. For example,
performing an already standardized assay.
Training: Imparting knowledge or a skill to a Core User that s/he may later use on his or her own. For
example, teaching someone how to use a piece of equipment, design a study, perform an assay, or do a
power analysis
Other: Other value added activities not covered above. For example, community outreach.
Value Added Example: A well-written value added example has three components:
1. A brief description of the situation/achievement to which the CFAR added value
2. A concrete description of the resources CFAR provided
3. The outcome resulting from CFAR’s provided resources
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DIRECTOR’S OVERVIEW
The Directors Overview is intended to summarize information that is applicable to the CFAR as a whole.
I. Information from Current Reporting Period
A. Highlights
The purpose of section I.A is to provide a short (1 page maximum) big picture, “elevator speech” overview of
the CFAR’s key NIH-related successes over the last year. Highlighted information includes, but is not
restricted to:






# FRB projects and investigators supported,
# other (i.e., not on FRB) NIH-funded projects and investigators supported,
# junior investigators, and senior investigators new to AIDS, assisted,
# unduplicated CFAR Users served,
key recruitments and retentions
(but ONLY if CFAR funds were provided for a recruitment / retention package),
major scientific findings that were facilitated by support from one or more CFAR cores.
Do not describe support for projects funded by other agencies. Keep your focus on NIH.
[example of section I.A from the Urban CFAR Y10 progress report]
During the current reporting period the Urban University CFAR provided support for 100% (n=5) of the
projects and PIs appearing on our 2013 FRB (see Appendix A.1). Each of the five Urban CFAR’s science
cores provided support for at least one FRB project and one project (R01DA54321: “Aerosolized delivery
of a cure for HIV”; Omega Zenith, PI) received assistance from all 5 science cores and 1 SWG. The
crucial nature of CFAR’s assistance to this project was outlined by Dr. Zenith in her acceptance speeches
for the Lasker Award (9/19/14) and, later, the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (12/10/14).
A total of 22 unduplicated CFAR Users (conducting 5 FRB projects, 15 non-FRB NIH-funded projects,
and 4 Core B-funded projects) received research facilitation from the Urban CFAR during the current
reporting period (see Appendix A.2). This is a 20% increase from last year and includes 2 international
junior faculty members who, with the help of Core B, received their first funding in AIDS, in the form of an
NIH CFAR administrative supplement (South-South partnerships in AIDS vaccine research, Bumba
Shango (KwaZulu-Natal) and Durga Devi (YRGC, Chennai), Co-PDs). Three scientists were also newly
brought into AIDS research during the current reporting period through participation in the Artificial,
Mythic, and Extraterrestrial Life Forms SWG (SWG 1). The participation of one of the new SWG 1
members, Dr. Dana Scully, is part of a significant cross-CFAR collaboration between the Urban CFAR
and the Area 51 D-CFAR.
Finally, Core A and SWG 1 collaborated during the current reporting period to recruit Dr. Moreau, whose
expertise in the development of Human-Animal chimera is considered to be key to the Urban CFAR’s
future growth in genetic engineering for HIV prevention efforts. As part of his recruitment package the
CFAR has committed two years of financial support for Dr. Moreau’s Island research field site.
B. New Examples of Inter- and Extra-CFAR Synergy
The purpose of section I.B is to provide selected value added examples of synergy that had a particularly
positive impact on HIV/AIDS research or community relations.
Examples of Intra-CFAR synergy should be reported in the Cores and SWGs, not here.


