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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

The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) Grant Program supports research directed towards enhancing anesthesia patient safety.  The Program's objective is to stimulate and fund studies that will clearly improve patient safety and lead to prevention of mortality and morbidity resulting from anesthesia mishaps.  The APSF vision and mission statements help guide this process. The APSF's vision statement is that no patient shall be harmed by anesthesia and the mission is to improve the safety of patients during anesthesia care by encouraging and conducting: safety research and education; patient safety programs and campaigns; and national and international exchange of information and ideas.

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support research that will contribute to the overall understanding of vaccine safety. This research opportunity invites studies that address scientific areas potentially relevant to vaccine safety such as 1) physiological and immunological responses to vaccines and vaccine components, 2) how genetic variations affect immune/physiological responses that may impact vaccine safety, 3) identification of risk factors and biological markers that may be used to assess whether there is a relationship between certain diseases or disorders and licensed vaccines, 4) creation/evaluation of statistical methodologies for analyzing data on vaccine safety, including data available from existing data sources such as passive reporting systems, or 5) the application of genomic/molecular technologies to improve knowledge of vaccine safety.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to support research that will contribute to the overall understanding of vaccine safety. This research opportunity encourages studies that address scientific areas potentially relevant to vaccine safety, such as: 1) characterization of physiological and immunological responses to vaccines and vaccine components, including different adjuvants; 2) how genetic variations affect immune/physiological responses that may impact vaccine safety; 3) identification of risk factors (e.g., infection history, predisposition to or presence of allergic and/or autoimmune disease and biological markers that may be used to assess whether there is a relationship between certain diseases or disorders and licensed vaccines; 4) creation/evaluation of statistical methodologies for analyzing data on vaccine safety, including data available from existing data sources, such as passive reporting systems or healthcare databases; or 5) the application of genomic/molecular technologies and systems biology approaches to evaluate vaccine safety. This FOA aligns with the research goals and objectives outlined in the U.S. National Vaccine Plan).

The Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 (MINER Act) permanently established the Office of Mine Safety and Health Research under the direction of an Associate Director, within the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. One purpose of this office is to enhance the development of new technology and technological applications and to ensure adequate capacity in important research areas. The MINER Act grants the Office of Mine Safety and Health Research the authority to award competitive contracts and grants to institutions and private entities to improve mine safety and health in general, and specifically to encourage the development and manufacture of mine safety equipment and to award contracts to education institutions or private laboratories for the performance of product testing or related work with respect to new mine technology or equipment. This announcement is an opportunity for the award of contracts for ground control research and capacity building.

The Doctors Company Foundation was created in 2008 by the Doctors Company, the nation's largest insurer of medical professional liability for physicians, surgeons, and other health professionals. The purpose of the foundation is to support patient safety education for healthcare professionals in training and in practice, as well as patient safety research with clinically useful applications. To advance this mission, the foundation is accepting applications for research and education programs and projects designed to enhance patient safety. Grant amounts will be determined on an individual basis based on project budget and availability of funds. The foundation does not support clinical research projects primarily involving the provision of medical support services to patients. Construction projects and the purchase of equipment will not be funded. While general funding for medical meetings and conferences will not be considered, support for invited speakers when the principal focus of their presentation is on patient safety and support for the attendance of healthcare professionals in training at patient safety conferences will be considered.

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).

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is interested in funding a diverse set of projects that develop, test and evaluate various simulation approaches for the purpose of improving the safe delivery of health care. Simulation in health care serves multiple purposes. As a training technique, it exposes individuals and teams to realistic clinical challenges through the use of mannequins, task trainers, virtual reality, standardized patients or other forms, and allows participants to experience in real-time the consequences of their decisions and actions. The principal advantage of simulation is that it provides a safe environment for health care practitioners to acquire valuable experience without putting patients at risk. Simulation also can be used as a test-bed to improve clinical processes and to identify failure modes or other areas of concern in new procedures and technologies that might otherwise be unanticipated and serve as threats to patient safety. Yet another application of simulation focuses on the establishment of valid and reliable measures of clinical performance competency and their potential use for credentialing and certification purposes. The foremost aim of the announcement is to advance patient safety. Keeping this aim in mind, applications that address a variety of simulation techniques, clinical settings, provider groups, priority populations, and patient conditions are welcomed.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) mission is to produce evidence to make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable, and to work within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and with other partners to make sure that the evidence is understood and used. AHRQ's Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (CQuIPS) is addressing patient safety and medication research by focusing on the safe usage of medications.  This perspective centers on how medications move through the health care system and how this systemic process can be improved so that patients are not harmed, while health care delivery is improved.  CQuIPS encourages the involvement of all members of the health care team, especially patients and families, nurses, pharmacists, technicians (pharmacy and medication administration technicians), health care administrators, risk managers, and physicians across all settings of care, including in the home. This FOA will fund investigative research demonstration projects that examine the effective implementation of processes, policies, and behaviors that support safe use of medication as well as its sustainment and dissemination.

