In order to expand interest in data marshaled by the Urologic Diseases in America (UDA) project, this call for research proposals will support individual, manuscript-driven analyses of UDA datasets and provide support for the development and execution of these projects.

In 2001, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) initiated the Urologic Diseases in America project with a team of researchers at UCLA and RAND. Renewed in 2007, this effort is the first to quantify in broad terms the immense burden of urologic diseases on the American public in both human and financial terms.

Urologic disease encompasses a wide variety of malignant and benign genitourinary conditions that affect men, women, and children. Urologic diseases may be acute or chronic and may be managed surgically, medically, or with a combination of approaches. The economic impact of urologic diseases is often substantial for patients and families, employers, payors, and society at large. Physician practice and patient care-seeking behavior in urology have changed dramatically in response to a variety of financial and non-financial incentives in recent years. Some new technologies have seen rapid and wide adoption, while others have met with barriers to diffusion. In order to develop thoughtful public policy responses to these changes, we must have a thorough understanding of health care resource utilization and clinical epidemiology that are relevant to urologic diseases in America. Translational findings from clinical and basic science research in urology must be considered in the context of effectiveness, efficiency, and equipoise.

Until the Urologic Diseases in America project, no authoritative omnibus had compiled a comprehensive set of data analyses that synthesized information available from myriad national and regional sources across the public and private sectors in the United States. These sources, rich with epidemiologic and economic data on trends the diagnosis and management of patients with urologic diseases, were prodigiously tapped for the Urologic Diseases in America compendium published in 2007 by UCLA and RAND (www.udaonline.net). The UDA team now turns its attention to collaborating with outside investigators.

This call for individual research proposals will support independent, manuscript-driven UDA-data-analyses projects. We will give priority to proposals that aim to impact health policy through examining health care quality and access in urology, describing disparities in urologic care, or examining new treatment trends for patients with urologic conditions. We are especially interested in urologic conditions that have received meager study to date (e.g., pediatric urologic conditions).

Selected proposals will have up to one year (12 months) to be completed. Support for these projects will be in the form of statistical and analytic effort from the UCLA/RAND research team. Successful applicants will be designated as UDA collaborators and will receive consulting support from the UDA team to refine their hypothesis, develop their analytic methods, conduct their analyses (programming performed by RAND), interpret their findings, and provide feedback on their resulting manuscripts and abstracts. UDA collaborators will not receive financial support from UCLA or RAND.

Junior and senior investigators, fellows and senior residents are eligible to apply. Fellows and residents must identify an appropriate local mentor. Priority will be given to applicants with a demonstrated commitment to carrying their projects through to fruition as peer-reviewed manuscripts.

Proposals must be received by May 30, 2008. A second RIRP is anticipated in 2011. All proposals must be submitted online (here) in accordance with the following requirements. Each application must include the following (11-point or larger, single-spaced):

• Cover letter from the applicant

  This must include a commitment to submit at least one manuscript to a peer-reviewed health sciences journal within 3 months of analysis completion.

• Biosketch in NIH format for applicant and co-investigators
• Biosketch in NIH format for local mentor (fellow and resident applicants)
• Letter of support from local mentor (fellow and resident applicants)
• Specific Aims (1-2 pages)

  This is the most important component of the application. It must present a thoughtfully-considered premise with research questions and hypotheses clearly articulated in laser-sharp detail.

• Background and significance (1-2 pages)
• Preliminary studies by the applicant or from the literature (1-2 pages)

  Proposals so novel that no preliminary studies have been published in urology should cite related work from non-urologic disciplines that illustrates the feasibility of the proposed analyses.

• Research design and methods (no more than 4 pages)

  The RAND/UCLA team will refine and conduct all analyses, but the applicant must propose a specific and detailed plan for analyses that includes the specific variables and UDA datasets to be used. A full list and description of UDA datasets is available in Dr. Saigal's slide set from the 2008 UDA Symposium and in the Methods chapter of the 2007 UDA compendium, both of which are available at www.udaonline.net. In addition, most UDA datasets have their own public websites with further detail. The applicant must demonstrate familiarity with the variables of interest in the relevant UDA dataset.

• Draft data-table shells for principal analyses (no more than 4)

  Each table shell must include an informative title, as well as row and column headings. These will guide and focus the analyses used to generate the data.

• References

Review and selection will be carried out by a committee that includes members of the UDA team, the UDA External Advisory Committee, and the NIDDK Project Officers. This committee will rank the proposals according to their importance, feasibility, likelihood of achieving stated aims using the desired datasets, and potential to inform public policy. Based on these criteria, prioritized proposals will be carried out starting in July 2008 and continuing for the next 3 years, subject to the availability of resources.

Proposals will be reviewed within 30 days of receipt. Applicants will be notified of the outcome by July 15, 2008.

Lydia Moody
Project Manager
Urologic Diseases in America
Tel: 310-794-1570
Fax: 310-267-2623
Email: lmoody@mednet.ucla.edu
Website: www.udaonline.net

For questions regarding UDA Online or the UDA project, please email Lydia Moody or phone at (310) 794-1570.