The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to solicit applications from institutions/organizations for inclusion into FDA's Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network Cooperative Agreement Program for Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories. These Cooperative agreements are intended to:
1. Strengthen coordination of veterinary diagnostic laboratory efforts as related to the national food safety system by supporting research and capacity building during case investigations, including chemical, microbiological, pathological, or other complex analyses to help determine cases of potential adulteration or contamination of animal foods or animal drugs.
2. Support validation and harmonization of analytical methods and equipment platforms, supporting research into questions arising during case investigations.
3. Strengthen coordination of veterinary diagnostic laboratory efforts as related to the national food safety system, as put forth in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) by developing the Vet-LIRN laboratory Network's ability to investigate potential animal foodborne illness outbreaks.
4. Support training, quality assurance processes, proficiency exercises, and data sharing to support development of veterinary diagnostic laboratories.
5. Support laboratory efforts to obtain accreditation (AAVLD, ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation) or adopt a quality system comparable to international standards.
Deadlines:
- Letter of Intent Due Date(s): December 10, 2021, December 09, 2022, December 08, 2023
- Application Due Date(s): February 10, 2022, February 10, 2023, February 9, 2024
​PAR-22-063 Expiration Date February 10, 2024
NOTE: To be a Vet-LIRN cooperative agreement laboratory, an applicant institution must have an acceptance letter from the Vet-LIRN Project Office (VPO) approving the applicant institution as a Vet-LIRN laboratory prior to the application receipt date. A copy of the VPO acceptance letter stating the laboratory is in the Vet-LIRN network must be submitted with the application as an appendix.
Application budgets need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. and should not exceed the following in total costs (direct and indirect):
YR 01: $150,000
YR 02: $150,000
YR 03: $150,000
YR 04: $150,000
YR 05: $150,000