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The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) will solicit proposals from qualified organizations capable of maintaining and expanding the NIDA Center for Genetic Studies. In this effort, the contractor will be required to: (1) Receive de-identified clinical, diagnostic, pedigree structure, environmental exposure information and other phenotypic data along with blood samples or other biospecimens from funded grants and/or contracts supporting research on the genetics of addiction and addiction vulnerability; (2) Process these data and materials to create databases, serum, DNA, RNA, and cell lines; (3) Widely distribute all data and materials in the NIDA Human Genetics Initiative to qualified investigators in the scientific community in a cost effective manner; (4) Maintain storage of data and biomaterials; (5) As stipulated by NIDA staff, perform microarray typing on pre-existing and/or new de-identified biospecimens; (6) As stipulated by NIDA staff, perform high-throughput sequencing on pre-existing and/or new de-identified biospecimens for genomic and/or epigenomic analyses; (7) Support the creation of reprogrammed cellular derivatives, such as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to facilitate the molecular and cellular study of brain development and addiction processes; (8) Create a cyberinfrastructure that enables interoperability and full access to distributed data, software and other information science resources as well as research summaries and outbound links for all addiction related studies available through the NIH database of Genotype and Phenotype (dbGaP) system; and (9) Faciliate NIDA genetic studies data (both genotype and phenotype) being uploaded into NIH databases such as BioSample, and the dbGaP systems.

The Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) Program supports the generation of extended time series of data to address important questions in evolutionary biology, ecology, and ecosystem science. Research areas include, but are not limited to, the effects of natural selection or other evolutionary processes on populations, communities, or ecosystems; the effects of interspecific interactions that vary over time and space; population or community dynamics for organisms that have extended life spans and long turnover times; feedbacks between ecological and evolutionary processes; pools of materials such as nutrients in soils that turn over at intermediate to longer time scales; and external forcing functions such as climatic cycles that operate over long return intervals. The Program intends to support decadal projects. Funding for an initial, 5-year period requires submission of a preliminary proposal and, if invited, submission of a full proposal that includes a 15-page project description. Proposals for the second five years of support (renewal proposals) are limited to an eight-page project description and do not require a preliminary proposal. Continuation of an LTREB project beyond an initial ten year award will require submission of a new preliminary proposal that presents a new decadal research plan.?? Successful LTREB proposals address three essential components: A Decadal Research Plan that clearly articulates important questions that cannot be addressed with data that have already been collected, but could be answered if ten additional years of data were collected. This plan is not a research timeline or management plan. It is a concise justification for ten additional years of support in order to advance understanding of key concepts, questions, or theories in environmental biology.Core Data: LTREB proposals require that the author has studied a particular phenomenon or process for at least six years up to the present or for long enough to gene

The Geobiology and Low-Temperature Geochemistry Program supports research on 1) the interactions between biological and geological systems at all scales of space and time; 2) geomicrobiology and biomineralization processes; 3) the role of life in the transformation and evolution of the Earth's geochemical cycles; 4) inorganic and organic geochemical processes occurring at or near the Earth's surface now and in the past, and at the broad spectrum of interfaces ranging in scale from planetary and regional to mineral-surface and supramolecular; 5) mineralogy and chemistry of soils and sediments; 6) surficial chemical and biogeochemical systems and cycles and their modification through natural and anthropogenic change; and 7) development of tools, methods, and models for low-temperature geochemistry and geobiological research - such as those emerging from molecular biology - in the study of the terrestrial environment.

