Group items tagged

The purpose of this Limited Competition is to extend the Cure Glomerulonephropathy (CureGN) Network by continuing to support the Data Coordinating Center (DCC). The CureGN Network is a multicenter observational cohort study of glomerular disease patients with the goal of improving care for all glomerular disease patients. The operational components of the study include four multi-site Participating Clinical Centers (PCC) and a DCC. The CureGN Network, established in 2013, has recruited nearly 2,200 of 2,400 planned study participants and followed them with annual in-person clinic visits and interim telephone contacts. The DCC provides key leadership functions for this study in the areas of study organization, study design and implementation, overall management, data management and analysis, and biosample management. The CureGN PCCs will continue to follow-up previously enrolled participants under a separate FOA with a focus on clinical assessment of disease activity, developing novel methods for "virtual" study participation,and semi-quantitative assessment of histopathologic lesions. It is expected that a focus on disease features unique to glomerulonephropathy and outcomes relevant to the full range of patient experience, combined with carefully curated clinical and biochemical data, will uncover new predictors of the disease course, pathophysiologic processes, disease subtypes and novel treatment targets. The DCC will lead the study group to achieve the scientific goals of the next project period.

Scientists and patient advocacy groups often use a series of photos, commissioned by NEI some thirty years ago, when they wish to depict the visual experience of patients suffering from blinding diseases. At the time they were created, these images reflected the field's understanding of visual perception for such patients. But the field has advanced considerably since then, and these static images are considered overly simplistic, inaccurate, and generally unsatisfactory. At the same time, technology has evolved to where it is possible to use video and virtual reality to more authentically demonstrate (or even simulate) the experience of have a blinding disease. As part of the efforts of the NEI 50th Anniversary Planning Committee, the institute seeks the support of experts in blinding diseases, visual psychophysics, and video/virtual reality production to create a scientifically accurate and clinically authentic blindness simulation "experience" that can be used for education, public advocacy, and research purposes and a series of short videos that can be posted online for education and public outreach.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications that focus on clarifying the relationship between delirium and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Specifically sought is research focusing on understanding why persons with ADRD are at increased risk to develop delirium, often with a worse prognosis compared to those without antecedent ADRD, and why patients who experience delirium are at higher risk to develop subsequent short- and/or long-term mild cognitive impairment or ADRD, often with an accelerated rate of cognitive decline compared to those without preceding delirium. Relevant research projects may focus on, but are not limited to, those that A) provide insight into possible common, sequential, causative, contributory and/or synergistic pathways underlying both ADRD and delirium, B) elucidate mechanisms that lead to the development of delirium against the background of aging and/or neurodegeneration, with particular emphasis on use of appropriate animal models, C) identify risk factors for the onset and/or progression of delirium in those with ADRD and vice versa, D) diagnose and assess one condition in the setting of the other, E) identify putative phenotypes of patients with co-existing ADRD and delirium, or F) test pharmacologic and/or non-pharmacologic strategies to prevent, treat, or reduce the impact of delirium in patients with ADRD and vice versa. Research supported by this FOA is intended to provide mechanistic insight to improve risk assessment, diagnosis, phenotyping, prevention, and management approaches for both delirium and ADRD.

This FOA will invite U01 applications in the specific area of cancer immunotherapy-related adverse events. Investigators are encouraged to submit applications that focus on mechanisms of immune reactivity/tolerance and/or autoimmune pathways that could be applied to improving immunotherapeutic approaches while simultaneously eliminating or reducing the severity of inflammatory or autoimmune responses. A related area of interest is studies designed to enhance the target specificity of immunotherapeutic reagents, to reduce or prevent irAEs. An additional synergistic focus of interest is the identification of predictive biomarkers of cancer patients at risk for developing irAEs. Understanding risk factors for developing an irAE would better inform patient stratification at the start of therapy and influence clinical monitoring. Achieving the goals of the RFA should establish a deeper understanding of the origins and activation pathways leading to inflammatory or autoimmune adverse events that currently limit the use of various immunotherapy regimens in patients.

