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Repeated exposure to drugs of abuse can cause changes in neuronal structure and function that contribute to and sustain drug use. Research has largely focused on the interactions of drugs with specific neuronal targets, and on the consequences of drug exposure on neuronal function, excitability, neuroplasticity, and neurochemistry. However, emerging evidence shows that neuroimmune factors, released from both glia or neurons, can modulate neuronal structure and function, either by affecting neuron-glia interactions or through direct effects on neurons. Yet the role of neuroimmune signaling in the modulation of neuronal function as it affects the expression of substance use behaviors is poorly understood. Research has shown that drugs of abuse, including methamphetamine, morphine, cocaine and nicotine, can elicit neuroinflammatory responses. Stress, an important contributor to relapse, can also elicit neuroimmune responses. Consequently, neuroimmune signaling may be integral to mechanisms underlying drug misuse, addiction, and other consequences of repeated drug use. Further, because the molecular targets and receptors for abused substances differ, the complement of neuroimmune factors affected by exposure to a particular drug may be drug-specific. Research to identify the commonalities between specific drugs of abuse, the neuroimmune factors released by drug use, and the neuroanatomical specificity of the responses is needed. It is expected that the contributing actions of neuroimmune signaling to addictive behaviors are most likely due not to obvious brain damage and overt pathology, but to the consequences of such signaling in altering specific molecular and cellular processes within glia, neurons, and neural circuits.

The goal of this FOA is to enhance the diversity of the drug abuse research workforce by providing dissertation awards on topics related to the study of basic and clinical neuroscience, development, epidemiology, prevention, treatment, services, or women and sex/gender differences as they relate to drug abuse. This support will enhance the pool of highly talented drug abuse scientists who conduct research within the funding priority areas (http://www.drugabuse.gov/funding/funding-priorities) or in the NIDA strategic plan (https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/2016-2020-nida-strategic-plan). Applications are encouraged from doctoral candidates in a variety of academic disciplines and programs. This program will ultimately facilitate the entry of promising new investigators into the field of drug abuse research and promote transdisciplinary collaborations. This award is for up to two years of support for the completion of the doctoral dissertation research project.

The goal of this FOA is to enhance the diversity of the drug abuse research workforce by providing dissertation awards on topics related to the study of basic and clinical neuroscience, development, epidemiology, prevention, treatment, services, or women and sex/gender differences as they relate to drug abuse. This support will enhance the pool of highly talented drug abuse scientists who conduct research within the funding priority areas (http://www.drugabuse.gov/funding/funding-priorities) or in the NIDA strategic plan (https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/2016-2020-nida-strategic-plan). Applications are encouraged from doctoral candidates in a variety of academic disciplines and programs. This program will ultimately facilitate the entry of promising new investigators into the field of drug abuse research and promote transdisciplinary collaborations. This award is for up to two years of support for the completion of the doctoral dissertation research project.

To that end, grants of up to $5 million will be awarded in support of research on innovative pharmacologic interventions for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, including clinical trials, regulatory studies for novel drugs (small molecules and biologics, including antibodies, peptides, gene therapies), repurposed drugs (existing drugs that are approved for other diseases and conditions), repositioned drugs (existing drugs that have entered clinical trials for other indications and have not yet been approved), and natural products.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to invite applications proposing the innovative analysis of existing social science, behavioral, administrative, and neuroimaging data to study the etiology and epidemiology of drug using behaviors (defined as alcohol, tobacco, prescription and other drug) and related disorders, prevention of drug use and HIV, and health service utilization. This FOA encourages the analyses of public use and other extant community-based or clinical datasets to their full potential in order to increase our knowledge of etiology, trajectories of drug using behaviors and their consequences including morbidity and mortality, risk and resilience in the development of psychopathology, strategies to guide the development, testing, implementation, and delivery of high quality, effective and efficient services for the prevention and treatment of drug abuse and HIV.

