Form 1 Sandpit Research Call 2018

KNOWLEDGE
INTEGRATION
SANDPIT

NOVEMBER 4-7, 2018

APPLICATION
GUIDELINES

KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION ACROSS HEALTH DOMAINS, PROFESSIONS,
AND NATIONS
TO ADVANCE CANCER PREVENTION
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................2
RESEARCH CHALLENGE ...............................................................................................................................................3
RESEARCH QUESTIONS ...............................................................................................................................................4
APPLICATION PROCESS ...............................................................................................................................................4
PROPOSALS .................................................................................................................................................................5
TIMELINE.....................................................................................................................................................................5
FURTHER INFORMATION ............................................................................................................................................6

OMB #0925-0740
Expiration Date: 5/31/2019

Collection of this information is authorized by The Public Health Services Act, Section 410 (42 U.S.C. § 285 : US Code Section 285: Purpose of Institute). Rights of applicants are protected by The Privacy Act of 1974. Participation is voluntary,
and there are no penalties for not submitting an application or withdrawing an application from consideration at any time.
Refusal to participate will not affect your benefits in any way. The information collected will be kept private to the extent
provided by law. The information you provide will not be publicly released and will be used by the representatives involved
in planning the training workshop to select workshop participants. This workshop application solicitation document is being
sent out so that individuals interested in participating in the workshop can submit information that will help the planning
committee select the most suitable applicants for the workshop.
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completed form to this address.

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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Environmental, lifestyle, and behavioral factors are associated with most cancers, contributing to the 8
million annual cancer deaths worldwide. For example, tobacco use, alcohol use, and obesity are associated
with increased risk of many types of cancer, while the uptake of healthy behaviors, such as physical activity,
reduces the risk of certain cancers.
Despite the breadth of the global cancer epidemic, efforts to generate new insight by integrating
knowledge across health domains and behaviors have been limited. Additionally, few cross-national
collaborations to improve cancer prevention though behavioral research have been undertaken, and
boundaries between individuals working in different disciplines, health domains, and target behaviors have
sometimes impeded knowledge integration in the area of cancer prevention.
To address this issue, the US National Cancer Institute (a component of the National Institutes of Health,
which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) and Cancer Research UK
(CRUK) are soliciting applications to participate in a “sandpit” (i.e., ideas lab) that will bring together a
broad, multidisciplinary group of participants, ranging from scientists to app developers in order to
generate innovative ideas for cancer control and prevention. Applicants from a range of academic, industry,
and community sectors are welcome.
The three-day sandpit will take place November 4-7, 2018, in Potomac, MD. We anticipate that participants
will help define challenge areas and generate novel hypotheses and ideas that can be tested
experimentally or through analysis of extant data sources. Sandpit participants will be expected to engage
constructively with each other, the event facilitators, the director, and the mentors in order to develop
collaborative research ideas. We particularly welcome applications from early- and mid-career individuals
interested in contributing their expertise and novel thinking to generate transformative hypotheses and
project ideas. Participants will have the opportunity to:
•
•
•

Network and form collaborations with researchers outside their typical domain and across
organizations
Form collaborative teams and generate project ideas
Receive NCI and CRUK programmatic guidance

NCI invites prospective participants to apply for participation in the sandpit by June 4, 2018, at 6 PM EDT
11 PM BST. The sandpit is an intensive, residential workshop, and participants must attend all three days
of the event. By submitting an application, you are committing to complete all three days of the
workshop.

