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The Enhancement of Animal Welfare Award is presented annually to a member of the Society in recognition of contributions made to the advancement of toxicological science through the development and application of methods that replace, refine, or reduce the need for experimental animals. This award recognizes outstanding/significant contributions made by members of the Society of Toxicology to the scientifically sound and responsible use of animals in research. The achievement recognized may be either a seminal piece of work or a long-term contribution to toxicological science and animal welfare.

The purpose of the Colgate-Palmolive Award for Student Research Training in Alternative Methods is to enhance graduate student research training using in vitro methods or alternative techniques to reduce, replace or refine use of animals in toxicological research. The training may include, but is not limited to, use of in vitro and ex vivo procedures, nonmammalian animal models, computer modeling, and structure-activity relationships. Graduate students may propose to develop expertise in relevant methodologies 1) at a laboratory away from their home institution, 2) at a laboratory at their home institution that would not be available to them otherwise, or 3) at approved workshops, symposia or continuing education programs where hands-on training will be received. The training should help toxicology graduate students enhance their thesis or dissertation research. The overall goal is to support the replacement, reduction, or refinement of currently used animal models in toxicology research and testing. The proposal will include a budget of up to $3,750 to defray travel, per diem, training expenses, and research costs.

This AFRI Challenge Area promotes and enhances the scientific discipline of food safety, with an overall aim of protecting consumers from microbial and chemical contaminants that may occur during all stages of the food chain, from production to consumption. This requires an understanding of the interdependencies of human, animal, and ecosystem health as it pertains to foodborne pathogens. The long-term outcome for this program is to reduce foodborne illnesses and deaths by improving the safety of the food supply, which will result in reduced impacts on public health and on our economy. In order to achieve this outcome, this program will support single-function Research Projects and multi-function Integrated Research, Education, and/or Extension Projects, and Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants that address one of the Program Area Priorities (see Food Safety RFA for details).

nationally designated and highly visible corporate, non-profit, and federal research and development centers or laboratory facilities (hereafter referred to as Center(s)) to Ohio. The Industrial Research and Development Center Program will achieve this goal by enhancing and supplementing Ohio organizations' proposals for such Centers by providing funding that serves as cost share or matching dollars, thereby improving the competitiveness of the proposal and enhancing the potential for a Center being located in Ohio.   The specific goals and objectives of the Industrial Research and Development Center Program are to: ·         Secure new-to-Ohio research and development funding and facilities with "center" designations by their primary sponsor; ·         Increase the reputation and visibility of Ohio within selected fields of research and development that are aligned with Ohio Third Frontier technology focus areas; ·         Provide support for Centers that will conduct applied research, commercialize new technologies and innovations, support Ohio companies and their efforts to launch new, innovative products, and address competitiveness issues of industries that are strategically significant to Ohio. ·         Attract exceptional senior talent from industry and outside Ohio with demonstrated entrepreneurial qualities and attributes that integrates and aligns well to Center-driven, and their own, commercial outcomes and extended talent development; and, ·         Create new, high-tech jobs.

Attention veterinarians, lab technicians, animal technicians, and all who work with laboratory animals: The Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) now is accepting proposals for the 2014 Science-based Refinement Awards (formerly the Animal Welfare Enhancement Awards). The focus of these awards is to elicit scientific evidence to support the enhancement of the housing, handling and/or experimental situations for laboratory animals. Studies may, for example, examine: how physiological and behavioral stress responses to common husbandry (e.g., capture) and traditional treatment procedures (e.g., gavage, injection, blood collection) can be reduced or eliminated (e.g., by training the subjects to cooperate rather than resist); whether animals caged at different tier levels show different physiological and behavioral stress responses when being approached by personnel, and how these responses can be minimized or avoided; whether the presence of a compatible companion buffers physiological and behavioral stress responses to experimental situations (e.g., enforced restraint); whether animals kept in legally minimum-sized cages benefit from a moderate increase in space that is (a) empty versus (b) structured in species-appropriate ways (e.g., shelter, visual blind, perch, platform, PVC tube).

The Interdisciplinary Behavioral and Social Science Research (IBSS) competition promotes the conduct of interdisciplinary research by teams of investigators in the social and behavioral sciences. Emphasis is placed on support for research that involves researchers from multiple SBE disciplinary fields and that integrates scientific theoretical approaches and methodologies from multiple SBE disciplinary fields. Emphasis also is placed on the significance of expected intellectual contributions that are likely to yield generalizable insights and information that will enhance theoretical perspectives and advance basic knowledge and capabilities across multiple SBE disciplinary fields. Although the IBSS competition will consider any proposal that addresses a topic for which the proposal makes a compelling case that the research will enhance broader theoretical understanding across multiple social and behavioral science fields, social and behavioral science researchers are especially encouraged to submit proposals for research on one of the following three broadly defined topics: Population Change; Sources and Consequences of Disparities; and Technology, New Media, and Social Networks.

