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This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages Research Project Grant (R01) applications from institutions/organizations that propose to study the developing brain or brain areas that play significant roles in mediating emotional and motivated behavior and in substance use and dependence. All stages of brain development are of interest, but a new emphasis of the current reissue of this initiative is to support basic neuroscience research on fundamental mechanisms of brain development during prepuberty and the adolescent period in relation to the problems of substance abuse and co-morbidity with psychiatric disorders. Topics of interest pertaining to brain development of this initiative include, but are not limited to, the euphoric properties of abused substances, actions of psychotherapeutic agents, and their consequences on memory, cognitive and emotional processes. An additional major goal of this initiative is to understand how exposure to substances of abuse affects the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying nervous system development and neural circuit functions implicated in substance use and addiction.

The L'Oréal USA For Women in Science fellowship program is a national awards program that annually recognizes and rewards five U.S.-based women researchers at the beginning of their scientific careers. Recipients receive up to $60,000 each that they must put towards their postdoctoral research. The program's partner, AAAS, manages the peer-review process. Launched in 2003 as the U.S. Fellowships component of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Fellowship program, the program aim to: Raise awareness of the contribution of women to the sciences Identify exceptional female researchers in the U.S. to serve as role models for younger generations An inter-disciplinary panel of scientists reviews all applications submitted. The top candidates chosen by the review panel are then forwarded for final selection to a distinguished Jury of career scientists and former North American L'ORÉAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Laureates. The Jury seeks candidates with exceptional academic records and intellectual merit, clearly articulated research proposals with the potential for scientific advancement and outstanding letters of recommendation from advisers. New to the program this year, applicants will also be evaluated in part on their commitment to supporting women and girls in science.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is issued as an initiative of the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research.  The Neuroscience Blueprint is a collaborative framework through which 15 NIH Institutes, Centers and Offices jointly support neuroscience-related research, with the aim of accelerating discoveries and reducing the burden of nervous system disorders (for further information, see http://neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov/).  The Neuroscience Blueprint is supporting a Lifespan Human Connectome Project (L-HCP) to extend the Human Connectome Project (HCP) (http://www.neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov/connectome) to map connectivity in the developing, adult, and aging human brain.  The goal of this FOA is solicit grant applications that propose to extend the experimental protocols developed through the HCP to middle-age and elderly adults to investigate the structural and functional changes that occur in the brain during typical aging.  A companion FOA is soliciting applications that apply the HCP protocols to children and adolescents to explore changes that occur during typical development. 

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to invite pre-applications from applicants who have an interest in ultimately submitting an application to "Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC): Technologies to Understand the Control of Organ Function by the Peripheral Nervous System (OT2)" (RFA-RM-16-003). The OT1 SPARC pre-application is the required first step in the application process for the companion OT2 FOA (RFA-RM-16-003). Potential applicants should read both FOAs.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to invite pre-applications from applicants who have an interest in ultimately submitting an application to "Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC): Technologies to Understand the Control of Organ Function by the Peripheral Nervous System (OT2)" (RFA-RM-16-003). The OT1 SPARC pre-application is the required first step in the application process for the companion OT2 FOA (RFA-RM-16-003). Potential applicants should read both FOAs.

Invasive surgical procedures provide the unique ability to record and stimulate neurons within precisely localized brain structures in humans. Human studies using invasive technology are often constrained by a limited number of patients and resources available to implement complex experimental protocols and are rarely aggregated in a manner that addresses research questions with appropriate statistical power. Therefore, this RFA seeks applications to assemble diverse, integrated, multi-disciplinary teams that cross boundaries of interdisciplinary collaboration to overcome these fundamental barriers and to investigate high-impact questions in human neuroscience. Projects should maximize opportunities to conduct innovative in vivo neuroscience research made available by direct access to brain recording and stimulating from invasive surgical procedures.

The goal of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage biomedical, behavioral and social sciences research that will enhance knowledge of mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (ADRD) so as to enable novel treatment development. NPS, or Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD), include aggression, psychosis, anxiety, apathy, depression, agitation, sleep disturbances and wandering, and can be significant challenges to the care and treatment of people with dementia. These symptoms lead to accelerated declines in both functional abilities and may lead to earlier nursing home placement. Currently, few pharmacological treatments are available. In addition, there is a need to understand behavioral and environmental targets to further refine and develop promising behavioral treatments for these disorders.  

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.

Rotary International is accepting applications for its CART Fund, a program designed to encourage exploratory and developmental Alzheimer's disease research projects within the United States. To that end, the fund will award grants of up to $250,000 to support for early and conceptual plans of those projects that may not yet be supported by extensive preliminary data but have the potential to substantially advance biomedical research. These projects should be new and distinct from those designed to increase knowledge in a well-established area unless they intend to extend previous discoveries toward new directions or applications. Eligible applications may come from full time faculty (or equivalent status) at U.S.-based public and private institutions, such as universities, colleges, hospitals, and laboratories.