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation has issued a Request for Proposals for its Preclinical Drug Discovery program. Through the program, grants of up to $600,000 over two years will be awarded to promising preclinical drug discovery programs relevant to Alzheimer's disease, related dementias, and cognitive aging. Preclinical research funding priorities include high throughput screening, medicinal chemistry hit-to-lead development and optimization, in vitro and in vivo efficacy studies, ADME, toxicology, pharma-cokinetics and pharma-co-dynamics, and in vivo proof-of-concept with lead compounds and biologics. Program areas of particular interest include new chemical compounds for Alzheimer's disease, preclinical proof-of-concept, and re-purposing. With regards to potential drug targets, ADDF is interested in novel targets that include but are not limited to neuro-inflammation, protein degradation/autophagy, growth factor signaling, synaptic function/morphology, calcium regulation, energy utilization/mitochondria function, insulin sensitivity, epigenetics, ApoE function and cholesterol metabolism, vascular injury and the blood-brain barrier interface, cognitive enhancers, myelin changes, ischemia and oxidative stress, and tau-related toxicities. To be eligible, applicants must be academic investigators seeking to create and support innovative translational programs in academic medical centers and universities; biotechnology companies with programs dedicated to Alzheimer's disease translational development; and new biotechnology company spinouts or existing biotechnology companies that demonstrate a clear need for nonprofit funding. Funding is provided through program-related investments (PRIs) that require a return on investment based on scientific and/or business milestones.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to invite applications proposing the innovative analysis of existing social science, behavioral, administrative, and neuroimaging data to study the etiology and epidemiology of drug using behaviors (defined as alcohol, tobacco, prescription and other drug) and related disorders, prevention of drug use and HIV, and health service utilization. This FOA encourages the analyses of public use and other extant community-based or clinical datasets to their full potential in order to increase our knowledge of etiology, trajectories of drug using behaviors and their consequences including morbidity and mortality, risk and resilience in the development of psychopathology, strategies to guide the development, testing, implementation, and delivery of high quality, effective and efficient services for the prevention and treatment of drug abuse and HIV.

Despite significant scientific advancements made in substance use disorder research over the last century, the causes and consequences of drug use in later life remain poorly understood. The intent of this funding opportunity announcement is to support innovative research that examines aspects of marijuana and prescription opioid and benzodiazepine use in adults aged 50 and older. This FOA encourages research that examines the determinants of these types of drug use and/or characterizes the resulting neurobiological alterations, associated behaviors, and public health consequences. This initiative will focus on two distinct populations of older adults: individuals with earlier onset of drug use who are now entering this stage of adult development or individuals who initiate drug use after the age of 50. Applications are encouraged to utilize broad methodologies ranging from basic science, clinical, and epidemiological approaches. The insights gleaned from this initiative are critical to our understanding of the determinants of drug use in later life, as well as its consequences in the aging brain and on behavior. This knowledge may have the potential to identify risk factors and to guide clinical practices in older populations.

Substance abuse results in widespread changes in brain structure and function, and research is needed to explain these changes and how they affect behavior. The goals of the research areas described in this Neuroscience of Drug Abuse FOA are to understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying drug abuse and addiction, with special emphasis on changes that occur during chronic drug use, withdrawal and relapse. An understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying drug addiction can help to identify targets for prevention and treatment interventions. Research utilizing basic, translational, or clinical approaches is appropriate.

Substance abuse results in widespread changes in brain structure and function, and research is needed to explain these changes and how they affect behavior. The goals of the research areas described in this Neuroscience of Drug Abuse FOA are to understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying drug abuse and addiction, with special emphasis on changes that occur during chronic drug use, withdrawal and relapse. An understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying drug addiction can help to identify targets for prevention and treatment interventions. Research utilizing basic, translational, or clinical approaches is appropriate.

Substance abuse results in widespread changes in brain structure and function, and research is needed to explain these changes and how they affect behavior. The goals of the research areas described in this Neuroscience of Drug Abuse FOA are to understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying drug abuse and addiction, with special emphasis on changes that occur during chronic drug use, withdrawal and relapse. An understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying drug addiction can help to identify targets for prevention and treatment interventions. Research utilizing basic, translational, or clinical approaches is appropriate.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites U54 Cooperative Agreement applications aiming to establish multi-component Alzheimer Centers for the Discovery of New Medicines. The overarching purpose of this Centers program is to improve, diversify and reinvigorate the Alzheimers disease (AD) drug development pipeline by accelerating the characterization and experimental validation of next generation therapeutic targets and, integrating the targets into drug discovery campaigns. In addition, this program aims to de-risk potential therapeutics to the point that industry will invest in them, accelerating the delivery of new drugs to AD patients. To this end, the funded Centers will design, develop and disseminate tools that support target enabling packages (TEPs) for the experimental validation of novel, next generation therapeutic targets, including those emanating from the NIA-funded, target discovery programs such as AMP-AD and, initiate early stage drug discovery campaigns against the enabled targets.