The PCC has supported world-class research since 2009, spending more than $8.0 M to support novel science. Research and grant-making are the foundation of the PCC and are the focus of everyday business activity. PCC-supported research contributes to a movement in addressing doping's root causes and ultimately decreasing the use of performance-enhancing drugs by all participants in all sports at all levels of play. With an emphasis on original work that focuses on improving existing analytical methods for detecting particular drugs, developing new analytical methods to test for substances not currently detectable, and discovering cost-effective approaches for testing widely abused substances across all levels of sport, the following areas of investigation reflect the PCC's current research priorities: - Developing methods of cost-effective testing to detect and deter the use of banned and illegal substances. - Developing testing protocols to detect designer substances used for doping purposes. - Improving existing analytical methods to detect particular drugs, ex. GH, IGF-1, EPO, hCG. - Developing analytical methods to detect performance enhancing drugs not currently detectable. - Longitudinal urinary excretion patterns, metabolism and dose-concentration. - Critical reviews to support interpretation of laboratory data. - Alternative specimens, (ex. oral fluid, dried blood/plasma spots) for testing.

The purpose of this FOA is to reduce the overall burden of neglected parasitic infections (NPIs) in the United States through evidence-based prevention and control activities including the development of new strategies, educational tools and materials, and guidelines. NPIs are a group of five parasitic diseases that have been targeted by the CDC as priorities for public health action based on the number of people infected, severity of the illnesses, and the ability to prevent and treat them. They are: Chagas disease, neurocysticercosis, toxocariasis, toxoplasmosis, and trichomoniasis. These educational tools and materials and guidelines developed will be used to improve NPI related preventive health knowledge and practices, improve recognition of signs and symptoms of NPIs, increase availability of best approaches and recommendations, improve availability of education training tools and materials, enhance capacity for public education on NPIs, and enhance capacity in the identification of NPIs. Successful strategies should have the potential to yield high impact public health outcomes, reach a high proportion of those at risk, and have the highest potential for significant impact on population health.

Stem cell technology holds the promise of providing a nearly limitless source of safe, immune-matched cells for clinical use. One of the first areas where this promise can be realized is through cell products that lack a nucleus and thus face fewer regulatory hurdles, such as red blood cells and platelets. Considerable progress has been made but scientific questions remain and improved tools to enhance the production are required if translation to clinical use is to be achieved. To this end, this FOA will support research addressing remaining scientific questions to enable and accelerate the use of stem cell-derived blood products as therapeutics. While production of sufficient numbers of cells such as platelets and red cells has been demonstrated using cellular engineering methods, basic research questions related to cell differentiation and maturation remain, which if elucidated, may allow for the development of new ways to efficiently produce clinically-useful stem cell-derived platelets or red blood cells. In addition to this FOA, two companion FOAs (RFA-HL-15-029 and RFA-HL-15-030) will support small business research to develop improved techniques and tools to enhance the production of clinically-relevant, functional stem cell-derived red blood cells or platelets in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.

The Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) program provides support to enhance the research capabilities of minority-serving institutions (MSI) through the establishment of centers that effectively integrate education and research. CREST promotes the development of new knowledge, enhancements of the research productivity of individual faculty, and an expanded presence of students historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and  mathematics (STEM) disciplines. HBCU-RISE awards specifically target HBCUs to support the expansion of institutional research capacity as well as the production of doctoral students, especially those from groups underrepresented in STEM,  at those institutions.