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2. RESEARCH CHALLENGE
Health behaviors often co-occur and have shared determinants at multiple levels (e.g., biological, individual,
relational, environmental). Nevertheless, research programs frequently examine and intervene upon single health
behaviors without systematically integrating knowledge across behaviors. Through an intensive, interactive, and
collaborative experience, the sandpit will facilitate the development of research projects that cut across behavioral
domains, professional sectors, and geographic boundaries to address the complicated challenges of cancer control.
In particular, this initiative aims to bring together multidisciplinary teams from different national contexts to
cultivate new insights across five cancer-related health behaviors: tobacco use, alcohol consumption, dietary
behavior, physical activity, and UV exposure.
The key health behaviors at the core of this effort may be interrelated by many possible connections. For example,
multiple behaviors may be directly linked within the same individual in complicated ways: tobacco users are often
more likely to consume alcohol 1 and less likely to adhere to medical regimens 2; smoking cessation attempts can
lead to weight gain, which in turn might reduce motivation to quit. 34 These within-person factors illustrate the value
of longitudinal methods for understanding such nuanced processes as the behavioral, social, or environmental
influences that alter weight gain following weight loss, relapse to substance use after cessation, or even the
substitution of one product for another (i.e., combustible tobacco to e-cigarettes). Further, cancer-related health
behaviors likely share underlying mechanisms: self-regulation efforts in one behavioral domain contribute to the
likelihood of successful regulation in other domains, 5 and failures to prioritize long-term health consequences over
immediate benefits can contribute to problematic behaviors such as tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and
choosing high-calorie foods. 6 On yet another level, health behaviors are similarly influenced by shared social and
environmental determinants, including social norms and cultural influences, 78 media exposure ranging from alcohol
advertisements to movies that portray unhealthy behaviors, 9 and public policy measures such as taxes that
discourage the purchase of sugar-sweetened beverages, 10 alcohol, 11 or tobacco products. 12
Given the complexity of overlap among and within these health behaviors and their determinants, there is much to
be gained by integrating existing knowledge and cultivating new insights that transcend behavioral domains. As the
examples above highlight, integrative approaches to achieve such insights may include: (1) the application of
knowledge learned in one area (e.g., health domain, professional discipline, national context) to another; (2) the
investigation of common mechanisms and determinants across behaviors; (3) the exploration of how behaviors
themselves are interrelated. By facilitating new collaborations, we seek to stimulate novel programs of research
that use integrative approaches to help advance: (1) our understanding of the mechanisms and causal factors that

Jessor, R., Jessor, S. L. (1997)
Land, Cronin, Wickerham, et al. (2011)
3
Grunberg (1997)
4
Ockene, Emmons, Mermelstein, et al. (2000)
5
Muraven & Baumeister (2000)
6
Story, Vlaev, Seymour, Darzi, & Dolan (2014)
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Kant & Graubard (2006)
8
Lynch, Kaplan, & Salonen (1997)
9
Sargent (2005)
10
Falbe et al. (2016)
11
Wagenaar, Tobler, & Komro (2010)
12
Chaloupka, Straif, & Leon (2011)
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2

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shape health behaviors, and (2) the development and implementation of health behavior interventions to prevent
and control cancer.

3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. How are seemingly distinct cancer-related behaviors interrelated?
2. What are the implications of those interrelations for both positive and negative changes in cancer risk
behaviors?
3. How are cancer-related behaviors influenced across individual, social, and environmental levels?
4. How can we learn from behavioral research aimed at controlling other diseases (e.g., diabetes, heart
disease) to improve research aimed at reducing the cancer burden?
5. How can we increase our understanding of health behaviors by exploring similarities and differences in
determinants and contextual factors across countries (i.e., US and UK)?

4. APPLICATION PROCESS
To express interest in participating, please send: (1) your CV; (2) the names of two professional references; (3) a
cover letter that outlines your interests in applying for the sandpit; (4) a visual representation (e.g., diagram or
mental model) that illustrates a conceptual schema of your area of interest; and (5) a letter of commitment from
your organization or institution.
The cover letter should not exceed 800 words, and it should include: your background, interests, and expertise,
particularly as they relate to this sandpit topic; your approach to working in a team; and your experience with or
interest in stepping outside your area of expertise and thinking creatively and innovatively to develop novel
approaches in partnership with individuals you may not know. Applicants should demonstrate the skills, expertise,
and capacity for successful collaboration in this intensive, interactive, and fast-paced event. It is strongly advised
that applicants do not merely list their achievements (e.g., publications, research experience, funding track record),
but rather, use them to demonstrate innovative and collaborative capacity.
The visual representation should depict the components and processes that are central to your area of interest (see
examples and more information at end). Please caption the diagram with a brief summary that describes the area of
interest in language that would be accessible to people with expertise in a different area (no more than 300 words).
The visual representation may be drawn by hand and scanned or illustrated electronically and submitted in pdf
format.
The letter of commitment should include a covering statement from a representative of your organization (e.g.,
supervisor, manager, or other relevant persons) confirming that, in the event of receiving a seed grant from CRUK,
their organization is willing and able to engage in and support a collaborative project. It should acknowledge that no
indirect funds will be provided.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE
The submission deadline for completed applications is June 4, 2018, at 6 PM EDT/11 PM BST. Applications should
be emailed to [email protected]. Application receipt will be acknowledged via email within two
business days. If you do not receive acknowledgment, please send an email inquiry to be certain your application
was received. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