This NOFO aims to improve access to, coordination of, and continuity of health care for individuals with thalassemia or sickle cell disease which will lead to a decreased occurrence of transfusion-related complications, improved quality and increased length of life. These health care improvements will result from a multi-faceted approach that includes (1) identification of patients, families, communities, and providers who will benefit from increased knowledge about therapeutic transfusions and their potential complications, (2) development and dissemination of materials that will increase understanding of the diagnosis and management of these blood disorders, and (3) collection of biological specimens from individuals with thalassemia or sickle cell disease. This NOFO builds upon findings from the work completed as part of CDC-RFA-DD14-1406. In particular, (1) the difficulty in identifying any thalassemia patient in the U.S. and their health care provider prior to medical complications manifesting, other than those born in states where the condition is a part of the mandatory newborn screening panel, (2) the lack of standardized practices across, and sometimes within, clinical care settings and blood banks for transfusions of patients with thalassemia or sickle cell disease, (3) the need for dissemination of evidence- or consensus-based guidelines about best practices for transfusions, and (4) the room for improvement in increasing blood donation from communities most affected by thalassemia or sickle cell disease.

The purpose of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to promote the assessment and further development of simulation technologies intended to improve patient safety and healthcare outcomes provided by practicing patient care providers and experienced (not trainee) physicians. The FOA seeks applications directed toward three areas of research: 1) Skill Acquisition: to evaluate strategies and protocols for simulation-based methods for skill acquisition and maintenance by experienced clinicians; 2) Outcomes Assessment: to assess the relationship of simulation-based assessments of skills demonstrated by experienced clinicians with the quality of clinical care delivered by those clinicians, and to identify strategies to increase the quality of simulation-based assessments of skills; and 3) Technology Development: to develop virtual coaches by incorporating intelligent technologies into existing simulators to provide adaptive, cognitive assistance to coach experienced practitioners in retaining, retraining and improving performance levels in the context of the user environment (and physiological system as appropriate).

Reissue of RFA-AR-18-001: The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to solicit applications for Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Centers (MDSRCs). These Centers promote collaborative basic, translational and clinical research and provide important resources that can be used by the national muscular dystrophy research community. A goal of this Centers program is to support important and innovative research in the muscular dystrophies that is best pursued through this interdisciplinary and collaborative center environment, and projects that may not be as effective if supported by "stand-alone" research project grants. The Centers also provide outstanding environments for the training of new scientists electing to pursue careers conducting research in high priority areas of muscular dystrophy. Finally, Center investigators are expected to engage the patient and advocacy communities in conversations to increase awareness of research, encourage patient participation in research and incorporate the perspectives of these communities in the conduct of patient-centered research.

This FOA will support national facility based case management activities implemented through associations of persons living with HIV (PLHIV). Activities include peer support for HIV treatment adherence, preventing and minimizing loss-to-follow-up and improving retention in care, and facilitating linkage of all HIV patients and others affected by HIV to comprehensive HIV services. The FOA will support planning, program and financial management; coordination and collaboration with partners and stakeholders; capacity building at different levels; training and deployment of case managers and adherence supporters to high load HIV care and treatment facilities. The awardee will conduct supportive supervision, mentoring, monitoring and evaluation of case management activities, and will maintain an updated inventory of available services in the catchment area of respective health facilities. These activities will minimize patient attrition, optimize adherence and improve patient outcomes.

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has issued a funding announcement for Improving Methods for Conducting Patient-Centered Outcomes Research. Under this call, grants of up to 750,000 over three years will be awarded in support of projects that address important methodological gaps and lead to improvements in the strength and quality of evidence generated by PCOR/CER studies. PCORI has identified the following areas of interest as programmatic priorities: Methods Related to Ethical and Human Subjects Protections (HSP) Issues in PCOR/CER - Projects that address important ethical and HSP issues related to the conduct of PCOR/CER. Applications in this category must include an empirical component. PCORI will give preference to proposals that seek to develop or test new approaches rather than those that conduct primarily descriptive work.