The goal of this FOA is to develop and test organizational and systems level interventions to determine how best to provide comprehensive, high quality, integrated, sustainable, cost-effective interventions to improve the health outcomes of PLWH with substance use disorders and other comorbid conditions. This FOA will support: 1) multidisciplinary research to enhance the adoption and integration of evidence-based screening and treatment of substance abuse in HIV centers and closely related medical settings; and 2) multidisciplinary research to increase the adoption and integration of HIV testing and linkage to HIV care in addiction treatment settings. In both HIV and addiction treatment settings, research to enhance the adoption and integration of treatment services for comorbid conditions (e.g. coinfections, psychiatric disorders) is encouraged.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), builds upon the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) which was initiated in 1996 as one of the key activities in a national action plan to combat antibiotic resistance threats. The purpose of this FOA is to protect and promote public health by enhancing, strengthening and sustaining antibiotic resistance surveillance in retail food specimens within the NARMS program. The NARMS cooperative agreements will improve the detection of antibiotic resistance among enteric bacteria in food commodities, as well as potentially develop new sites as part of the program. Measurable outcomes of the program will be in alignment with the NARMS Objectives.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), builds upon the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) which was initiated in 1996 as one of the key activities in a national action plan to combat antibiotic resistance threats. The purpose of this FOA is to protect and promote public health by enhancing, strengthening and sustaining antibiotic resistance surveillance in retail food specimens within the NARMS program. The NARMS cooperative agreements will improve the detection of antibiotic resistance among enteric bacteria in food commodities, as well as potentially develop new sites as part of the program. Measurable outcomes of the program will be in alignment with the NARMS Objectives.

PART A -- Core Curricular Enhancements Strategic Direction A2 -- Promote educational enhancements that include transdisciplinary and interprofessional population health training Activity I: Medical Assistants Resources and Training on Immunization (MARTi) MARTi is a website http://www.marti-us.org/ hosted and updated by the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR). MARTi was developed to provide a collection of immunization training, education, and resource materials for medical assistants and those responsible for their training, such as office managers or supervisors. The website provides reviewed and credible training and education programs and resources specifically developed for the education and reading level of medical assistants. Activities will include the following: --Manage and update the website content and resources as new vaccine recommendations and best practices become available and redesign the navigation of the website to feature resources offering continuing education (CE) credits --Create newsletters and social media announcements --Develop responsive design website to provide access through mobile devices --Assemble a committee of experts to advance use of the website and recommend improvements. Committee will convene via conference call (3 or 4 times a year). The committee will consist of key groups including the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) and the Professional Association of Healthcare Organization Management (PACHOM) as well as post-secondary institutions training future medical assistants. CDC will not direct or manage any aspects of the committee.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) intends to accelerate the integration and use of scalable technologies and tools to enhance and reinvigorate brain cell census research, including the development of technology platforms and/or resources that will enable a swift and comprehensive survey of brain cell types and circuits. Of particular interest are those that will (a) improve technology and resource platforms to remove limitations and bottlenecks in the current pipeline of brain cell census data generation; (b) integrate experimental and computational methods to enhance capabilities of cell census data generation and analysis and to reduce barriers to hypothesis-driven research; (c) generate a substantial amount of spatiotemporal cell census data and/or resources to demonstrate the utility of the improved technology and resource platforms; and (d) conduct comparative studies by using proper criteria to evaluate and benchmark quality of biospecimen, performance of cell census tools/technologies, and effectiveness of computational approaches. The projects funded under this FOA will align with the overarching goals of the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN) and are expected to generate a substantial amount of cell census data using the proposed technologies or via collaboration with the BICCN.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to invite Cooperative Agreement (U24) applications for advanced development and enhancement of emerging informatics technologies to improve the acquisition, management, analysis, and dissemination of data and knowledge across the cancer research continuum including cancer biology, cancer treatment and diagnosis, early cancer detection, risk assessment and prevention, cancer control and epidemiology, and/or cancer health disparities. As a component of the NCI's Informatics Technology for Cancer Research (ITCR) Program, this FOA focuses on emerging informatics technology, defined as one that has passed the initial prototyping and pilot development stage, has demonstrated potential to have a significant and broader impact, has compelling reasons for further improvement and enhancement, and has not been widely adopted in the cancer research field. The central mission of ITCR is to promote research-driven informatics technology across the development lifecycle to address priority needs in cancer research. In order to be successful, proposed development plans must have a clear rationale on why the proposed technology is needed and how it will benefit the cancer research field. In addition, mechanisms to solicit feedback from users and collaborators throughout the development process must be included. Potential applicants who are interested in early-stage development or informatics resource sustainment should consult the companion FOAs listed above.

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The over-arching goal of this NIDA R25 program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nations biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs. This FOA is intended to support research education activities that enhance the knowledge of substance use and substance use disorder research. The program is intended for those in clinically focused careers and/or those training for careers as clinicians/health service providers, clinical researchers, or optimally a combination of the two. This mechanism may not be used to support non-research-related clinical training.