he U.S. Congress provides funds to CDC for programmatic support and procurement of vaccines critical to the success of the global initiatives for polio eradication and measles mortality reduction. The purpose of the program is to support the US Government-endorsed Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Global Measles Initiative, and the Global Immunization Vision and Strategy (GIVS) of which UNICEF is a key partner. Other key partners include CDC, World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Rotary International, American Red Cross, and the UN Foundation. UNICEF, in conjunction with CDC, will provide programmatic assistance and vaccines for supplemental immunization activities (SIAs) in priority countries as well as strengthening of routine immunization delivery systems and capacities in developing countries to achieve globally agreed goals for disease eradication, elimination and reduction. Additionally this agreement may be used to support activities to address other global health priorities in line with CDC goals. Under this agreement, UNICEF will collaborate with CDC, World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, other partner agencies and national governments, for implementation of strategies to achieve the globally agreed goals of polio eradication, measles mortality reduction and elimination, and control of other vaccine preventable diseases (VPD), including identification and prioritization of country vaccine and programmatic assistance needs.

he U.S. Congress provides funds to CDC for programmatic support and procurement of vaccines critical to the success of the global initiatives for polio eradication and measles mortality reduction. The purpose of the program is to support the US Government-endorsed Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Global Measles Initiative, and the Global Immunization Vision and Strategy (GIVS) of which UNICEF is a key partner. Other key partners include CDC, World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Rotary International, American Red Cross, and the UN Foundation. UNICEF, in conjunction with CDC, will provide programmatic assistance and vaccines for supplemental immunization activities (SIAs) in priority countries as well as strengthening of routine immunization delivery systems and capacities in developing countries to achieve globally agreed goals for disease eradication, elimination and reduction. Additionally this agreement may be used to support activities to address other global health priorities in line with CDC goals. Under this agreement, UNICEF will collaborate with CDC, World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, other partner agencies and national governments, for implementation of strategies to achieve the globally agreed goals of polio eradication, measles mortality reduction and elimination, and control of other vaccine preventable diseases (VPD), including identification and prioritization of country vaccine and programmatic assistance needs. 

The goal of theBiomedical Engineering(BME)program is to provide research opportunities to develop novel ideas into discovery-level and transformative projects that integrate engineering and life sciences in solving biomedical problems that serve humanity in the long-term. BME projects must be at the interface of engineering and life sciences, and advance both engineering and life sciences. The projects should focus on high impact transformative methods and technologies. Projects should include methods, models and enabling tools of understanding and controlling living systems; fundamental improvements in deriving information from cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems; new approaches to the design of structures and materials for eventual medical use in the long-term; and novel methods for reducing health care costs through new technologies. The long-term impact of the projects can be related to fundamental understanding of cell and tissue function, effective disease diagnosis and/or treatment, improved health care delivery, or product development.

The goal of theBiomedical Engineering(BME)program is to provide research opportunities to develop novel ideas into discovery-level and transformative projects that integrate engineering and life sciences in solving biomedical problems that serve humanity in the long-term. BME projects must be at the interface of engineering and life sciences, and advance both engineering and life sciences. The projects should focus on high impact transformative methods and technologies. Projects should include methods, models and enabling tools of understanding and controlling living systems; fundamental improvements in deriving information from cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems; new approaches to the design of structures and materials for eventual medical use in the long-term; and novel methods for reducing health care costs through new technologies. The long-term impact of the projects can be related to fundamental understanding of cell and tissue function, effective disease diagnosis and/or treatment, improved health care delivery, or product development.

The Process and Reaction Engineering program supports fundamental and applied research on: Rates and mechanisms of important classes of catalyzed and uncatalyzed chemical reactions as they relate to the design, production, and application of catalysts, chemical processes, biochemical processes, and specialized materials Chemical and biochemical phenomena occurring at or near solid surfaces and interfaces Electrochemical and photochemical processes of engineering significance or with commercial potential Design and optimization of complex chemical and biochemical processes Dynamic modeling and control of process systems and individual process units Reactive processing of polymers, ceramics, and thin films Interactions between chemical reactions and transport processes in reactive systems, and the use of this information in the design of complex chemical and biochemical reactors  Recent emphasis on the development of sustainable energy technologies means that the support of projects on the processing aspects of chemical systems that further such technologies have high priority when funding decisions are made. Areas that focus on reactors of all types - fuel cells, batteries, microreactors, biochemical reactors, etc.; reactor design in general; and design and control of all systems associated with energy from renewable sources, have high priority for funding.