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ELIGIBILITY
Participants will be selected for the sandpit workshop via expert review of the application materials. All applications
received by the deadline will be reviewed by an expert review committee.
Applications are welcome from academic, industry, and community sectors. The range of people selected will be
intentionally diverse, and it is intended that a wide range of disciplines, including those from private, public and
third sector organizations and community groups will be represented. If you would like to help transform the future
of cancer prevention, we invite you to apply, regardless of your expertise or background. We are more interested in
new ideas, underpinned by radical and innovative thinking. We regret that, on this occasion, PhD students and
applicants based outside of the UK and US are not eligible to apply.
The sandpit is an intensive, residential workshop, and participants must attend all three days of the event. By
submitting an application, you are committing to complete all three days of the workshop. Travel and lodging will be
provided in accordance with NIH policy.
NCI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with a disability.

5. PROPOSALS
CRUK will provide a grant opportunity, which will be reviewed, funded, and administered independently by CRUK.
Following the sandpit, each invited project team will have four weeks to draft a full feasibility study proposal that
covers their group’s intended activities as presented at the sandpit. PIs who are not established members of a
recognized research organization must be accommodated by a research organization and provided with appropriate
facilities to carry out the research as agreed by the Head of the organization in the cover letter. The specific role of
each project team member, in terms of their involvement with, and contribution to, the project will be agreed on by
the project team (i.e., some members may be named as joint lead investigators or contribute in an advisory
capacity, etc.).
Feasibility study proposals will be submitted via CRUK’s electronic Grant Management System (eGMS) by 26 May
2017. Feasibility studies will last up to 12 months in duration, starting in August 2017. All awards are subject to
CRUK’s terms and conditions. CRUK will offer support and advice throughout the lifetime of the project, including
quarterly teleconferences with project groups. A report of feasibility outputs will be required by CRUK on
completion of the project. Additional guidance on the post-award processes will be made available to successful
applicants at the sandpit.

6. TIMELINE
• June 4, 2018, at 6 PM EDT/11 PM BST - Deadline for submission of application materials
• Mid-July 2018 - Applicants notified of outcome
• November 4-7, 2018 - Sandpit event (Potomac, MD)
• December 7, 2018 - Deadline for submission of CRUK Innovation grant proposals
• February 2018 - Feasibility studies commence

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7. FURTHER INFORMATION
If you have any questions or would like any further information:
UK applicants please contact:

US applicants please contact:

Dr. Lucy Davies
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 020 3469 8824

Dr. Kara L. Hall
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (240) 276-6831

Additional information pertaining to the visual representation
Applications should include a “mental model” or diagrammatic illustration of one’s area expertise. Although there
are many ways to approach this kind of visualization, simple models often include an arrangement of concepts
linked by arrows to illustrate relationships among key components of a problem space.

Abramson, Grattan, Mayer, Colten, Arosemena, Rung, & Lichtveld. (2015). The resilience activation framework: A
conceptual model of how access to social resources promotes adaptation and rapid recovery in post-disaster
settings. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 42(1), 42-57.

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Fredrickson. (2016). Positive affective processes underlying positive health behavior change. Presented at the
Inaugural NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Festival, Bethesda, MD.

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