ICMR MERA India calls for Research Proposals, MBBS, MD, MS, PhD, MPH can apply

Published On 2022-01-03 04:00 GMT | Update On 2022-01-03 04:00 GMT

New Delhi: After a successful Round 01 during 2019-20, MERA-India operative under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has launched a special call for early-career malaria researchers in the second round to promote young investigators (less than 40 years) to carry out cutting edge malaria research Operational/Implementation/Public Health/Translational) on the recommendation of...

The MERA-India is inviting grant applications from Young Malaria Researchers (YMR) in the call. The alliance believes to encourage the young talent of the country who works in the field of malaria research.

The aim of this call is to nurture YMR by providing them with research grants under the mentorship of senior malaria scientists and supporting them to become independent researchers. With the intention of capacity building of young researchers in the country, the MERA-India provides a unique platform to YMR to express their research ideas and to develop them into full-fledged research proposals in the fields of Operational/Implementation/Public Health/Translational malaria research.:

As per the guidelines for Extramural Research Programme, ICMR MERA-India, individuals holding permanent positions in medical colleges, universities, educational and research institutes with research experience in the field of malaria are eligible to apply for the MERA-India YMR grant. The applicant should be below 40 years of age on 31/01/2022. He/She should have a PhD in relevant subject or MBBS/MD/MS/MPH or equivalent are eligible to apply for the MERA-India YMR grant.

The last date for submission of a full-length research proposal is 31st January 2022 Time 05:00 pm.

The aim of the Malaria Elimination Research Alliance (MERA)-India is to identify, articulate, prioritize and respond to the research needs of the country in a coordinated and combinatorial way to eliminate malaria from India by 2030. MERA-India was launched by the Secretary-Department of Health Research and Director General-Indian Council of Medical Research, Prof. (Dr) Balram Bhargava, on the eve of 'World Malaria Day' in 2019.

The vision of this trans-institutional research alliance is to generate evidence to support and accelerate malaria elimination in India. The overall goal is to bring together all stakeholders working on malaria including researchers, healthcare professionals, government and non-government organizations, public health representatives, policymakers at one platform.

MERA-India is inviting proposals in research areas for the second round of funding in the following priority areas:

Theme I: Artificial Intelligence (AI), surveillance, remote sensing, digital platform for surveillance, GIS nodes identification, mobile apps

Research Questions:

a. Modernization of surveillance techniques and systems

b. Utilization of digital / artificial intelligence tools for surveillance (human and vector) in different settings

c. Near real time data transfer tools – integration with the routine surveillance systems

d. AI for reading malaria slides automatically in high throughput format

Theme II: Vector control strategies and tools

Research Questions:

a. Assessment of implementation and usage patterns of vector control tools and services by communities in different malaria-endemic settings, barriers for the most effective usage and the solutions to overcome these

b. Quantification of outdoor / residual transmission by assessing outdoor and early biting including infectivity of mosquito and associated parameters (EIR and its alternatives)

Theme III: Compliance, severity and relapses in case of P. vivax infections

Research Questions:

a. Establishment and follow-up of a cohort at different malaria endemicities to observe P. vivax infections and its course in operational settings. The parameters to be assessed may include following:

b. Clinical spectrum of P. vivax malaria – symptomatology, clinical presentation, complications and recovery

c. Parasite densities and gametocyte densities at different stages of illness

d. Compliance to 14 day PQ treatment: actual compliance rates, availability of PQ for 14 days, community mobilization by health system, barriers

e. Relapses: incidence, time gap, markers to differentiate between relapse and reinfection

f. Field testing potential POC –TrueNat / LAMP / any other POC diagnostic tool

Theme IV: Developing alternative surveillance strategies to capture the malaria case load in the community including private sectors

Research Questions:

a. Strategies/ tools to strengthen surveillance by inclusion of private sector at different levels of health care:

b. Strategies/ tools to mobilize private sector and motivating them to share data on malaria cases.

c. Training of different private sector (formal and informal) in delivering quality assured diagnosis and treatment.

d. Tools for transfer of data in near real time from private sector.

e. Harmonization of private sector data with public sector at different levels (lessons from TB)

When and how to submit a proposal:

1. The "full length research (detailed) Ad-hoc proposal should be submitted through online mode only on https://epms.icmr.org.in and no proposal in physical/hard copy/email is to be submitted.

2. Details of the eligibility, format of application, terms & conditions and guidelines of the scheme are available on https://epms.icmr.org.in/adhoc

3. All projects involving research on human beings/animals must be cleared by the registered Human Ethics Committee/ Animal Ethics Committee of the respective institute (Registration Number to be provided).