The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command's (USAMRMC) mission is to provide solutions to medical problems of importance to the American Service member at home and abroad, as well as to the general public at large. The scope of this effort and the priorities attached to specific projects are influenced by changes in military and civilian medical science and technology, operational requirements, military threat assessments, and national defense strategies. The extramural research and development programs play a vital role in the fulfillment of the objectives established by the USAMRMC. General information on USAMRMC can be obtained at https://mrmc.detrick.army.mil/. This Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) is intended to solicit extramural research and development ideas and is issued under the provisions of the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-369), as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.102(d)(2) and 35.016. In accordance with FAR 6.102, projects funded under this BAA must be for basic and applied research and that part of development not related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement. Projects must be for scientific study and experimentation directed toward advancing the state-of-the-art or increasing knowledge or understanding rather than focusing on a specific system or hardware solution. Research and development funded through this BAA is intended and expected to benefit and inform both military and civilian medical practice and knowledge. This FY15 BAA is continuously open for a 12-month period, from October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Submission of a pre-proposal/pre-application is required and must be submitted through the new electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) (https://eBRAP.org/). Pre-proposal/pre-applications may be submitted at any time throughout the 12-month period. If the USAMRMC is interested in rece

During the last nine years, the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has worked with nations around the world to build capacity to prepare, detect, and respond to pandemics. Through previous funding opportunity announcements (FOA) and subsequent cooperative agreements, CDC and its international partners and national ministries of health focused on three pillars: 1) preparedness and communication; 2) surveillance and detection; 3) response and containment. The success of this developed capacity is evident across the globe. Through these cooperative agreements, CDC and partners have: Developed national government public-health pandemic preparedness plans Developed pandemic communication plans Improved laboratory capacity and infrastructure for influenza virologic surveillance Enhanced epidemiology capacity and infrastructure for disease surveillance Developed sentinel, hospital-based surveillance for severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) Enhanced integration of laboratory and epidemiologic surveillance for influenza Developed surveillance for cases and clusters of respiratory and febrile illnesses that could represent emerging new pandemics. Trained local rapid-response and containment teams. Developed infection control guidelines in public health-care settings for the prevention of avian and pandemic flu. It is critical that these new capacities be sustained and strengthened over time to ensure global capacity to detect and respond to pandemic influenza effectively.

Pharmaceutical company AmerisourceBergen created the AmerisourceBergen Foundation as a separate not-for-profit charitable organization with the aim of supporting health and education-related causes that enrich the lives of its global community. To accomplish that goal, the foundation provides funding for programs and organizations focused on expanding access to quality healthcare - both human and animal - around the world. In the view of the foundation, the current epidemic of opioid abuse and misuse is a crisis that demands attention, action, and accountability. Understanding the need for expediency, the foundation is inviting grant-funded nonprofit organizations to submit proposals that describe how it can best contribute resources and funding to address opioid abuse and misuse. Grants will be awarded for the most innovative and constructive solutions in one of two key areas of focus: safe disposal and education around prevention. Applicants are strongly encouraged to identify and leverage existing, proven, evidence-based frameworks and strategies, as well as existing tools and materials, but may also propose original and innovative projects. Applications focused on education may address a spectrum of needs, but priority will be given to the effective dissemination of the following topics: provider education about appropriate opioid prescribing; patient education about the risks and effects of prescription opioids, and what to do if they have concerns about addiction; public education, especially aimed at rural communities; training to reduce youth risk factors (such as delinquency) and boost protective factors (such as decision-making skills for problem solving and resisting peer pressure; addiction as a childhood onset condition; preventing teens from initiating problematic opioid use in the first place; and advising parents of teens to lock up prescription opioid medications and dispose of old pills.

The Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) Core Programs Track supports research aimed at understanding why organisms are structured the way they are and function as they do. Proposals are welcomed in all of the core scientific program areas supported by the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS). Areas of inquiry include, but are not limited to, developmental biology and the evolution of developmental processes, nervous system development, structure, modification, function, and evolution; biomechanics and functional morphology, physiological processes, symbioses and microbial interactions, interactions of organisms with biotic and abiotic environments,plant and animal genomics, and animal behavior. Proposals should focus on organisms as a fundamental unit of biological organization. Principal Investigators (PIs) are encouraged to apply systems approaches that will lead to conceptual and theoretical insights and predictions about emergent organismal properties. TheRules of Life Tracksupports integrative proposals that span the subcellular and cellular scales normally funded by MCB to the organ, tissue, organismal, and group scale typically funded by IOS, to population, species, community and ecosystem scales typically funded by DEB. Rules of Life proposals may also include enabling infrastructure through joint submission with DBI. Discovery of fundamental principles and enabling infrastructure will advance understanding and further predict how key properties of living systems emerge from the interaction of genomes, phenotypes, and developmental, social and environmental context across space and time.This track provides opportunities to advance understanding of the Rules of Life by new mechanisms for review and funding of proposals that span two or more divisions in the Biological Sciences Directorate.

The Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) supports quantitative, predictive, and theory-driven fundamental research and related activities designed to promote understanding of complex living systems at the molecular, subcellular, and cellular levels. MCB is soliciting proposals for hypothesis-driven and discovery research and related activities in four core clusters: Molecular Biophysics Cellular Dynamics and Function Genetic Mechanisms Systems and Synthetic Biology MCB gives high priority to research projects that use theory, methods, and technologies from physical sciences, mathematics, computational sciences, and engineering to address major biological questions.  Research supported by MCB uses a range of experimental approaches--including in vivo, in vitro and in silico strategies--and a broad spectrum of model and non-model organisms, especially microbes and plants. Typical research supported by MCB integrates theory and experimentation.  Projects that address the emerging areas of multi-scale integration, molecular and cellular evolution, quantitative prediction of phenome from genomic information, and development of methods and resources are particularly welcome.

The Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems (CCSS) program is intended to spur visionary systems-oriented activities in collaborative, multidisciplinary, and integrative research. CCSS supports systems research in hardware, signal processing techniques, and architectures to enable the next generation of cyber-physical systems (CPS) that leverage computation, communication, and algorithms integrated with physical domains. CCSS offers new challenges at all levels of systems integration to address future societal needs. CCSS supports innovative research and integrated educational activities in micro- and nano-systems, communications systems, and cyber-physical systems. The goal is to design, develop, and implement new complex and hybrid systems at all scales, including nano, micro, and macro, that lead to innovative engineering principles and solutions for a variety of application domains including, but not limited to, healthcare, medicine, environmental monitoring, communications, disaster mitigation, homeland security, transportation, manufacturing, energy, and smart buildings. CCSS also supports integration technologies at both intra-and inter-chip levels, new and advanced radio frequency (RF), millimeter wave and optical wireless and hybrid communications systems architectures, and sensing and imaging at terahertz (THz) frequencies.

CMMT supports theoretical and computational materials research in the topical areas represented in DMR's Topical Materials Research Programs (these are also variously known as Individual Investigator Award (IIA) Programs, or Core Programs, or Disciplinary Programs), which include: Condensed Matter Physics (CMP), Biomaterials (BMAT), Ceramics (CER), Electronic and Photonic Materials (EPM), Metals and Metallic Nanostructures (MMN), Polymers (POL), and Solid State and Materials Chemistry (SSMC). The CMMT program supports fundamental research that advances conceptual understanding of hard and soft materials, and materials-related phenomena; the development of associated analytical, computational, and data-centric techniques; and predictive materials-specific theory, simulation, and modeling for materials research.Research may encompass the advance of new paradigms in materials research, including emerging data-centric approaches utilizing data-analytics or machine learning. Computational efforts span from the level of workstations to advanced and high-performance scientific computing. Emphasis is on approaches that begin at the smallest appropriate length scale, such as electronic, atomic, molecular, nano-, micro-, and mesoscale, required to yield fundamental insight into material properties, processes, and behavior, to predict new materials and states of matter, and to reveal new materials phenomena. Approaches that span multiple scales of length and time may be required to advance fundamental understanding of materials properties and phenomena, particularly for polymeric materials and soft matter.

