NHLBI Outstanding Investigator Award (OIA) (R35 Clinical Trial Optional)

The NHLBI Outstanding Investigator Award (OIA) promotes scientific productivity and innovation by providing long-term support and increased flexibility to experienced Program Directors/Principal Investigators who are currently on at least two NHLBI R01-equivalent awards and whose outstanding record demonstrates their ability to make major contributions to heart, lung, blood and sleep research. The OIA supports a research program for up to seven years, providing investigators increased freedom to conduct research that breaks new ground or extends previous discoveries in new directions. The award provides a stable funding environment to improve productivity and facilitate nimble, ambitious, creative research. It accelerates scientific innovation by enabling flexibility in pursuing new research directions as they arise, since investigators will not be bound to specific aims proposed in advance. The OIA reduces time spent writing grant applications and managing multiple awards, allowing more time for conducting research, mentoring students and junior scientists, and providing scientific service. Research supported by the OIA must be within the scope of the NHLBI mission related to heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders research. The program is intended to provide the primary and most likely sole source of NHLBI funding on individual grant awards, allowing PDs/PIs to take greater risks and pursue research that requires a longer timeframe.