'M' Acronyms

Meals and Incidental Expenses M&IE  
Meals and Incidental Expenses (M&IE) is one of the elements that make up standard per diem rates for official travel.
See: Per Diem Allowance
Master Agreement MA  
A mechanism used to enhance competition among prospective offerors by establishing pools of qualified sources in a particular research and development, evaluation or area of study. The intent is to establish qualified pools of sources (known as Master Agreement holders) who can respond to competitive solicitations in a short time frame.

See Also: Basic Agreement Basic Ordering Agreement Blanket Purchase Agreement
Minority Access to Research Careers MARC  
The meaning of the MARC acronym is now defined as Maximizing Access to Research Careers to better reflect the intent of the MARC Program.

Quoted from NIH Guide Notice NOT-GM-14-116.

See: Maximizing Access to Research Careers Undergraduate - Student Training in Academic Research
Maximizing Access to Research Careers Undergraduate - Student Training in Academic Research MARC USTAR T34  
The Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (U-STAR) program is designed to provide structured training programs to prepare high-achieving, underrepresented students for doctoral programs in biomedical research fields. Programmatic activities should include authentic research experiences, academic enhancements, skills development, and mentoring. The long-term goal of the program is to enhance the pool of underrepresented students earning baccalaureate and Ph.D. degrees in biomedical research fields and ultimately to contribute to the diversification of the nation's scientific workforce.
Minority-Based Community Clinical Oncology Program MBCCOP  
See: NCI Community Oncology Research Program
Minority Biomedical Research Support Program MBRS  
To increase the numbers of ethnic minority faculty, students, and investigators engaged in biomedical research, and to broaden the opportunities for participation in biomedical research of ethnic minority faculty, students, and investigators, by providing general support for biomedical research programs at eligible institutions..

Quoted from 42 CFR §52c.1.

NIH's Minority Biomedical Research Support Program has three components:

Multicomponent Application MCA  
For the support of a broadly based, multidisciplinary, often long-term research program which has a specific major objective or a basic theme. A program project generally involves the organized efforts of relatively large groups, members of which are conducting research projects designed to elucidate the various aspects or components of this objective.
See: Multi-Project Grant Application
Most Efficient Organization MEO  
This process involves identifying functions would be considered commercial and under going a process in which the government structures an in-house workforce and then compares it with any qualified commercial providers through a contract bid process.
Minority Graduate Research Assistants MGRA  
See: Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences
Minority High School Student MHS  
See: Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences
Minority Institution MI  
The term "minority institution" means an institution of higher education whose enrollment of a single minority or a combination of minorities (as defined in paragraph (2)) exceeds 50 percent of the total enrollment. The Secretary shall verify this information from the data on enrollments in the higher education general information surveys (HEGIS) furnished by the institution to the Office for Civil Rights, Department of Education.

The term "minority institutions" (MIs) is defined by § 365(3) of the Higher Education Act (HEA) (20 U.S.C. §1067k.(3)). This definition of "minority institutions" applies only to the Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program (MSEIP) and other programs whose statutes or regulations reference the same MI definition. A list of minority institutions compiled for the purposes of the MSEIP can be found at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-minorityinst-list.html.

(Reference: United States Department of Education Lists of Postsecondary Institutions Enrolling Populations with Significant Percentages of Undergraduate Minority Students Overview)

Minority Individuals in Postdoctoral Training MIPT  
See: Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences
Minority Investigator Supplement MIS  
See: Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences
Mouse Models of Human Cancer Consortium MMHCC  
This program ended in 2014.
See: electronic Models Information, Communication, and Education (eMice)
Memorandum of Understanding MOU  
A written agreement between/among two or more NIH ICs, between NIH and another NIH component, or between an NIH IC and another agency.

Quoted from §D.7 of the NIH Policy Manual Chapter 55010.

Post-Baccalaureate and Post Masters Degree Students MPBM  
See: Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences
Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI  
A procedure in which radio waves and a powerful magnet linked to a computer are used to create detailed pictures of areas inside the body. These pictures can show the difference between normal and diseased tissue. MRI makes better images of organs and soft tissue than other scanning techniques, such as computed tomography (CT) or x-ray. MRI is especially useful for imaging the brain, the spine, the soft tissue of joints, and the inside of bones. Also called magnetic resonance imaging, NMRI, and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging.

Quoted from the NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms.

Minority-Serving Institution MSI  
Under part F of the HEA, 20 U.S. Code § 1067q — "Investment in historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions," the following institutions are eligible to receive funds under that section: (Reference: United States Department of Education Lists of Postsecondary Institutions Enrolling Populations with Significant Percentages of Undergraduate Minority Students Overview)
Medical Scientist Training Program MSTP  
This program encourages and supports the training of students with outstanding credentials and potential who are motivated to undertake careers in biomedical research and academic medicine. MSTP students participate in an integrated program of graduate training in the biomedical sciences and clinical training offered through medical schools. Graduates receive the combined M.D. - Ph.D. degree, and the majority of them pursue careers in basic biomedical or clinical research.

For additional information, visit the NIH NIGMS Medical Scientist Training Program webpage.

Material Transfer Agreement MTA  
A legal document defining the conditions under which research or other materials can be transferred and used among research laboratories.

Quoted from the NIH OER Glossary & Acronym List.

Molecular Targets Program MTP  
The Molecular Targets Program (MTP) is an organization within the Center for Cancer Research(CCR) at NCI. The MTP provides the focus and infrastructure to enable CCR tenured and tenure-track Principal Investigators to initiate and pursue interdisciplinary, applied, collaborative, molecularly targeted drug discovery research within a matrix organizational format that is both supportive of and complementary to the traditional NCI/NIH intramural Lab/Branch organization. The MTP mission statement further defines the new organizational model. The initial goal of the MTP is to facilitate the discovery of compounds that may serve as bioprobes for functional genomics, proteomics and molecular target validation research, as well as leads or candidates for drug development. Compounds of interest include not only classical, "drug-like" organic small-molecules, but also peptides, proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, carbohydrates and other bioactive chemical classes. Future implementation phases of the MTP concept may support preclinical and clinical development of promising new molecularly targeted investigational drugs.
Medically Underserved Areas and Populations MUA/Ps  
Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) and Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs) identify geographic areas and populations with a lack of access to primary care services.

MUAs have a shortage of primary care health services for residents within a geographic area such as:

  • a whole county;
  • a group of neighboring counties;
  • a group of urban census tracts; or
  • a group of county or civil divisions.
MUPs are specific sub-groups of people living in a defined geographic area with a shortage of primary care health services. These groups may face economic, cultural, or linguistic barriers to health care. Examples include, but are not limited to, those who are:
  • homeless;
  • low-income;
  • Medicaid-eligible;
  • Native American; or
  • migrant farmworkers.
MUA/P designations are based on the Index of Medical Underservice (IMU). IMU is calculated based on four criteria:
  • the population to provider ratio;
  • the percent of the population below the federal poverty level;
  • the percent of the population over age 65; and
  • the infant mortality rate.

IMU can range from 0 to 100, where zero represents the completely underserved. Areas or populations with IMUs of 62.0 or less qualify for designation as an MUA/P.

Quoted from the Health Resources & Services Administration's (HRSA's) Medically Underserved Areas and Populations (MUA/Ps) webpage.

Minority Undergraduate Student MUS  
See: Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences