NIH Weekly Funding Opportunities and Policy Notices
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-538 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) invites applications for basic research to better characterize the affective, cognitive, social, and motivational parameters of impaired and intact decision making in both normal aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Research is sought that will characterize the extent to which basic behavioral and neural processes involved in decision-making are differentially impacted in normal aging and AD, investigate the influence of social factors on decision-making, and investigate the decision-making factors that render older adults (with or without cognitive impairment) vulnerable to financial exploitation and other forms of mistreatment and abuse. The FOA also invites applications to apply basic research on the processes involved in decision-making to the design of decision-supportive interventions for midlife and older adults with and without AD. Specific opportunities include the development of decision supportive interventions to leverage cognitive, emotional and motivational strengths of these populations: tools to assess decisional capacity; strategies for simplifying choices and offering better defaults; and the promotion of timely adoption of optimal delegation practices (e.g., power of attorney, living wills, etc.).
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-544 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) invites applications for basic research to better characterize the affective, cognitive, social, and motivational parameters of impaired and intact decision making in both normal aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Research is sought that will characterize the extent to which basic behavioral and neural processes involved in decision-making are differentially impacted in normal aging and AD, investigate the influence of social factors on decision-making, and investigate the decision-making factors that render older adults (with or without cognitive impairment) vulnerable to financial exploitation and other forms of mistreatment and abuse. The FOA also invites applications to apply basic research on the processes involved in decision-making to the design of decision-supportive interventions for midlife and older adults with and without AD. Specific opportunities include the development of decision-supportive interventions to leverage cognitive, emotional and motivational strengths of these populations: tools to assess decisional capacity; strategies for simplifying choices and offering better defaults; and the promotion of timely adoption of optimal delegation practices (e.g., power of attorney, living wells, etc.).
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-541 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network (BPN) encourages applications from small businesses seeking support to advance their small molecule drug discovery and development projects into the clinic. Participants in the BPN are responsible for conducting all studies that involve disease- or target-specific assays, models, and other research tools and receive funding for all activities to be conducted in their own laboratories. In addition, applicants will collaborate with NIH-funded consultants and can augment their project with NIH contract research organizations (CROs) that specialize in medicinal chemistry, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, formulations development, chemical synthesis including under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and Phase I clinical testing. Projects can enter either at the Discovery stage, to optimize promising hit compounds through medicinal chemistry, or at the Development stage, to advance a development candidate through Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling toxicology studies and phase I clinical testing. Projects that enter at the Discovery stage and meet their milestones may continue on through Development. BPN awardee institutions retain their assignment of IP rights and gain assignment of IP rights from the BPN contractors (and thereby control the patent prosecution and licensing negotiations) for drug candidates developed in this program.
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-546 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network (BPN) invites applications from neuroscience investigators seeking support to advance their small molecule drug discovery and development projects into the clinic. Participants in the BPN are responsible for conducting all studies that involve disease- or target-specific assays, models, and other research tools and receive funding for all activities to be conducted in their own laboratories. In addition, applicants will collaborate with NIH-funded consultants and can augment their project with NIH contract research organizations (CROs) that specialize in medicinal chemistry, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, formulations development, chemical synthesis including under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and Phase I clinical testing. Projects can enter either at the Discovery stage, to optimize promising hit compounds through medicinal chemistry, or at the Development stage, to advance a development candidate through Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling toxicology studies and phase I clinical testing. Projects that enter at the Discovery stage and meet their milestones may continue on through Development. BPN awardee Institutions retain their assignment of IP rights and gain assignment of IP rights from the BPN contractors (and thereby control the patent prosecution and licensing negotiations) for drug candidates developed in this program.
Notice NOT-DK-18-005 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-539 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The purpose of the International Research Scientist Development Award (IRSDA) is to provide support and protected time (three to five years) to advanced postdoctoral U.S. research scientists and recently-appointed U.S. junior faculty (applicants must be at least two years beyond conferral of doctoral degree) for an intensive, mentored research career development experience in a low- or middle-income country (LMIC), as defined by the World Bank (http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications/country-and-lending-groups, including low-income, lower-middle-income, and upper-middle-income countries) leading to an independently-funded research career focused on global health. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications from early-career investigators from any health-related discipline who propose career development activities and a research project that is relevant to the health priorities of the LMIC under the mentorship of LMIC and U.S. mentors. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for applicants proposing to serve as the lead investigator of an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or a separate ancillary study to an existing trial, as part of their research and career development. Applicants not planning an independent clinical trial, or proposing to gain research experience in a clinical trial led by another investigator, must apply to companion FOA (PAR-18-MMM).
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-540 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The purpose of the International Research Scientist Development Award (IRSDA) is to provide support and protected time (three to five years) to advanced postdoctoral U.S. research scientists and recently-appointed U.S. junior faculty (applicants must be at least two years beyond conferral of doctoral degree) for an intensive, mentored research career development experience in a low- or middle-income country (LMIC), as defined by the World Bank (http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications/country-and-lending-groups, including low-income, lower-middle-income, and upper-middle-income countries) leading to an independently-funded research career focused on global health. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications from early-career investigators from any health-related discipline who propose career development activities and a research project that is relevant to the health priorities of the LMIC under the mentorship of LMIC and U.S. mentors. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for applicants proposing to serve as the lead investigator of an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or a separate ancillary study to an existing trial, as part of their research and career development. Applicants not planning an independent clinical trial, or proposing to gain research experience in a clinical trial led by another investigator, must apply to companion FOA (PAR-18-MMM).
