'A' Acronyms

Alteration and Renovation A&R  
Work that changes the interior arrangements or other physical characteristics of an existing facility or of installed equipment so that it can be used more effectively for its currently designated purpose or adapted to an alternative use to meet a programmatic requirement. See also definitions for Major A&R and Minor A&R.

Quoted from the NIH OER Glossary & Acronym List.

See Also: Major A&R ;  Minor A&R
Account Administrator AA  
Designated by the SO, the Accounts Administrator (AA) facilitates the administration of eRA Commons accounts. The AA typically is located in the Central Research Administration Office at the grantee organization.

An Accounts Administrator (AA) role has the following privileges:

  • Create and modify all Commons accounts except SO, FCOI, IAR, and Trainee accounts, and
  • Create affiliation of an existing PI Commons account.
NOTE: AAs are not authorized to modify Institutional Profile (IPF) information or user's Personal Profile information.

For additional information, visit the eRA Commons Account Roles webpage.

See Also: Assistant Role ;  Business Official ;  Financial Conflict of Interest Role ;  Principal Investigator Role ;  Signing Official ;  Administrative Official
Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care AAALAC  
The Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) is a private nonprofit organization that promotes the humane treatment of animals in science through a voluntary accreditation program. More than 640 companies, universities, hospitals, government agencies and other research institutions have earned AAALAC accreditation, demonstrating their commitment to responsible animal care and use. These institutions volunteer to participate in AAALAC's program, in addition to complying with the local, state and federal laws that regulate animal research.
Advisory Committee to the Director ACD  
The Advisory Committee to the Director assists the Office of the Director, NIH, in the making of major plans and policies, especially those related to the allocation of NIH funds and resources.
Administration for Children and Families ACF  
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), within the Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for federal programs that promote the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals, and communities.
Assignment Change Request ACR  
Grant applications submitted to a grantor agency sometimes require a change in their original assignment after submission. Some common examples of required changes include changes in Institute/Center assignment, grant number, study section, council date, etc. These requests were previously submitted on paper, using the Change of Assignment 901 form, and processed manually.

The Assignment Change Request (ACR) system enables these changes to be initiated, routed and approved electronically instead of on paper. The ACR system is also used to withdraw, reinstate or delete a grant application.

American College of Radiology Imaging Network ACRIN  
See: ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group
AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource ACSR  
The AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR) is a biorepository for HIV-infected human biospecimens obtained from a wide spectrum of HIV-related or associated diseases, including cancer, and from appropriate HIV-negative controls. ACSR serves as a resource for investigators working in the fields of HIV/AIDS, cancer, virology, immunology, pathology, epidemiology, tumor biology assay development, and many others.
Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration ADAMHA  
Effective FY 1993, the service components of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA) became the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The three research components of the ADAMHA - the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) - became part of the NIH.
See: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Adverse Event Expedited Reporting System AdEERS  
The Adverse Event Expedited Reporting System is a legacy electronic system for expedited submission of adverse event reports that was used by the NCI Clinical Trials Evaluation Program.

The Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program Adverse Event Reporting System (CTEP-AERS) replaces the Adverse Event Expedited Reporting System (AdEERS).

Accelerated Executive Review AER  
The process that may be used by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Scientific Program Leadership (SPL) to consider and fund applications whose priority scores are just beyond the payline.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality AHRQ  
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services provides evidence-based information on health care outcomes; quality; and cost, use, and access. Information from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) research helps people make more informed decisions and improve the quality of health care services. AHRQ was formerly known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.
Applicant Interview AI  
Under certain circumstances, the principal investigator is requested to travel to the site of the SRG meeting (an applicant interview/reverse site visit), at no cost to the NIH, to respond to reviewers' concerns and to clarify aspects of the application. Applicant interviews may be accomplished with the use of teleconference and videoconference technologies.
See Also: Site Visit, Grant Applications
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome AIDS  
A disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). People with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome are at an increased risk for developing certain cancers and for infections that usually occur only in individuals with a weak immune system.

Quoted from the NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms.

Application Identification Numbers AIN  
The application number identifies:

Sample Application Identification Number: 1-R01-CA183723-01 A1 S1

Quoted from the NIH OER Glossary & Acronym List.

Applied Information Systems Branch AISB  
(AISB) provides integrated computer support, information technology expertise, and information systems development for the DEA. The AISB maintains and monitors the DEA Internet and Intranet websites; designs, develops, and maintains Division-specific software applications; administers and maintains various DEA servers; provides help desk support; provides oversight of hardware and connectivity; and serves as a liaison with the NIH Center for Information Technology (CIT) and the NCI Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT). Its mission is critical to the Division in communicating current information technology activities and new developments to all components of the NCI and NIH as well as to external reviewer and applicant communities.

Quoted from the NCI DEA 2015 Annual Report - "The RAS Initiative".

ALERT System ALERT  
Policies and procedures that allow the NIH to identify research contract proposals that include a principal investigator who is under formal investigation.

See NIH Policy Manual Chapter 6309-1 for a sample ALERT Notification Memorandum.

Administrative Official AO  
An Administrative Official (AO) is a Business Official (BO) within an extramural organization and may be located within the Central Research Administration Office and/or an academic department. The AO reviews grant applications for accuracy before the SO submits final applications to the NIH. Depending on an institution's workflow process, it is possible for the SO and AO to be the same person. In this case, only SO authority is necessary (as SO authority supersedes AO authority). SO and AO authorities should not be combined.