The over-arching goal of this NIDCD R25 program is to support educational activities that foster a better understanding of biomedical research and its implications in the areas of auditory and vestibular research. The complexity of auditory and vestibular biology processes provide our hearing and balance function. Interruption of these processes may occur from a variety of factors, including genetic, environmental and pathogenic agents, and often results in the loss of hearing and balance function. While loss or impairment of these functions are most often non-life-threatening, the disruption to quality of life is substantial. Since August of 2007, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) (http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/) has supported a special topics course in auditory and vestibular biology. The two to three week course, Biology of the Inner Ear, has been held at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, and has brought together outstanding faculty to provide hands-on instruction to participants. It is the continued intent of the NIDCD to foster the advancement of research methodologies and technologies to improve, hasten and implement new treatments for these disorders and impairments. It is based on this template of excellence that the NIDCD invites R25 applications for support of a special topics course in the auditory and vestibular sciences. The purpose of this five-year initiative is to support three courses to be offered each in years 2021, 2023, and 2025. This will allow for a sustained specialized topics course that provides lecture and hands-on research exposure to the auditory and vestibular sciences. The target audience envisioned for this course consists of advanced graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and established early stage research investigators.

The mission of the Biomedical Engineering (BME) program is to provide opportunities to develop novel ideas into discovery-level and transformative projects that integrate engineering and life science principles in solving biomedical problems that serve humanity in the long-term.  The Biomedical Engineering (BME) program supports fundamental research in the following BME themes: Neural engineering (brain science, computational neuroscience, brain-computer interface, neurotech, cognitive engineering) Cellular biomechanics (motion, deformation, and forces in biological systems; how mechanical forces alter cell growth, differentiation, movement, signal transduction, transport, cell adhesion, cell cytoskeleton dynamics, cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions; genetically engineered stem cell differentiation with long-term impact in tissue repair and regenerative medicine) The BME projects must be at the interface of engineering and life sciences, and advance both engineering and life sciences.  The projects should focus on high impact transforming methods and technologies. The project should include methods, models and tools of understanding and controlling of living systems; fundamental improvements in deriving information from cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems; new approaches to the design of structures and materials for eventual medical use in the long-term; and new novel methods of reducing health care costs through new technologies. The projects should emphasize the advancement of fundamental engineering knowledge, possibly leading to the development of new methods and technologies in the long-term; and highlight multi-disciplinary nature, integrating engineering and the sciences. The long-term impact of the projects can be related to disease diagnosis and/or treatment, improved health care delivery, or product development.

Reliable, efficient laboratory services and networks are fundamental components of effective, well-functioning health systems and are essential for patient management, disease detection and control and surveillance. The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support the Ministry of Health in Mozambique to strengthen the integrated national laboratory network in order to ensure the provision of quality laboratory services for clinical diagnosis, screening, research, and surveillance to support HIV care and treatment and the achievement of an AIDS free generation. The FOA will address the following cross-cutting elements of laboratory systems: governance and management of the integrated laboratory network, strengthening institutions to build and retain a quality laboratory workforce, and building technical and scientific capacity and implementing quality management systems towards accreditation. The expected project outcomes include:* Increased efficiency of laboratory network operations* Increased implementation of quality management systems through a technically and financially sustainable quality improvement and accreditation program owned and implemented by the Ministry of Health* An increase in the coverage and quality of external quality assessment (EQA) services* Improved adherence to laboratory biosafety standards* Improved quality of laboratory pre-service training * Increase in number of laboratory managers and leaders with Master's level training* Improved capacity of laboratory workforce and decreased reliance on external training support