Funding Opportunity PA-18-531 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to stimulate research focused on the role of early-life factors (maternal-paternal, in utero, birth and infancy, puberty, adolescence, and young adult years) in cancer development later in life. Given that the current emerging evidence from limited research indicates a potentially important role for early-life events and exposures in cancer development, it is necessary to better understand 1) the early-life (maternal-paternal, in utero, birth and infancy, puberty, adolescence, and young adult years) factors that are associated with later cancer development; 2) how early-life factors mediate biological processes relevant to carcinogenesis; and 3) whether predictive markers for cancer risk based on what happens biologically at early life can be measured and developed for use in cancer prevention strategies. Markers that predict malignancy or pre-malignant conditions would allow assessment of early-life exposures with relevant outcomes without having to wait decades for cancer development. Ultimately, a better mechanistic understanding of how early-life events and exposures contribute to the etiology of cancer later in life will allow for the development of effective interventions during pregnancy or early life that may have a profound impact on cancer prevention.
Funding Opportunity PA-18-532 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to stimulate research focused on the role of early-life factors (maternal-paternal, in utero, birth and infancy, puberty, adolescence, and young adult years) in cancer development later in life. Given that the current emerging evidence from limited research indicates a potentially important role for early-life events and exposures in cancer development, it is necessary to better understand 1) the early-life (maternal-paternal, in utero, birth and infancy, puberty, adolescence, and young adult years) factors that are associated with later cancer development; 2) how early-life factors mediate biological processes relevant to carcinogenesis; and 3) whether predictive markers for cancer risk based on what happens biologically at early life can be measured and developed for use in cancer prevention strategies. Markers that predict malignancy or pre-malignant conditions would allow assessment of early-life exposures with relevant outcomes without having to wait decades for cancer development. Ultimately, a better mechanistic understanding of how early-life events and exposures contribute to the etiology of cancer later in life will allow for the development of effective interventions during pregnancy or early life that may have a profound impact on cancer prevention.
Funding Opportunity PA-18-529 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)is to stimulate research focused on the role of early-life factors (maternal-paternal, in utero, birth and infancy, puberty, adolescence, and young adult years) in cancer development later in life. Given that the current emerging evidence from limited research indicates a potentially important role for early-life events and exposures in cancer development, it is necessary to better understand 1) the early-life (maternal-paternal, in utero, birth and infancy, puberty, adolescence, and young adult years) factors that are associated with later cancer development; 2) how early-life factors mediate biological processes relevant to carcinogenesis; and 3) whether predictive markers for cancer risk based on what happens biologically at early life can be measured and developed for use in cancer prevention strategies. Markers that predict malignancy or pre-malignant conditions would allow assessment of early-life exposures with relevant outcomes without having to wait decades for cancer development. Ultimately, a better mechanistic understanding of how early-life events and exposures contribute to the etiology of cancer later in life will allow for the development of effective interventions during pregnancy or early life that may have a profound impact on cancer prevention.
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-534 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support clinical studies that will fill gaps in the design of upcoming clinical trials in rare neurological or neuromuscular diseases by validating clinical outcome measures or biomarkers, or by characterizing cohorts of relevant patients. Through the support of trial readiness studies, NINDS expects to accelerate the initiation of clinical trials for rare diseases and to increase the likelihood of success in those trials.
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-514 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. This funding opportunity (FOA) encourages small business-based (STTR) research and development of commercial pharmaceutical interventions to extend lifespan and/or healthspan, to prevent, treat, and/or slow the progression of symptoms associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Alzheimer's disease related dementia (ADRD) in human cells and/or tissue, in-vitro models, and/or non-human animals.
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-512 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. This funding opportunity (FOA) encourages small business-based (SBIR) research and development of commercial pharmaceutical interventions to extend lifespan and/or healthspan, to prevent, treat, and/or slow the progression of symptoms associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Alzheimer's disease related dementia (ADRD) in human cells and/or tissue, in-vitro models, and/or non-human animals.
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-519 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage applications that propose either basic, clinical, or a combination of basic and clinical studies to investigate how functional changes in the sensory and/or motor systems impact the development and progression of Alzheimers disease. Studies may include older adults and/or animal models and may employ a variety of approaches, including cellular, molecular, imaging, physiological and genetic, to address this need. For clinical studies, leveraging of existing longitudinal cohorts already collecting sensory and motor assessments is highly encouraged.