The John Templeton Foundation works to catalyze discoveries relating to the deepest and most perplexing questions facing humankind and supports research on a wide range of subjects, from complexity, evolution, and emergency to creativity, forgiveness, and free will. In support of this mission, the foundation is accepting applications for its Academic Cross-Training Fellowship. With the intent to help equip recently tenured philosophers and theologians with the skills and knowledge needed to study big questions that require substantive and high-level engagement with empirical science, the fellowship will provide up to $220,000 over three years to support systematic and sustained study in an empirical science such as physics, psychology, biology, genetics, cognitive science, neuroscience, or sociology.

The world needs more effective, functional and affordable technology solutions to clinical medical problems. With the BMEidea competition, the nation's leading competition for biomedical and bioengineering students, we challenge students to pioneer a health-related technology that addresses a real clinical need. Competition entries are judged on: Technical, economic and regulatory feasibility Contribution to human health and quality of life Technological innovation Potential for commercialization Strong BMEidea submissions define a problem and demonstrate the development of a device, product, or technology designed to solve it. BMEidea awards are presented each year at the MD&M East Medical Device Trade Show and Convention. Competition winners will receive cash awards as well as access to resources to be used for further development and commercialization of their products. In addition, the first place institution will get to display the BMEidea trophy in their winning department for the year.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative invites applications to join the CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network an interdisciplinary collaborative initiative to increase understanding of the fundamental biology of neurodegenerative disorders. Applications are being accepted for two funding mechanisms: Awards are worth $350K total costs per year for three years, for a total of $1.05M (including up to 15% indirect costs). The CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network has three goals: (1) to make fundamental advances toward understanding neurodegeneration; (2) to bring new ideas and talent to the field of neurodegeneration; and (3) to encourage a new type of interdisciplinary collaborative research involving scientists, clinicians and engineers

The intent of the FY19 FITBIR Analysis Award is to leverage this data to identify actionable insights for the diagnosis, management, and treatment of TBI. The proposed research must be relevant to active duty Service members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the American public. The anticipated total costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY19 JPC-6/CCCRP PH/TBI FITBIR Analysis Award will not exceed $750,000. Refer to Section II.D.5, Funding Restrictions, for detailed funding information. The JPC-6/CCCRP expects to allot approximately $3M of the FY19 PH/TBIRP appropriation to fund approximately 4 FITBIR Analysis Award applications. Funding of applications received is contingent upon the availability of Federal funds for this program as well as the number of applications received, the quality and merit of the applications as evaluated by scientific and programmatic review, and the requirements of the Government. Funds to be obligated on any award resulting from this funding opportunity will be available for use for a limited time period based on the fiscal year of the funds. It is anticipated that awards made from this FY19 FITBIR Analysis Award funding opportunity will be funded with FY19 funds, which will expire for use on September 30, 2025

The purpose of this FOA is to promote the integration of experimental, analytic, and theoretical capabilities for large-scale analysis of neural systems and circuits. This FOA seeks applications for exploratory research studies that use new and emerging methods for large scale recording and manipulation of neural circuits across multiple brain regions. Applications should propose to elucidate the contributions of dynamic circuit activity to a specific behavioral or neural system. Applications should seek to understand circuits of the central nervous system by systematically controlling stimuli and/or behavior while actively recording and/or manipulating relevant dynamic patterns of neural activity and by measuring the resulting behaviors and/or perceptions. Studies should incorporate rich information on cell-types, on circuit functionality and connectivity, and should be performed in conjunction with sophisticated analysis of complex, ethologically relevant behaviors. Applications should propose teams of investigators that seek to cross boundaries of interdisciplinary collaboration by bridging fields and linking theory and data analysis to experimental design. Exploratory studies supported by this FOA are intended to develop experimental capabilities and quantitative, theoretical frameworks in preparation for a future competition for larger-scale, multi-component, Team-Research BRAIN Circuit Programs (U19).