Date for submission of full-length research proposal:

Start Date: 1st January, 2022 Time 09:00 am

End Date: 31st January, 2022 Time 05:00 pm

Proposal submission related queries can be sent to the Division of Biomedical Informatics, ICMR, New Delhi at Email Address: po.epms@icmr.gov.in

Application process:

1. Open the ICMR Electronic Project Management System (e-PMS) portal https://epms.icmr.org.in.

2. Project proposal submission is three steps process in e-PMS.

a. Step 1: PI Registration/Login

b. Step 2: Verify Email Id and Complete/Update PI Profile

c. Step 3: Apply for Grant through submission of Ad-hoc proposal

3. Click on "LOGIN and select "Register a new membership" for new registration OR else if already registered, enter the details to login into the application at e-PMS portal.

4. After registration in the portal, login in the portal. Verify your registered email and complete the PI profile. PI profile includes Personal details such as Salute, Name, DOB, Gender (Male/Female), Category (GEN, OBC, SC, ST), State, District, Institute Name (if name doesn't exist in the drop down list then there is an option to add the new institute also), Designation, Nature of Employment, Department, Broad Area of Research, Subject Area.

5. After completing mandatory section of PI Profile, click on "Submit New Proposal" under "Proposal Submission" menu. New screen will display. Select "ICMR Ad-hoc Project Program" from drop down list to submit new proposal under Extramural Research Programme.

6. Proposal submission form will be opened. Please ensure to select in respective dropdown list in submission form to submit proposal under Young Malaria Researchers Program.

Advertisement: Research Proposal under ICMR MERA-India for Young Malaria Researchers Program 2022

Broad Area: Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases

Major Disciple / Subject Area (any one): Public Health / Operational / Implementation/ Translational Research

7. The user manual of e-PMS (Guidelines-> e-PMS menu) https://epms.icmr.org.in/user-manual and ICMR Ad-hoc Project Program guideline (Guidelines-> Ad-hoc Program menu) are available at https://epms.icmr.org.in/adhoc. Before proceeding to submission of the proposal, it is suggested to read user manual and guidelines; and make ready all relevant information, documents and research plan.

8. Registration in e-PMS portal and filling the Personal and Education information is mandatory for Co-PI/ Co-I also.

9. As per the guidelines for Extramural Research Programme, individuals holding permanent positions in Medical colleges/ universities, educational and research institutes, NGOs or industries are eligible to apply for the MERA-India Call. The contractual, adhoc, project staff etc. are not eligible to apply for research grant in this scheme. Therefore, all PIs are advised to ensure the nature of employment of PI/Co-PI/Co-I before process to submission or addition as PI/Co-PI/Co-I.

The applicant should be below 40 years of age on 31/01/2022. He/She should have a PhD in relevant subject or MBBS/MD/MS/MPH or equivalent are eligible to apply for the MERA-India YMR grant.

10. The contractual/adhoc/temporary project staff etc. are not eligible for this program. Therefore, all PIs are advised to ensure the nature of their and Co-Investigator's (if any) employment before processing the application further. Due regard will be given to non-research career break (especially for women researchers). In case the applicant desires age-relaxation with such a break, the request and reason thereof should be specified in the cover letter.

11. A mentor, not from the host institution, from India should be identified and included in the application. A detailed letter from the mentor with a mentoring plan on academics and professional growth of applicants for the entire duration of the grant should be provided. Specifically, the letter from the mentor should elaborate on the following points: a. Guidance to the PI for accomplishment of the research goals and project objectives b. Technical/infrastructure support to the PI c. Monitoring PI's research progress (Note: The mentor role is a mandatory requirement.)

12. The proposal should be in the field of malaria addressing public health/ operational/ implementation/ translational research.

13. The maximum budget can be up to R 50 Lakhs for the proposed duration of the study.

14. Duration of the research proposals should not be more than two years.

15. There is no separate budget head for the consumables. It can be added under the contingency budget head.

16. The applicant can submit only one application in this round.

17. The MERA-India checks all the proposals for plagiarism using professional tools and reserves the right to disqualify plagiarized proposals from ongoing competitions. Applicants are advised to check their applications very carefully before submission in this regard.

18. It is mandatory that the proposals must be submitted in the asked format ONLY. The format for proposals can be downloaded from https://epms.icmr.org.in/adhoc The incomplete proposals (if there is no response for any question/section) will be automatically disqualified from the current round. All the proposals will be peer-reviewed and shortlisted for the funding based on the recommendations of reviewers. The applicants may be called for personal discussion, if required.

19. . It is suggested to submit your proposal without waiting for the last date and time to avoid last time rush. Last minute request for extension of the due date w.r.t. any technical issue will not be considered.

for more details, click on the following link:

https://www.meraindia.org.in/2_call_for_Research

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Garima

Garima joined Medical Dialogues in the year 2017 and is currently working as a Senior Editor. She looks after all the Healthcare news pertaining to Medico-legal cases, MCI/DCI decisions, Medical Education issues, government policies as well as all the news and updates concerning Medical and Dental Colleges in India. She is a graduate from Delhi University and pursuing MA in Journalism and Mass Communication. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in Contact no. 011-43720751

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ICMR MERA India calls for Research Proposals, MBBS, MD, MS, PhD, MPH can apply

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