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-523 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The NEI uses UG1 cooperative agreement awards to support investigator-initiated large-scale clinical trials, human gene-transfer and stem cell therapy trials, and other complex or high resource- or safety-risk clinical trials. These projects are multifaceted and of high public health significance, requiring clear delineation of study organization including roles and responsibilities and require careful performance oversight and monitoring for patient safety. For purposes of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the proposed study must be intended to evaluate interventions aimed at screening, diagnosing, preventing, or treating vision disorders, or to compare the effectiveness of two or more established interventions. The NEI UG1-supported studies are typically funded as a group of linked companion grant awards including the Chairs Grant, the Coordinating Center, and Resource Centers, when appropriate. For less organizationally complex projects, details pertaining to data management and statistical analyses, resource center and recruitment activity may be included as part of the Chair's Grant application. Specifically, this FOA encourages applications for the Chair's grant, which includes the scientific rationale, study aims and significance of the research project
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-522 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The NEI uses UG1 cooperative agreement awards to support investigator-initiated large-scale clinical trials, human gene-transfer and stem cell therapy trials, and other complex or high resource- or safety-risk clinical trials. These projects are multifaceted and of high public health significance, requiring clear delineation of study organization including roles and responsibilities and require careful performance oversight and monitoring for patient safety. For purposes of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the proposed study must be intended to evaluate interventions aimed at screening, diagnosing, preventing, or treating vision disorders, or to compare the effectiveness of two or more established interventions. The NEI UG1-supported studies are typically funded as a group of linked companion grant awards including the Chairs Grant, the Coordinating Center, and Resource Centers, when appropriate. For less organizationally complex projects, details pertaining to data management and statistical analyses, resource center and recruitment activity may be included as part of the Chair's Grant application. Specifically, this FOA encourages applications for the Resource Center grant which provides imaging, laboratory, or other requisite services for a multi-center clinical trial or other complex or high risk clinical trial.
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-521 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The NEI uses UG1 cooperative agreement awards to support investigator-initiated large-scale clinical trials, human gene-transfer and stem cell therapy trials, and other complex or high resource- or safety-risk clinical trials. These projects are multifaceted and of high public health significance, requiring clear delineation of study organization including roles and responsibilities and require careful performance oversight and monitoring for patient safety. For purposes of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the proposed study must be intended to evaluate interventions aimed at screening, diagnosing, preventing, or treating vision disorders, or to compare the effectiveness of two or more established interventions. The NEI UG1-supported studies are typically funded as a group of linked companion grant awards including the Chairs Grant, the Coordinating Center, and Resource Centers, when appropriate. For less organizationally complex projects, details pertaining to data management and statistical analyses, resource center and recruitment activity may be included as part of the Chair's Grant application. Specifically, this FOA encourages applications for the Coordinating Center grant, which provides details of the Coordinating Center's responsibilities and operations.
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-543 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) supports the development of therapeutic Biotechnology Products and Biologics (e.g., peptides, proteins, oligonucleotides, gene therapies, cell therapies, and novel emerging therapies) for disorders identified under the NINDS mission. An identified clinical candidate with sufficient bioactivity, stability, manufacturability, bioavailability, in vivo efficacy and/or target engagement, and other favorable properties that are consistent with the desired clinical application, is required for entry to this CREATE Bio Development Track. Therefore, this FOA supports Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling studies for a therapeutic candidate and the inclusion of an optional small delayed-onset first in human Phase I clinical trial. At the end of the funding period, a successful project should have at least an IND application submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Funding Opportunity PAR-18-542 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) supports the development of therapeutic Biotechnology Products and Biologics (e.g., peptides, proteins, oligonucleotides, gene therapies, cell therapies, and novel emerging therapies) for disorders identified under the NINDS mission. An identified clinical candidate with sufficient bioactivity, stability, manufacturability, bioavailability, in vivo efficacy and/or target engagement, and other favorable properties that are consistent with the desired clinical application, is required for entry to this CREATE Bio Development Track. Therefore, this FOA supports Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling studies for a therapeutic candidate and the inclusion of an optional small delayed-onset first in human Phase I clinical trial. At the end of the funding period, a successful project should have at least an IND application submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Funding Opportunity RFA-TR-18-005 from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to invite cooperative agreement applications for the Tissue Chip Testing Center (TCTC) Microphysiological Systems (MPS) Data Center (MPS DC), which supports the NIH Tissue Chip Consortium. The Consortium facilitates the development, validation and dissemination of tissue chip (TC) technology through support for collaborative research in 1) development of tissue chips for toxicity and safety testing of promising therapeutics (RFA-RM-11-022); 2) development of tissue chips for disease modeling and efficacy testing (RFA-TR-16-017 and RFA-TR-16-019); and 3) independent validation of tissue chip platforms through the TCTCs (RFA-TR-16-006). The MPS DC is expected to be the central clearinghouse for TC data management, and will incorporate novel approaches and technologies for data management, data mining and meta-analyses, and data sharing across many organs and tissues, diseases, data types, and TC platforms. The MPS Data center is expected to provide different levels of public and tiered access to TC information for basic and clinical researchers, academic and practicing physicians, the pharmaceutical industry, NIH, FDA and other government agencies, patients, and the lay public. The MPS Data Center will work with IQ Consortium members to develop and make available a secure, customizable coordinated data management system for collection, storage, and analyses of diverse data types from multiple TC platforms being developed and used for drug screening, safety and efficacy testing.