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The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and National Institute on Aging (NIA) intend to publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit applications for a large prospective clinical research study to determine the specific subsets of stroke events that predict cognitive impairment and dementia in post-stroke populations in the United States, including in health disparities populations, and what additional clinical factors and comorbidities along the AD/ADRD spectrum may causally synergize with stroke to result in (or prevent) cognitive impairment and dementia outcomes. The goals of this initiative are to determine the association between specific subsets of stroke events and subsequent cognitive impairment and dementia in post-stroke populations in the United States, including in health disparities populations; to identify additional clinical factors and comorbidities that may affect these associations; and to contribute to development and validation of clinical-trial ready diagnostic and progression biomarkers for post-stroke dementia. It is expected that the study design will also allow for determination of interrelationships (cross-sectional and longitudinal) among the stroke event, overall cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease and risk factors (including sex, racial, and ethnic differences), dementia-relevant genetic variants (including ApoE) and mutations (e.g. in Notch 3) previously associated with Alzheimer's disease (e.g. APP, PS1, PS2, PICALM, CLU, TREM2), cognitive trajectories including decline and resistance to decline, as well as amyloid and tau biomarkers of Alzheimers pathology during life.

The goal of this FOA is to support research that will lead to a greater understanding of complex mechanisms by which the brain glymphatic system and meningeal and peripheral lymphatic systems change in normal and pathological brains. This knowledge is critical to determine whether a functional impairment or disruption of these systems may be involved in neurological disorders that are associated with immune system dysfunction, such as Alzheimer's disease.

In May of 2013 the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), with input from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), held an Alzheimer's Disease-Related Dementias Conference in response to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease. The Conference brought together national and international experts and members of the public to develop research priorities for accelerating the development of therapies for the Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (ADRDs). The ADRD 2013 research recommendations that resulted are part of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease. This FOA addresses the National Plan's highest priority for human-based research on vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID): to develop noninvasive markers of key vascular processes related to VCID in Alzheimer's and related dementias. The research program initiated here underscores the need to facilitate the development of biomarkers to improve the efficiency and outcome of Phase II and III clinical trials and advance therapeutic development. These companion FOAs (RFA-NS-16-019, i.e. this FOA; and RFA-NS-16-020 for the Biomarkers Development Projects) establish the Small Vessel VCID Biomarkers Consortium, and are focused on small vessel (i.e. arterioles, capillaries, and venules) VCID in vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), vascular dementia, and all mixed and pure cognitive impairment and dementias with contributing small vessel vascular disease, including such as commonly occurs in sporadic Alzheimer's disease. Awards funded under these two FOAs create a consortium and infrastructure to complete development projects as well as planning that will enable follow-up activities (to be carried out under future separate funding; for example large scale multi-site validation studies and other activities, for future FDA qualification of small vessel VCID biomarkers and use in clinical trials).

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support mechanistic clinical studies aimed at understanding the impact of arts-based approaches in palliative care for symptom management. This FOA is intended to support mechanistic clinical studies to provide an evidence base for the use of the arts in palliative care for symptom management. The objective is to understand the biological, physiological, neurological, psychological, and/or sociological mechanisms by which the arts exert their effects on symptom management during and throughout the palliative care continuum. The goal is for the research supported under this FOA to develop an evidence-base that could be used as a basis for the uptake of arts-based therapies in palliative care settings, among individuals across the lifespan, with a wide variety of serious chronic conditions and their accompanying symptoms. This FOA is not intended to determine efficacy or the comparative effectiveness of interventions, or to assess interventions designed to treat the underlying cause of a particular disease state.

The overall goal of this funding announcement is to solicit applications to investigate the central neural control of mobility in older adults without overt neurological diseases using innovative and cutting-edge methods that are emerging in neuroscience, geriatrics and mobility-related fields in aging research communities. This announcement also seeks information on the degree of plasticity in the aging brain and how this may be harnessed to maintain or improve mobility. Applicants are highly encouraged to adapt a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach that includes basic, clinical, and translational scientists. Mobility impairments are common in aging and are associated with a host of adverse events including disability and mortality. Identifying novel modifiable predictors of mobility decline will lead to mechanistic insights and the development of novel therapeutic interventions to enhance mobility as a person ages.

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.