The PRMRP Investigator-Initiated Research Award is intended to support studies that will make an important contribution toward research and/or patient care in one or more Focus Areas published in this Funding Opportunity for the FY20 PRMRP Topic Areas of Emerging Viral Diseases and/or Respiratory Health. The rationale for a research idea may be derived from a laboratory discovery, population-based studies, a clinician's first-hand knowledge of patients, or anecdotal data. Applications must include relevant data that support the rationale for the proposed study. These data may be unpublished or from the published literature. Impact: The Investigator-Initiated Research Award is designed to support research with the potential to yield highly impactful data that could lead to critical discoveries or major advancements. The application must clearly demonstrate the project's potential short-term and long-term outcome(s)/product(s) (knowledge and/or materiel) and how they will impact a critical problem or question in the field of research and/or patient care in one or more Focus Areas published in this funding opportunity for the FY20 PRMRP Topic Area(s) of Emerging Viral Diseases and/or Respiratory Health.

Under the RFP, grants of up to $100,000 will be awarded in support of research projects with the potential to advance medical knowledge of acromegaly disease, including its complications and treatment with pegvisomant. Projects submitted may include morbidity and mortality in patients with Acromegaly/GH Excess; laboratory investigations on effects of pegvisomant; clinical outcomes, quality of life, and patient-reported outcomes associated with monotherapy or combination therapy, including pegvisomant; and pharmacoeconomics such as but not limited to resource utilization, patient-reported outcomes, and treatment patterns.

1) There will be an establishment of the assay to quantitatively measure cMLC-1 in humans. 2) Investigations will be conducted to determine the value of cMLC-1 in humans as an early predictor of cardiotoxicity in a pilot study. A comparison will be done of the level of cMLC-1 in 5 patients who subsequently developed cardiotoxicity and 5 patients who did not. Patients will be matched for age. Cardiotoxicity was defined using the Cardiac Review and Evaluation Committee for Trastuzumab (CREC) criteria as a decrease of more than 10% in the echocardiographic left ventricular ejection fraction to a value of less than 55%. 3) Women were monitored every 3 months for 15 months. 4) The archived plasma samples collected at multiple time points indicated below schematically will be tested for the biomarker cMLC-1 and for troponin I, an established marker for heart muscle damage as a control.

The Histiocytosis Association is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the unique needs of patients and families dealing with the effects of histiocytic disorders, a group of diseases that occur when there is an over-production of white blood cells known as histiocytes that can lead to organ damage and tumor formation in both children and adults. The only organization of its kind, HA works to encourage the patient and medical communities to improve and share knowledge of histiocytic disorders; provide critical emotional and educational support to patients and families; and identify and fund key research initiatives that lead to a world free of histiocytic disorders.

The Histiocytosis Association is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the unique needs of patients and families dealing with the effects of histiocytic disorders, a group of diseases that occur when there is an over-production of white blood cells known as histiocytes that can lead to organ damage and tumor formation in both children and adults. The only organization of its kind, HA works to encourage the patient and medical communities to improve and share knowledge of histiocytic disorders; provide critical emotional and educational support to patients and families; and identify and fund key research initiatives that lead to a world free of histiocytic disorders.

With PEPFAR support, CDC Haiti works in close collaboration with Haiti’s Ministry of Health (MSPP) to increase access to quality HIV clinical services, prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and increase laboratory and strategic information capacity. In 2016, CDC Haiti adopted and implemented WHO’s Test and Start strategy, making treatment available to anyone who is HIV positive and reaching 80,000 people – over half of all people living with HIV in Haiti. The CDC program also led the development and implementation of key innovative approaches such as the biometric coding for unique patient identification and patient linkage and retention program. These interventions significantly improved the PEPFAR Haiti program performance. This NOFO aims to build upon these interventions and improve:Service delivery by providing technical assistance in the MSPP network to help strengthen HIV/AIDS-related services through clinical mentoring;Health workforce development by supporting both pre-service and in-service training efforts and working with MSPP in maintaining its national clinical guidelines; andHealth information systems by enhancing the iSanté Plus system, which includes patient care summaries, population-level data dashboards, automated program reports, epidemiological monitoring, and indicator reporting, and is linked to computerized lab results.

