(a) Communication regarding the substance of a pending Grant Application between the Grant Applicant and an Oversight Committee Member, a Program Integration Committee Member, or a Scientific Research and Prevention Programs Committee Member is prohibited.
(b) The prohibition on communication begins on the first day that Grant Applications for the Grant Mechanism are accepted by the Institute and extends until the Grant Applicant receives notice regarding a final decision on the Grant Application.
  (1) The prohibition on communication does not apply to the time period when pre-applications or letters of interest are accepted.
  (2) In special circumstances, an Oversight Committee Member or a Program Integration Committee Member may respond to a question or request for more information from a Grant Applicant so long as the response is made available to all Grant Applicants.
  (3) The prohibition does not apply to a Scientific Research and Prevention Programs Committee Member who is assigned by the Product Development Review Council chairperson to participate in the business operations and management due diligence review and intellectual property review as described in Chapter 703 of this title (relating to Grants for Cancer Prevention and Research). A Scientific Research and Prevention Programs Committee Member, on behalf of the Product Development Review Council, may participate in the due diligence review process and ask clarifying questions of a Grant Applicant to gain substantive knowledge, which the Product Development Review Council will use in the review of the Grant Application.
    (A) Each Grant Application recommended to the due diligence stage of review will be subject to the same review and participation by a Scientific Research and Prevention Programs Committee Member as described in paragraph (3) of this subsection.
    (B) The Institute will maintain documentation of the Scientific Research and Prevention Programs Committee Members assigned to participate in due diligence review.
(c) Intentional, serious, or frequent violations of this rule may result in the disqualification of the Grant Applicant from further consideration for a Grant Award.
(d) This rule is not intended to prohibit open dialogue between the public and the Chief Executive Officer, a Program Integration Committee Member or a member of the Oversight Committee regarding the general status or nature of pending Grant Applications.
(e) The Chief Executive Officer may grant a waiver from the general prohibition on communication upon finding that the waiver is in the interest of promoting the objectives of the Institute and is not intended to give one or more Grant Applicants an unfair advantage. The waiver shall be provided to the Oversight Committee in writing at the time it is granted and state the reasons for the granting the waiver. The waiver shall be included as part of the public information supporting the Chief Executive Officer's affidavit(s) for Grant Award recommendations in the Grant Review Cycle(s) corresponding to the waiver.
(f) A Program Integration Committee Member shall not communicate individually with one or more Oversight Committee Members about a Grant Award recommendation for a Grant Application in a pending Grant Review Cycle until such time that the Program Integration Committee has submitted the list of Grant Award Recommendations to the Oversight Committee and the Chief Executive Officer has submitted the written affidavit required by Chapter 703, §703.7 of this title (relating to Program Integration Committee Funding Recommendation). Nothing herein shall prohibit the Chief Executive Officer or a Program Integration Committee Member from responding to an individual Oversight Committee Member's question or request for more information so long as the response is made available to all Oversight Committee Members.

Source Note: The provisions of this §702.19 adopted to be effective February 11, 2010, 35 TexReg 872; amended to be effective March 2, 2014, 39 TexReg 1385; amended to be effective December 7, 2016, 41 TexReg 9527; amended to be effective June 10, 2021, 46 TexReg 3522