General FAQs
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The website of the National Association of Veterans' Research and Education Foundations is a great source of information. It can be found at www.navref.org.
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Yes. BVMRF administers government grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements both as prime and sub-awardee.
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The statute authorizing the establishment of nonprofit corporations at VA facilities prohibits us from administering funds for anything other than VA-approved research or education activities.
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All Investigators submitting a proposal must have Principal Investigator (PI) eligibility authorized by the Research office. Once PI eligibility has been confirmed your project may be initiated.
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They can all be in process at the same time to optimize review and approval. Please contact the BVMRF’s Regulatory Coordinator if you have any questions.
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All funds accepted by BVMRF must be accompanied (or preceded) by correspondence in the form of an executed grant, contract, agreement, or donor letter.
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Checks must be made payable to BVMRF or the Bronx Veterans Medical Research Foundation, Inc.
The federal tax identificatioContact Usn number is 13-3699250. Checks payable to other entities cannot be accepted by BVMRF.
Please see the Contact Us page for mailing and courier addresses.
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You need VA approval and Funding.
What is VA approval?
In order to have a BVMRF account you must have one of the following:
a) An R & D Committee-approved research project.
b) An education activity that’s been approved by the Education Committee.
How do I get Education Committee approval?
a) A donation accompanied by a letter on company letterhead (if the donation is from a company) stating the purpose of the donation and any restrictions imposed.
b) A research agreement signed by a BVMRF official (PIs cannot sign for BVMRF);
c) A grant from a governmental agency, private foundation, or company.
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You will be notified by the BVMRF Grants and Contracts manager. Please contact BVMRFContracting@va.gov if you have any questions.
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No. However, each VA-approved research project may have more than one sponsorship source that BVMRF administers in a discrete account.
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Account Statements are e-mailed to the PI and his/her assigned person(s) delegated via the Delegation of Authority. Questions regarding your statements should be addressed to BVMRFFinance@va.gov
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For gifts or donations, there must be a letter from the donor indicating that the funding is a gift to be used by the designated beneficiary to support various research or education activities. Further, the letter should indicate that the gift is irrevocable and imposes no contractual requirement of BVMRF beyond reporting of research results. Alternatively, if the gift or donation is unrestricted as to use, there must be a letter stating this.
Letters accompanying donations from companies must be on company letterhead.
For additional information about individual donors, please visit the Donate Now page.
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No. Congress has given the VA nonprofits the authority to administer funds for employee or patient education, activities designed to promote the exchange of information, and continuing medical education activities, provided that such activities are consistent with the VA health care mission.
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Funds donated for education may be used for some of the same general expenses that researchers have such as travel for educational purposes, to purchase books or journals or to pay memberships to organizations in furtherance of your research, as long as they are not in conflict with the purpose stated on your Education Project or the donor’s letter. Some expenditures that are not appropriate for educational funds are subject fees and lab supplies.
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Most grants are required to be spent down or have any remaining balances returned to the sponsor. If the Investigator is allowed to keep any balance at the end of an award, these funds are transferred to a “Residual Account” to be used towards general research and educational activities. If you have any questions about this process, please contact BVMRFFinance@va.gov
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35%
Please refer to the BVMRF’s Fast Facts sheet.
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You can review these rates on the Fast Facts page. For questions regarding Indirect Cost rates please contact BVMRFFinance@va.gov
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Review BVMRF’s Fast Facts page for information to assist in completing your grant application. If you require additional information please contact BVMRFContracting@va.gov
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Yes, if such participation has been approved by the IRB and the employees participate on their own time and outside their VA or BVMRF tour-of-duty.
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No.
If you have a collaborator who is duly appointed at a VA facility and its affiliated University, it may be permissible to budget payment via a subcontract. Check with BVMRFFinance@va.gov prior to making any arrangements or commitments.
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BVMRF is established to support research and education projects. Any VA Investigators wishing to pursue consulting agreements must do so on their own time and may contact the Chief of Staff for submission of a request for Regional Counsel opinion.
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No. BVMRF is established to support research and education projects and can administer funds donated to support research or education. However, an Investigator may request that the institution granting the honorarium donate it directly to the BVMRF’s bridge funds to fill the gaps in research funding.
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Get started on human/animal approval and R & D approval.
Give the BVMRF office a copy of the instructions (or a website on which to find them) for grant submission.
Submit a complete copy of your application package and any correspondence you’ve had with the grantor to the BVMRF office.
We’ll review the budget and check the application for inaccuracies and discuss remedies with you.
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Please contact BVMRFContracting@va.gov
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BVMRF’s Grants and Contracts staff will work with the PI or study coordinator to review what should be invoiced and will notify the BVMRF Accounting department. Under no circumstances should a PI or their staff bill a sponsor directly.
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Payments should be mailed to:
BVMRF
130 West Kingsbridge Road
Bronx, NY 10468-3904 -
No. We do not allow concurrent BVMRF employment of a full-time VA employee.
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This is determined on a case-by-case basis. BVMRF pays a fee to affiliates for any affiliate employee working on a BVMRF project. If the employee has long-standing affiliate employment, a Joint Personnel Agreement can be initiated to allow the employee to work on a BVMRF administered project. Check with BVMRFFinance@va.gov before making any personnel commitments.
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Generally, office supplies cannot be charged to a grant. However, in some cases, this may be allowed depending on the source of sponsorship. Check with BVMRFContracting@va.gov
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Generally, food is not an allowable charge to a grant; however, review the BVMRF policy regarding food at meetings. Any questions on this matter should be addressed to BVMRFAdmin@va.gov
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Contact BVMRFContracting@va.gov for assistance with this process.
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Collaborative research with other entities such as universities and pharmaceutical companies requires a contract or research agreement signed by the BVMRF's Executive Director. Because BVMRF administers VA Research our contracts and agreements are sent to VA attorneys for review and negotiation. Please send a draft agreement, preferably electronically, before sending originals for execution.
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The obstacles to completing the clinical trial negotiation and approval process are varied, but a few of the delays can be attributed to:
-Budget negotiations
-Contract negotiation between BVMRF and Sponsor
-IRB approval of the research protocol -
In most instances, payments are made by the study sponsor in accordance with the clinical trial agreement as the study proceeds. However, if invoicing is required it should be done by BVMRF. Please contact BVMRFFinancing@va.gov if you have questions.
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Please send notification and IRB closure letters to BVMRFAdmin@va.gov
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