The Epilepsy Foundation has announced its seventh annual epilepsy "Shark Tank" competition for the most innovative ideas in epilepsy and seizure treatment and care. Some examples of novel ideas include a system to detect seizures with the capacity to provide early warning to the patient or family; a treatment that stops a seizure from progressing; a system that helps patients manage their daily treatment; a device that prevents physical injury that patients may experience when in seizure; or an entirely new product concept with the promise to dramatically improve the lives of people with epilepsy. Selected finalists will receive international recognition and compete for grants totaling $150,000 to support the development and commercialization of important new products, technologies, or therapeutic concepts. As many as six finalists will be selected to present at the 2018 Epilepsy Pipeline Conference (San Francisco, February 22-23, 2018). Each presenter will have five minutes to present the concept, followed by five minutes of questioning. The Shark Tank event will feature live voting among audience members and a panel of judges (Sharks) representative of industry, advocacy, investors, and the research and medical communities. The winning project, or projects, deemed to be the most innovative will be announced at the conclusion of the competition. To be eligible, applicants must demonstrate an ability to move the proposed plan to completion, showing how the prize can accelerate any step along the path to market. Inventors who submitted ideas for previous Shark Tank competitions are encouraged to re-submit their ideas if substantial progress has been made.

In an effort to support cardiovascular quality and performance improvement, the ACC provides funding opportunities that support future cardiovascular quality initiatives (QI) or performance improvement (PI), particularly those that highlight the importance of accreditation. Funding to support these projects is made possible by the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC), which was a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the care and outcomes of patients worldwide with suspected acute coronary syndrome, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation through innovative cross-disciplinary processes. Its merger with the American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) in 2016 provided an opportunity to leverage the accreditation strength of the SCPC into the large portfolio of services the ACCF offers. To preserve the legacy of the SCPC, an endowment was created to support future cardiovascular QI or PI, particularly those efforts that highlight the importance of accreditation. Focus areas of desired projects or proposals include those that support cardiovascular quality improvement of cardiovascular care and patient outcomes that: contribute to the evidence base for accreditation develop or evaluate cardiovascular quality initiatives that strengthen the accreditation process provide opportunities for education that support quality or performance improvement projects improve EMS systems of care in collaboration with community hospitals providing accreditation services provide public health education to improve community measures/outcomes related to early recognition of heart attack symptoms and appropriate action steps

Competitive applications will focus on studies that achieve one or more of the following goals: - Characterize disease progression for people with Parkinson's - Evaluate the utility of different instruments and/or instrument sub-items in measuring burden of disease, especially in individuals within the first two (2) years of Parkinson's diagnosis - Identify the role of pharmacological, medical device and/or non-medical interventions on managing Parkinson's symptoms and long-term health outcomes - Predict the future health status of participants without Parkinson's based on disease risk variables and model their likelihood of developing Parkinson's - Determine elements of disease experience that drive patient preference and risk tolerance - Explore the factors that affect volunteer compliance and completeness of participation in an online study - Determine how economic factors, patient-physician communication and lifestyle factors influence medical treatment and long-term health outcomes in people with Parkinson's - Analyst's choice: Researchers can submit their own analysis topics based on available Fox Insight data especially as it relates to longitudinal analyses

The NCI's Diversity Training Branch (DTB) and the Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD) announce the availability of the "Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Award to Promote Diversity" for career development of individuals with a health professional doctoral degree from groups currently underrepresented on a national level in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and social sciences. The NCI recognizes a unique and compelling need to promote diversity in the patient-oriented research workforce.   

The purpose of the NIH Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) is to support the career development of individuals with a clinical doctoral degree who have made a commitment to focus their research endeavors on patient-oriented research. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for applicants proposing to lead basic science experimental studies involving humans, referred to in NOT-OD-18-212 as prospective basic science studies involving human participants. These studies fall within the NIH definition of a clinical trial and also meet the definition of basic research. Types of studies that should submit under this FOA include studies that prospectively assign human participants to conditions (i.e., experimentally manipulate independent variables) and that assess biomedical or behavioral outcomes in humans for the purpose of understanding the fundamental aspects of phenomena without specific application towards processes or products in mind. Studies conducted with specific applications toward processes or products in mind should submit under the companion PA-18-375.