Applications will be accepted from academic investigators and small companies with lead candidate therapeutic agents that require early stage testing prior to Proof of Concept (POC) Phase 2 or 3 efficacy studies, or with lead therapeutic agents that have already established human safety data and require a small-scale pilot Proof of Mechanism (POM) study in humans to begin proving the scientific concept in humans. This award will support Phase 1 studies or pilot small- scale Phase 2a studies for repurposed drugs in normal individuals or individuals with preclinical or symptomatic Alzheimer's disease (i.e. early human studies to set the stage for efficacy studies), including single and multiple dose studies to establish safety, brain penetration and/or target engagement and POM in preparation for larger proof of concept trials. In addition, proposals may be considered that are POC to validate biological marker(s) of disease progression in a clinical trial environment. Any proposal must have a clear focus on Alzheimer's disease and related disorder and be translational in nature. All proposals should clearly and explicitly outline the measure to be investigated, the methods for study, and outcomes. Researchers from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

The goal of the Pilot Award is to provide early support for exploratory ideas, particularly those with novel hypotheses. Appropriate projects for this mechanism include those considered higher risk but with the potential for transformative results. To get a better understanding of SFARI's different RFAs and whether the Pilot Award may be the best mechanism to support your project, please read our blog post "SFARI RFA reboot: Why, what and how". In particular, we encourage applications that propose research to link genetic or other ASD risk factors to molecular, cellular, circuit or behavioral mechanisms of ASD. Please read more about SFARI's scientific perspectives here. We also strongly advise applicants to familiarize themselves with the current projects and other resources that SFARI supports and to think about how their proposals might complement existing efforts.

The program aims to support hit-to-lead optimization through investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies. To that end, grants of $600,000 over two years will be awarded in support of proposals with the potential to advance discovery into meaningful therapeutics to treat, prevent, or slow Alzheimer's disease or related dementias. Funding priorities identified by ADDF include drug targets related to proteostatis (autophagy, lysosomal biogenesis, proteasomal degradation, post-translational modifications associated with proteostasis, protein folding/misfolding, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and extracellular clearance) and neurovascular health (blood brain barrier function and integrity, cerebral hypoperfusion, nutrient supply to the brain, and endothelial interaction with pericytes and astrocytes).

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications to establish a network to identify, evaluate, track, and conduct research across multiple sites on older adults with superior cognitive performance for their age ("cognitive super agers"). The activity would support aggregation of sufficient numbers of these individuals to advance the fields understanding of factors that promote sustained cognitive health and those that are not of primary importance. Uniform identification and uniform data collection will allow the study of the behavioral, neurological, health, genetic, environmental, and lifestyle profiles that lead to sustained cognitive and brain function in advanced age. Where extant data exists, harmonization protocols would need to be developed in order to make use of all currently available data. Provision of protocols to obtain brain tissue at autopsy would be an important component.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is designed to support teams of investigators that seek to cross boundaries of interdisciplinary collaboration to elucidate the contributions of dynamic circuit activity to a specific behavioral or neural system. Applications are encouraged to propose adventurous and challenging goals that can only be tackled by a synergistic team-based approach and have the potential to be transformative and/or to enable significant advances. These studies at the exploratory stage are intended for the development of experimental capabilities and/or theoretical frameworks in preparation for a future competition for larger-scale or extended efforts, including the BRAIN TargetedBCP R01 or the multi-component, Team-Research BRAIN Circuit Programs (U19).

The intent of the FY17 PRARP NIRA is to support early-career investigators interested in novel research efforts or new technologies within TBI and AD/ADRD in support of the PRARP's mission. The FY17 PRARP NIRA is open to Principal Investigators (PIs) within 3 years of their first independent faculty position, from any field or discipline. As part of the application, the PI should demonstrate that the study team has experience in both TBI and AD/ADRD research. Preliminary data, while not required, are encouraged. Preliminary data may come from the PI's published work, pilot data, or from peer-reviewed literature. Note that PIs will be required to verify their eligibility for this award. The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY17 PRARP NIRA will not exceed $225,000. The maximum period of performance is 3 years. The research impact is expected to benefit the military, Veteran, and civilian communities. To this end, the PRARP has identified NIRA Overarching Challenges and Focus Areas by which the intent of this mechanism can be facilitated. These should be carefully considered as part of the application process.FY17 PRARP NIRA Overarching Challenges: This FY17 PRARP NIRA funding opportunity requires applications to address one or more of the following FY17 PRARP NIRA Overarching Challenges: The paucity of research resources to examine the interrelationship between TBI and subsequent AD/ADRD for the military, Veteran, and civilian communities.

The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new, and potentially transformative approaches to STEM graduate education training. The program seeks proposals that explore ways for graduate students in research-based master's and doctoral degree programs to develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a range of STEM careers. IGE focuses on projects aimed at piloting, testing, and validating innovative and potentially transformative approaches to graduate education. IGE projects are intended to generate the knowledge required for their customization, implementation, and broader adoption. The program supports testing of novel models or activities with high potential to enrich and extend the knowledge base on effective graduate education approaches. The program addresses both workforce development, emphasizing broad participation, and institutional capacity building needs in graduate education. Strategic collaborations with the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies, national laboratories, field stations, teaching and learning centers, informal science centers, and academic partners are encouraged.