Egg Industry Center announces 2015 Research Requests for Pre-proposals

The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)—H5N2 outbreak is taking a devastating toll on the poultry industry, and the sustainable supply of affordable poultry meat and eggs to consumers. Research is urgently needed to better understand the etiology and transmission of the disease and to explore effective means of intervention, mitigation and prevention.
Therefore, the Egg Industry Center’s 2015 Request for Proposal (RFP) is designated to address HPAI-related issues. The overarching goals of the RFP are a) to determine the etiology and mode of transmission of the virus, and b) to explore mitigation means to reduce its spread and prevent it from reoccurrence.
Specific research areas include:


1. Determine the genotype of the virus (H5N2)
2. Determine how the virus is transmitted from farm to farm and within a farm
3. Determine the airborne concentration of the virus that will cause infection of the birds
4. Explore new mitigation and preventative strategies
5. Investigate alternative euthanasia methods for large flocks in an emergency situation like this.
6. Due to the current AI crisis, projects with a one-year timeline or less are appreciated, but not required.
Pre-proposal content (maximum of 2 pages, 12 Times New Roman font)


• A descriptive title of project
• Name of principal investigator
• PI’s affiliation and contact information
• Co-investigators and affiliations
• Estimated project timeframe (begin and end) and fund request (Note: EIC does not fund indirect cost)
• Statement of the issue: Clear statement of the current issue and/or research questions the project will address
• Project objectives: Clear, concise and complete statement of the specific project objectives
• Methodology: Brief description of how the data will be collected, analyzed and interpreted
• Expected outcomes and values to the stakeholders: Clear description of the expected results and their value to the egg industry and consumers
Pre-proposals must be received by COB June 3, 2015. Submit pre-proposal electronically to Lesa Vold at lvoid@lastate.edu  Also, any questions may be submitted through Vold’s email.
Pre-proposals will be evaluated for relevance to the identified topics, scientific merit, potential impact, qualifications of the project personnel and appropriateness of the timeline and proposed budget. An invitation for full proposals for funding rests with the EIC Board of Directors, and this decision will be determined by the end of July.