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FY 2023 Request for Pre-Proposals - Human Nutrition Research

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), a contractor of the Beef Checkoff, is soliciting research pre-proposals in the area of Human Nutrition. Beef farmers and ranchers are interested in expanding nutrition research efforts to further understand beef’s nutritional qualities and beef’s role in a healthy diet to nourish and optimize health at every life stage. Beef farmer-and rancher-supported research helps fill gaps ensuring the body of nutrition knowledge for beef continues to grow -- particularly as applied research funding opportunities become more limited -- and also provides science-based information about beef to help consumers make informed choices about what they eat. More specifically, attention will be given to research pre-proposals that consider one or more of the following topics:   


Original Scientific Research: Evaluate beef’s role in optimizing human health and well-being through population-based or clinical research. 

  • Growth and development during birth to age 24 months, childhood, and/or adolescence life stages 
  • Metabolic health (e.g., heart health, diabetes risk, cancer risk, weight management)
  • Eating/Ingestive behaviors (e.g., types, amounts, and/or frequency of eating beef) and metabolic health 
  • Muscle health (i.e., quality, strength) and role in overall health, including aging
  • Brain health (e.g., neurocognitive/cognition/mental health and physical and/or mental resilience/vitality/fatigue) 
  • Interactions between components of the diet matrix and whole beef food matrix*    
Existing Research Assessment: Data analysis, Food Pattern modeling 

  • Assess beef’s contribution to nutrition security and/or food security in the U.S. 
  • Describe portion size, eating occasions, and eating environments for usual and/or average beef intake 
  • Types of dietary fats from beef and health outcomes 
  • Beef in the context of healthy dietary patterns and/or development of a food-based diet quality index/score with the ability to clearly delineate the type and amounts of protein food sources 
  • Articulate interrelationships of beef intake, nutrition, and health and their contribution to healthcare costs and/or quality of life indicators    
Literature reviews (systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses encouraged)

  • Contribution of components of the beef matrix* to optimal health outcomes 
  • Exploration of best practice methods to evaluate the beef matrix*
  • Characterization of the beef matrix* (e.g., gap analysis on matrix components such as novel bioactive) 
  • Assessment of specificity of red meat and/or beef intake, amounts, and types in health and disease studies    

*The current working definition for the beef matrix: The collective nutritive and non-nutritive components of the beef food structure and their unique chemical and physical interactions that may be important for human health and are distinguishable from those of the single components in isolation.    

Note: Clinical trials and systematic review/meta-analyses will be required to be registered in the appropriate database in advance of project initiation (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov, PROSPERO). Completed work is expected to be written for publication in accordance with best practice reporting guidelines established for the appropriate study design type.    


Please also see the 2021-2025 Human Nutrition Research Roadmap. For additional information on the checkoff-funded Human Nutrition Research program, click here. 


PRE-PROPOSALS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY Wednesday, May 18 at 11:59 pm MDT via the BeefGrants system.

Pre-Proposal Categories: 

FY-23 Long-term Projects
  • May include proposals for research trials. Funded projects usually range from $50,000 to $250,000, but could be higher if appropriate, necessary, and well justified. 
  • Can begin on or after October 1, 2022, with a project timeline of up to two years.    
FY-23 Short-term Projects 
  • May include proposals for projects with timelines for up to one year, with funding limited to $100,000/proposal. 
  • Can begin on or after October 1, 2022, with a project timeline of up to one year    
 FY-23 Literature Review Projects
  • May include proposals for systematic or narrative literature reviews and/or meta-analyses with funding limited to $35,000/proposal. 
  • Can begin on or after October 1, 2022, and must end by August 31, 2023.

Application Guidelines: 

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, has moved to an online portal, BeefGrants, for managing the grants process and to facilitate the submission and review of grant materials. All portal users will need to set up an account. Please visit BeefGrants to register and apply for a grant. (For more information on using BeefGrants, click here)

Pre-Proposal Submission Process:
The Human Nutrition Research Program follows a two-part application process, including the submission of a pre-proposal. Pre-proposals are intended to be a brief overview of the proposed project. Pre-proposals must meet the submission deadline and follow the guidelines in the RFP to be considered. Pre-proposals should clearly state their relevance to the beef industry. Principal Investigators (PIs) may submit more than one pre-proposal. A CV is not required. If included, CVs will not count against page totals.   

The following categories will be required in BeefGrants. Word counts apply for some categories.

  • Applicant Information 
      • Organization Information
      • Researcher Information 
    • Pre-Proposal 
        • Project Title
        • Program Area of Proposed Work (please list if applicable)  
        • Project Timeline
        • Specific Objectives
        • Hypothesis
        • Proposed Methodology and Design
        • Expected outcomes in terms of scientific knowledge and technical capability delivered as a result of this project
        • Deliverables (for example, pilot data or manuscript development)
        • Brief Budget Description (for example, personnel, supplies, materials, sample analysis, presentations, dissemination, travel, and miscellaneous)
        • References (if applicable)
        • Optional – add collaborating researchers' details

    Review Criteria
    Pre-proposals will be reviewed by an internal and external Science Advisory Committee. Proposals will be evaluated for: uniqueness, relevance, soundness, the potential for success, budget appropriateness, and potential benefit to the industry/return on investment.

    PIs with pre-proposals selected for a request for a full proposal will be notified by June 30, 2022.

    Leveraged funding through collaborations with government agencies (USDA, NIH), foundations, industry, or other sources that have matching funds is encouraged. In addition, collaboration with additional researchers is encouraged where appropriate.

    Disclaimer
    We are aware that academic institutions have financial obligations for administering the research grants awarded to their faculty members. However, overhead costs, principal investigator salaries, tuition, and equipment purchases will not be considered as part of the funds made available for this research.


    Please share this RFP with interested colleagues.   

    Questions related to this RFP should be directed to [email protected]