The National Vaccine Program Office would like to announce the anticipated availability of funds for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 cooperative agreement awards] under the authority of section 1702(a) of the Public Health Service Act. The FOA will solicit applications for projects conducting research through implementing and evaluating interventions related to fostering informed vaccine decision making by assessing or addressing vaccine confidence or hesitancy, particularly via vaccine education and communication. The work funded by NVPO cannot also be funded by other awards. The 2010 National Vaccine Plan (NVP) recognizes the importance of communication activities that are strategic, science-based, transparent, and culturally appropriate when it comes to utilizing communication to enhance informed vaccine decision making and vaccination acceptance. The National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO) collaborates with federal partners to provide strategic direction for the coordination of the vaccine and immunization enterprise for the National Vaccine Plan (NVP) implementation http://www.hhs.gov/nvpo/vacc _plan/2010%20Plan/nationalvaccineplan.pdf. NVPO will partner with 2-3 organizations to collaborate on projects that will fall specifically under goal 3 of the NVP (i.e., support communications to enhance informed vaccine decision-making) as well as within the recommendations of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee June 2015 Report: Assessing the State of Vaccine Confidence in the United States: Recommendations from the National Vaccine Advisory Committee. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/nvpo/nvac/reports/nvac-vaccine-confidence-public-health-report-2015.pdf. That report emphasized the importance of developing measurement tools, as well as interventions for supporting healthcare providers, communities, and policies which foster confidence in vaccines.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to invite Cooperative Agreement (U24) applications for advanced development and enhancement of emerging informatics technologies to improve the acquisition, management, analysis, and dissemination of data and knowledge across the cancer research continuum, including cancer biology, cancer treatment and diagnosis, cancer prevention, cancer control and epidemiology, and/or cancer health disparities. As a component of the NCI's Informatics Technology for Cancer Research (ITCR) Initiative, this FOA focuses on emerging informatics technology, defined as one that has passed the initial prototyping and pilot development stage, has demonstrated potential to have a significant and broader impact, has compelling reasons for further improvement and enhancement, and has not been widely adopted in the cancer research field. The central mission of ITCR is to promote research-driven informatics technology across the development lifecycle to address priority needs in cancer research.In order to be successful, proposed development plans must have a clear rationale on why the proposed technology is needed and how it will benefit the cancer research field. In addition, mechanisms to solicit feedback from users and collaborators throughout the development process should be included. Potential applicants who are interested in early-stage development or informatics resource sustainment should consult companion FOAs listed above.

The Biological Anthropology Program supports multifaceted research to advance scientific knowledge of human biology and ecology, including understanding of our evolutionary history and mechanisms that have shaped human and nonhuman primate biological diversity. Supported research focuses on living and fossil forms of both human and nonhuman primates, addressing time scales ranging from the short-term to evolutionary, encompassing multiple levels of analysis (e.g., molecular, organismal, population, ecosystem), conducted in field, laboratory, captive, and computationalresearch environments, and often incorporating interactions between human biology and culture.

Areas of inquiry that promote understanding of the evolution, biology, and adaptability of our diverse species include, but are not limited to:genetic/epigenetic/genomic variation and relationship to phenotype;ecology and socioecology; functional anatomy and skeletal biology; andpaleoanthropology and primate paleontology. Multidisciplinary research that integrates biological anthropology with related anthropological fields, such as archaeology, cultural anthropology, and forensic anthropology, also may receive support through the Program. The Program contributes to the integration of education and basic research through support of dissertation projects conducted by doctoral students enrolled in U.S. universities. This solicitation specifically addresses the preparation and evaluation of proposals for such Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement (DDRI) Grants. Dissertation research projects in all of the subareas of biological anthropology are eligible for support through these grants. These awards are intended to enhance and improve the conduct of dissertation research by doctoral students who are pursuing research in biological anthropology that enhances basic scientific knowledge.

he NIH Research Education Cooperative Agreements Program (UE5) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH.  The overarching goal of this National Cancer Institute (NCI) UE5  program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation's biomedical, behavioral and clinical cancer research needs. This UE5 funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is a part of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) initiative to establish the "NCI Awardee Skills Development Consortium (NASDC)."  The major objective of this initiative is to provide opportunities for current NCI grantees, especially those who are junior faculty (e.g., assistant professors, instructors, research scientists, or equivalent), to enhance their skills in areas that are critical for establishing and maintaining successful independent academic cancer research careers. To accomplish the stated overarching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on Courses for Skills Development.  Such courses should contain innovative, state-of-the-art, evidence-based scientific and/or educational content that is essential to meet the academic career development needs of NCI-funded, junior faculty investigators.