Confine examples of Extra-CFAR synergy to higher-level examples, not work between individual
investigators. For example: “Our CFAR has begun working with the School of Nursing to …”
If your CFAR has no examples of inter-CFAR or extra-CFAR synergy to report that occurred since the
last progress report was submitted, say so, and erase the relevant subsection(s) below.
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[example from the Urban CFAR Y10 progress report]
Inter-CFAR:
Between the Urban and Rural CFARs: Design and staffing of an outreach event at the 22nd annual meeting
of the American Association of Animal Analysts. The session targeted veterinarian psychiatrists who work
with vulnerable populations (homeless zebra fish, meth monkeys, etc) and was intended to make them
aware of animal trials and research support services offered through the CFAR network
Value Added:
 Core F and Rural CFAR’s Core C collaborated on designing the event’s curriculum and content, in
staffing the event, and in providing speakers for the session. The cross-CFAR initiative prompted
the Aardvarks Against AIDS Coalition to publically support their members’ participation in CFARsupported clinical trials.
[example from the Urban CFAR Y10 progress report]
Extra-CFAR:
Between the CFAR, the Urban University Department of Art, and the Metro City Board of Education: The
three organizations worked collaboratively to organize a contest for high school students designed to
increase awareness of the value of HIV/AIDS research as a career choice.
Value Added:
 The CFAR Big Dogs Council provided judges for the event, Core A provided funding for one winner
at each participating school to visit the Island of Dr. Moreau, aka, the CFAR Southsea Center for
Research on Ephemeral Animal Models (SCREAM), and Cores C & D teamed up to provide
medical care (Core D) and trained psychologists (Core C) to treat contest winners who experienced
physical and/or mental trauma resulting from their trip to SCREAM. Six months after the contest
70% of contest winners who had completed treatment / left the hospital expressed an interest in
pursuing AIDS research as a career.
C. New Value Added by the CFAR in the Current Reporting Period
The purpose of section I.C is to provide information that NIH can use to document to current and potential
funders the value of the CFAR program.

The information provided here should include only examples that have not been reported in previous
progress reports.
1. How has the CFAR helped to reduce disparities in HIV/AIDS research?
[example from the Urban CFAR progress report]
Study staff working on the Chimera study (HPTN 000) needed help recruiting study subjects from groups
that are traditionally underrepresented in research; specifically, woman-headed lions (“sphinx”) and female
centaurs (“fe-mares”). The study PI also requested help in minimizing participant and staff attrition after the
sphinx began blocking exam room doorways and attacking anyone who was unable to answer their riddles.
Value Added:
 Core D helped to reduce under-enrollment in HIV/AIDS research by fe-mares through opening and
staffing the CFAR Clinical Research Stables (CRS) on Saturday mornings. Furthermore, Core A
minimized mortality-driven attrition by arranging for Urban University undergraduate classics majors
to receive practicum credit for waiting at a safe distance beside CRS doorways (extra credit was
given to undergraduates willing to wait at an unsafe distance) in order to answer a sphinx’ riddle
each time someone needed to enter or leave the study site. This assistance proved to be crucial in
making it possible for HPTN 000 investigators to enroll and retain over 350 study subjects (60% of
planned enrollment) within the first year.
2. How has the CFAR helped co-funding and participating Institutes and Centers (ICs)?

To the extent possible, provide 1-3 Value Added examples per funding IC that illustrate CFAR’s
support of the mission of the co-funding and participating ICs.
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