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation is accepting Letters of Intent for its ADDF-Harrington Scholar Program, which seeks to accelerate innovative research with the potential to prevent, treat, or cure Alzheimer's disease or related dementias. The award will provide recipients with both research funding and committed project support by a team of pharmaceutical industry experts. The program aims to support hit-to-lead optimization through investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies. Award amounts will average $600,000 over two years. In 2019, drug targets related to proteostatis are of high priority, including but not limited to autophagy, lysosomal biogenesis, proteasomal degradation, post-translational modifications associated with proteostasis, protein folding/misfolding, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and extracellular clearance. Other novel targets are encouraged, including but not limited to neuroprotection, inflammation, vascular function, mitochondria and metabolic function, APOE, and epigenetics.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to support intramural-extramural collaborations to develop and implement the use of 3D biofabricated tissue models as novel drug screening platforms and advance pre-clinical discovery and development of non-addictive treatments for nociception, opioid use disorder (OUD) and/or overdose. In particular, support during the UH2 phase is for the application of 3D biofabrication technologies to develop novel multicellular tissue constructs for drug screening by using human iPSC-derived cells representing sensory/pain neurons, brain regions, and other tissues involved in nociception, addiction and/or overdose, including tissue models of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Support during the UH3 is for implementation of drug screens using the 3D tissue models developed during the UH2 phase. Please limit this field to a brief description of to page in length. Brevity is appreciated. This FOA is part of the of the NIHs Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) initiative to speed scientific solutions to the national opioid public health crisis. The NIH HEAL Initiative will bolster research across NIH to (1) improve treatment for opioid misuse and addiction and (2) enhance pain management. More information about the HEAL Initiative is available at: https://www.nih.gov/research-training/medical-research-initiatives/heal-initiative

The goal of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to provide funding support for the pre-clinical and early stage clinical (Phase I) development of novel small-molecule and biologic therapeutic agents that prevent Alzheimer's disease (AD), slow its progression or treat its cognitive and behavioral symptoms. Participants in this program will receive funding for therapy development activities such as medicinal chemistry, pharmacokinetics (PK), Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, Toxicology (ADMET), efficacy in animal models, formulation development, chemical synthesis under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Investigational New Drug (IND) enabling studies and initial Phase I clinical testing. This program does not support research on basic mechanisms of disease, mechanisms of drug action, development of biomarkers, devices, non-pharmacological interventions (e.g., exercise, diet, cognitive training), repurposed drugs and combinations therapies, or discovery activities such as high throughput screening and hit optimization.

Since 1998, ADDF has provided more than $29 million in funding for early stage clinical drug trials for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. To help propel novel drugs into the clinic, ADDF also has provided over $6.5 million in support of final preclinical studies required by regulatory agencies for the initiation of clinical research studies. The goal of the foundation's PACT program is to increase the number of innovative treatments tested in humans for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. To that end, the program will fund clinical trials through Phase 2a of novel drug candidates, including small molecules and biologics (antibodies, oligonucleotides, peptides, gene therapies, cell therapies); proof-of-concept biomarker-based trials in patients for repurposed/repositioned drugs; and regulatory studies for investigational new drug (IND)/clinical trial application preclinical packages that are required before testing novel drugs in human subjects. Proposed molecular targets will be evaluated based on the strength of available evidence linking the target to the disease and demonstrating that modulating its biological activity will improve symptoms or modify disease progression. Current target areas of interest include but are not limited to neuroprotection, inflammation, vascular function, mitochondria and metabolic function, proteostasis, ApoE, epigenetics, and synaptic activity and neurotransmitters.

Reissue of PAR-18-541. 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 to the Development stage, to advance a single development candidate through Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling toxicology studies and phase I clinical testing. Alternatively, projects can enter at the Development stage and progress in a shorter period to 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.

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, in partnership with the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, has issued a Request for Proposals designed to accelerate and support innovative drug discovery programs for FTD, a disease process that results in progressive damage to the temporal and/or frontal lobes of the brain.

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.

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.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages collaborative research applications on drug abuse and addiction that take advantage of special opportunities that exist outside the United States. Special opportunities include access to unusual talent, resources, populations, or environmental conditions in other countries that will speed scientific discovery. Projects should have relevance to the mission of NIDA and where feasible should address NIDA's international scientific priority areas (http://www.drugabuse.gov/international/research-priorities). While the priorities will change from year to year, in FY15 priority areas include: linkages between HIV/AIDS and drug abuse; prevention, initiation, and treatment of nicotine and tobacco use (especially among vulnerable populations such as children, adolescents, pregnant women, and those with co-morbid disorders); the neuroscience of marijuana and cannabinoids; and the effect of changes in laws and policies on marijuana and its impact.