The International Research Network Connections (IRNC) program supports high-performance network connectivity required by international science and engineering research and education collaborations involving the NSF research community. NSF expects to make 1-2 awards to link U.S. research networks with peer networks in Europe and Africa and leverage existing international network connectivity. High-performance network connections funded by this program are intended to support science and engineering research and education applications, and preference will be given to solutions that provide the best economy of scale and demonstrate the ability to support the largest communities of interest with the broadest services. Funded projects will assist the U.S. research and education community by enabling state-of-the-art international network services and access to increased collaboration and data services. Through extended international network connections, additional research and production network services will be enabled, complementing those currently offered or planned by domestic research networks.

The International Research Network Connections (IRNC) program supports high-performance network connectivity required by international science and engineering research and education collaborations involving the NSF research community. NSF expects to make 1-2 awards to link U.S. research networks with peer networks in Europe and Africa and leverage existing international network connectivity. High-performance network connections funded by this program are intended to support science and engineering research and education applications, and preference will be given to solutions that provide the best economy of scale and demonstrate the ability to support the largest communities of interest with the broadest services. Funded projects will assist the U.S. research and education community by enabling state-of-the-art international network services and access to increased collaboration and data services. Through extended international network connections, additional research and production network services will be enabled, complementing those currently offered or planned by domestic research networks.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for R34 applications seeks to support: (a) pilot and/or feasibility testing of innovative new, revised, or adapted prevention intervention approaches to prevent or delay the initiation and onset of drug and alcohol use, the progression to misuse or problem use or alcohol and other substance use disorder, reduce drinking and driving and deaths related to impaired driving, prevent suicide attempts (nonfatal and fatal), and the drug- or alcohol-related acquisition or transmission of HIV infection and viral hepatitis among diverse populations and settings; and, (b) pre-trial feasibility and acceptability testing for prevention services and systems research. It is expected that research conducted via this mechanism will consist of studies that are a pre-requisite for preparing and submitting subsequent applications for larger scale drug or alcohol abuse prevention and/or drug- or alcohol-related HIV prevention intervention studies. This FOA does not support applications for which the sole focus is development of intervention protocols, manuals, or the standardization of protocols. Any intervention development work must be imbedded within a pilot/feasibility study. Of particular interest is prevention research that addresses current public health priorities and priority settings and systems.

OASH/ National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO) provides strategic direction for the coordination of the vaccine and immunization enterprise through the National Vaccine Plan (NVP) implementation. NVPO specifically provides guidance and coordination for all vaccine safety systems, activities and research studies in the U.S. through the Immunization Safety Task Force (ISTF). While engaging vaccine safety stakeholders through the ISTF, NVPO is able to identify gaps in vaccine safety monitoring and research. NVPO has launched this pilot cooperative agreement program to partner with an organization to conduct research that will strengthen the current U.S. vaccine safety enterprise. The program's objective is to conduct research in vaccine safety related areas, specifically, but not limited to, determining the safety profile of new vaccines during the early development stage, developing or modifying existing vaccines to improve their safety, conducting applied research that will have a direct impact on the current vaccine safety monitoring system, conducting research that will achieve consensus definitions of vaccine safety outcomes that could be utilized to collect consensus data in clinical research conducted globally.NVPO is particularly interested in projects related to researching, establishing or testing the vaccine safety profile of vaccines that are currently recommended for or are expected to be routinely administered to pregnant women and/or newborns. Topics of research may cover establishing the safety of a vaccine in either the pregnant women, her newborn or both, at any stage of the vaccine development, testing and/or pre-clinical or clinical research and monitoring of vaccine safety. This pilot program encourages collaborative efforts with experts across fields to maximize the results and impact of the research project. NVPO scientific staff will have substantial programmatic involvement that is above and beyond the normal stewardship role in awards, as desc

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).