U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
National Institutes of Health
eRA IntranetBackground (From the LRP Website)
The NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) are a set of programs established by Congress that are designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. The escalating costs of advanced education and training in medicine and clinical specialties are forcing some scientists to abandon their research careers for higher-paying private industry or private practice careers.
The LRPs counteract that financial pressure by repaying up to $50,000 annually of a researcher's qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research. Since tomorrow's medical breakthroughs will be made by investigators starting in their research careers today, the LRPs represent an important investment by NIH in the future of health discovery and the wellbeing of the nation.
eRA modules powering LRP process
The Loan Repayment Program (LRP) application and subsequent review and processing are powered by eRA modules. eRA offers modules:
- For applicants to prepare and submit LRP applications electronically to NIH and other Public Health Service agencies (via the ASSIST module)
- For mentors to submit reference letters online for the LRP applicant (via the eRA Commons module)
- For institutional officials to submit institutional certifications about the LRP applicant (via the eRA Commons module)
- For scientists who serve on a peer review panel to review LRP applications (via the Internet Assisted Review module)
In addition, eRA offers modules:
- For the Division of Loan Repayment at the funding agency to access and process LRP applications received from applicants (via the electronic Receipt and Referral module)
- For staff at a funding agency to view, select, and fund LRP applications that are assigned to them (via the Post Review Module that centralizes elements of the selection and funding process)