NOTE: The AO is not authorized to transmit applications to the NIH.
An Administrative Official (AO) role has the following privileges:
  • Create all accounts (except IAR, TRAINEE, and BO);
  • Update Commons accounts created by the AO;
  • View status and award information for all institution grants; and
NOTE: The AO cannot view summary statement or priority score.
  • Create affiliation of an existing PI or IAR Commons account and the institution.
NOTE: The AO cannot modify the Institution Profile.

For additional information, visit the eRA Commons Account Roles webpage.

See Also: Account Administrator ;  Assistant Role ;  Business Official ;  Financial Conflict of Interest Role ;  Principal Investigator Role ;  Signing Official
Authorized Organizational Representative AOR  
The individual, named by the applicant organization, who is authorized to act for the applicant and to assume the obligations imposed by the Federal laws, regulations, requirements, and conditions that apply to grant applications or grant awards. This individual is equivalent to the Signing Official in the eRA Commons, i.e., holds the SO Role.

Quoted from the NIH OER Glossary & Acronym List.

See: Signing Official
Accelerated Peer Review APR  
For some grant mechanisms (e.g., P01 applications) this process is used to allow applicants whose applications are close to, but not within, the payline to submit a brief response (within a set page limit and by a set date) to the summary statement (i.e., the reviewers' comments) without having to submit an amended application at the next submission deadline.
Activities to Promote Research Collaborations APRC  
This is an initiative created by the Division of Cancer Biology that provides limited supplemental support to current DCB-funded investigators for meetings/workshops or grant-related research activities to establish focused scientific research collaboration in novel and promising areas related to the parent grant.
Awaiting Receipt of Application ARA  
An Awaiting Receipt of Application (ARA) form is a request to communicate specific information needed when the subject application is received, but which is not part of the application itself. The organization responsible for the receipt of the application creates an ARA request for the PD/PI or for the IC to which the application will be assigned.

Quoted from the Awaiting Receipt of Application (ARA) System Online Help.

Administrative Resource Center ARC  
The Division of Extramural Activities (DEA) Administrative Resource Center (ARC):
  • (1) Provides advice to management and staff on issues that relate to administrative and business management practices;
  • (2) provides administrative support and coordination for the grants portfolio for the Division;
  • (3) provides general administrative support services in the areas of budget, procurement, personnel management, property accountability, space and facilities planning, travel, and other administrative functions;
  • (4) coordinates with the Office of Management on administrative and management activities;
  • (5) implements administrative and management initiatives and guidance;
  • (6) participates in the development and dissemination of policies, guidelines, and procedures on matters relating to administrative management;
  • (7) contributes to NCI administrative activities reports and statistics per the request of Institute staff and in response to requirements from NIH and DHHS;
  • (8) brings NCI-wide common issues to the attention of the Office of Management, and analyzes effects of changes in administrative policies and practices; and
  • (9) makes recommendations to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of administrative functions.
Academic Research Enhancement Award AREA (R15)  
Grant award stimulating research at health professional academic institutions with not more than $6 million per year of NIH support in total costs in each of four or more of the last seven years.

For additional information see the AREA webpage.

Quoted from the NIH OER Glossary & Acronym List.

NIH Academic Research Enhancement Awards AREA or R15  
See: Academic Research Enhancement Award
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ARRA  
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. The Act includes measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need.

For additional information, visit NIH's Recovery Act Grant Information webpage.

Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking ASSIST  
The Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking (ASSIST) is a web-based system used to prepare applications using the SF424 Research & Related form set and to submit electronically through Grants.gov to NIH and other participating agencies.

ASSIST allows participants to do the following:

  • Leverage current eRA Commons credentials to access ASSIST
  • Delegate application preparation responsibilities to multiple users within and outside the applicant organization while maintaining appropriate access control and security
  • Populate data from established eRA Commons profiles
  • Run validations on federal-wide and agency business rules prior to submission
  • Generate Table of Contents, headers, footers, page numbers, etc. automatically
  • Print/Preview applications prior to submission in the format used by the agency
  • Present to reviewers clear, color PDF images rather than scanned versions of the application
  • Avoid the hassle of preparing and shipping multiple paper copies
ASSIST can support both single-project and multi-project (also known as multi-component or complex) applications with features presented differently depending on the type of application, as determined by the entered Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

Quoted from ASSIST Online Help.

Assistant Role ASST  
An eRA Commons Account Role, the Assistant (ASST) is delegated access by a Principal Investigator (PI) to his/her account to assist with data entry and completion of eSNAP.

An Assistant (ASST) role has the following privileges:

  • Edit own Personal Profile data;
  • Edit PIs Personal Profile if delegated by PI;
  • Edit PIs RPPR data if delegated by PI;
  • Edit PIs Administrative Supplement requests initiated in the eRA Commons if delegated by PI;
  • View PI Grant Status if delegated by PI; and
  • Perform PI xTrain functions (except submit to agency) if delegated by PI.
See Also: Account Administrator ;  Administrative Official ;  Business Official ;  Financial Conflict of Interest Role ;  Principal Investigator Role ;  Signing Official