The anecdotes for a specific IC do not need to be restricted to projects appearing on the FRB
spreadsheet. As in the Urban CFAR NCCAM example below it is possible to say “0 FRB awards” for
a given IC and still include anecdotal Value Added examples for projects funded by that IC.
Note: This is a crucial section of the Progress Report as you are being asked to provide data
that will be used to justify continuing support of the CFAR program by current ICs.
Make Value Added examples very brief and very specific
Since many NIH-funded projects are multi-year you may provide anecdotes for the same project
across multiple progress reports if and only if you can provide unique anecdotes in each report.
Formatting:
o For each IC, record the total number of awards funded by that IC which appear on the “Allow”
tab of the most recent FRB table (“# FRB awards received”)
o Also record the total number of awards funded by that IC that received support by one or
more CFAR cores, including awards that did NOT appear on the FRB (“# supported”).
o For each example, follow the three-part format below (situation, action, outcome).
[IC]: ([#] FRB awards received, [#] supported)
[Situation]
 [Action] [Outcome]
[example from the Urban CFAR progress report]
NCCAM: (0 FRB awards received, 1 supported)
In 2009 Dr. John Doolittle expressed an interest in expanding his NCCAM-funded research on evidencebased alternative prevention interventions for Asian water buffalo who have sex with zebras (K23
AT001111) to include research on trans-species HIV prevention efforts for bison who have sex with emus.
 Core B brought Dr. George Custer (South Dakota School of Wild West Medicine D-CFAR) to meet
with Dr. Doolittle and discuss Custer’s work with bison who are ‘In the Life.’ Drs. Doolittle and Custer
are currently developing an NIH R01 grant application for submission at the September 1 deadline.
ICs to include:
 FIC
 NIAID
 NCI
 NICHD
 NHLBI
 NIDA
 NIMH
 NIMHD
 NIDDK
 NIGMS
 NIA
D. Progress in Meeting the CFAR’s Specific Aims:
The purpose of section I.D is to report progress on meeting the specific aims of the overall CFAR.
 List each overall specific aim. If an aim has been newly added or modified, identify the change/addition
 For each aim, provide a new example illustrating progress in meeting the aim.
 If there are no new examples to provide, say so rather than replicate a previously reported example.
[Examples from Urban CFAR report]
Specific Aim #1: “To provide scientific and administrative leadership for AIDS research at Urban University”
No new examples to report. See Core A for a complete progress report.
Specific Aim #2: “To grow the next generation of HIV/AIDS researchers.”
Urban CFAR’s 2013 recruitment of Dr. Moreau (see Y09 progress report) has helped the CFAR make
strides towards meeting this specific aim. At last report the surviving graduate students still stationed at
Dr. Moreau’s Island field site, the Southsea Center for Research on Ephemeral Animal Models
(SCREAM), have gone into hiding while waiting anxiously for the next generation of HIV/AIDS
researchers to hatch. We are optimistic that v3.0 products of CFAR’s artificial life form design program
(a research collaboration between Dr. Moreau and Dr. Francis (Frank) N. Stein) will prove to be less
lethally aggressive than v1.0 – 2.8.
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In a related example, Dr. Alphonse Mephisto is seeking NIH funding to expand his Core B-funded study
findings, Nutritional requirements of vegan-carnivore chimera to include embryotic HIV/AIDS
researchers.
E. Changes During the Current Reporting Period:
The purpose of section I.E is to document changes to the environment in which the CFAR operates that
may enhance or create obstacles to the CFAR’s operations. If there are no changes to report, state this.
To the CFAR’s Institutional Commitment
Changes to institutional commitment may include additions to dedicated or discretionary funds, space,
equipment, personnel, or anything else provided by an outside party to further the mission of the CFAR.
To the CFAR Internal and/or External Organizational Chart(s)
If changes have been made to the internal or external org charts summarize those changes here and direct
the reader to the location of figures displaying the updated chart(s). Highlight described changes on the
chart itself.
To the Role or Membership of CFAR-wide Advisory Committees
Changes to advisory committees serving specific Cores or SWGs should be described in the Core/SWG
narrative.
To Existing NIH Core Facilities at the Institution
If one or more new NIH-funded Core Facilities were added at your Institution(s) during the current reporting
period, fill out the table as in the example below. Include even those new Core Facilities that have no CFAR
users.
If no new NIH-funded Core facilities were added since the last progress report was submitted say so and
erase the entire table below.
NIH Core
Services Offered
Flow Cytometry Core
Sorting of neoplastic cells
Information across
multiple campuses about
newly available biotech
resources
Biotechnology
Prototype Portal
NIH Grant
Number
Total
Users
CFAR
Users
P30 CA00000
35
14
P30 AI00000
371
0
Justification for
Overlap
No capacity to sort
HIV-infected cells
No overlap
II. Plans for Next Reporting Period
A. Summary of CFAR Strategic Planning Process Leading up to the Next Reporting Period
 Describe planning activities that will affect future actions taken by the CFAR here
• Time Period:
 Activities
B. Summary of Plans for the Next Reporting Period
Summarize the most important plans that came out of the process described in section II.A. Use a bullet point
format and, for each item, reference the Core in which additional details may be found.
 Put copies of reports from the major external and internal committees convened to provide advice to
the CFAR in Appendix B
[Example from Urban CFAR report
 The Big Dogs Council will meet quarterly, instead of annually (Core A)
 The Prevention Science Core will be using equipment recently purchased by the CFAR to double the
range of services available to Core users (Core C).
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III. Top Publications Describing Work Supported by the CFAR
Provide an annotated list of the top 5-10 most significant AIDS-related publications released from your
Institution since the last Progress Report submission.
Do not include publications that are not linked to the CFAR base grant
For each citation, follow the format below. Provide citations in alphabetical order by first author, bold face
CFAR authors. Do not attach copies of actual publications.
Citation
PMID
PMCID
Key Research
Findings
CFAR Support
Provided
Lay Description
of Significance
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