This is a competitive research program with an emphasis on maximizing the impact of research efforts in the areas of occupational safety and health on the overall safety, health, productivity and competitiveness of Ohio's workforce. The program, with minor modifications, is modeled after and similar to the NIOSH National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). The program provides funding for research projects up to $250,000 per project. The duration of each research project is limited to 12 to 24 months. The deadline for proposal submission is April 21.

The Environmental Health and Safety of Nanotechnology (Nano EHS) program provides support to examine and mitigate the environmental effects of nanotechnologies. Fundamental research is sought to understand, evaluate, and lessen the impact of nanotechnology on the environment and biological systems. The program emphasizes engineering principles underlying the environmental health and safety impacts of nanotechnology. Innovative methods related to clean nanomaterials production processes, waste reduction, recycling, and industrial ecology of nanotechnology are also of interest.

The purpose of this study is to: 1) collect information on practice patterns in special populations to assess possible barriers to generic substitution ; 2) compare clinical practice (e.g., drug product manipulation prior to administration, co-administration with another food or drug) with labeled drug administration information in the assessed populations to identify factors that raise issues for safety and effectiveness with generic substitution; and 3) analyze the impact of product-level, patient-level, and provider-level factors on generic drug substitution. The outcome of this study will help identify research needs, support FDA's regulatory science efforts to monitor and ensure successful generic substitution, and provide evidence to assure the public on generic drug safety and effectiveness.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage investigators to pursue translational activities and clinical trials to treat pain with innovative, targeted, and non-addictive diagnostic and/or therapeutic devices that improve patient outcomes and decrease or eliminate the need to prescribe opioids. Activities supported in this program include implementation of clinical prototype devices, non-clinical safety and efficacy testing, design verification and validation activities, obtaining an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) for a Significant Risk (SR) study or Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for a Non-Significant Risk (NSR) study, as well as a subsequent small clinical trial (e.g., Early Feasibility Study). The clinical trial is expected to provide information about the device function or final design that cannot be practically obtained through additional non-clinical assessments (e.g., bench top or animal studies) due to the novelty of the device or its intended use. This is a milestone-driven cooperative agreement program and will involve participation of NIH program staff in the development of the project plan and monitoring of research progress. This FOA will leverage Public-Private Partnership Programs (PPP) initiated under the NIH BRAIN Initiative, the Office of Strategic Coordination The Common Funds Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC) Program, and the HEAL Initiative. These programs include agreements (Memoranda of Understanding, MOU) with a number of device manufacturers willing to make such devices available, including devices and capabilities not yet market approved but appropriate for clinical research. In general, it is expected that the devices' existing safety and utility data will be sufficient to enable new IRB NSR or FDA IDE approval without the need for significant additional non-clinical data.

NIOSH uses cooperative agreements to arrange collaborative surveillance and research opportunities with state health departments, universities, labor unions, and nonprofit organizations. NIOSH funds a broad array of cooperative agreements to develop knowledge for preventing occupational diseases, injury, and death. The U24 cooperative agreement mechanism will be used to provide tribal nations, states, and large municipalities with technical assistance and services to build occupational safety and health (OSH) program capacity and promote the use of multiple-source surveillance data. The awardee(s) will advance education and translation through the operation of an open-access online repository for occupational health information and surveillance data. States, Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and tribes will draw upon relationships with their stakeholders to use surveillance data to take action such as identify or support tribal and state priorities, and guide coordinated, targeted efforts to protect workers; monitor statistical and other trends and progress over time (i.e., burden and impact); propose pilot and evaluation activities for addressing disease burden or impact; conduct educational and outreach activities; and to develop prevention and intervention recommendations.

The objective of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to support the development of new and innovative on-demand, event -driven and long-acting systemic and non-systemic multipurpose prevention technologies (MPT). It supports development of MPTs that prevent HIV infection and pregnancy (hormonal and non-hormonal methods); sexually transmitted infections (STI) and pregnancy, and (HIV/STI) and non-HIV STI MPTs in cis and trans males and females of all ages. Applications for MPT development may involve pharmacokinetic (PK), pharmacodynamic (PD), safety and, drug-drug interactions (DDI) studies using drug development and formulation science supported by animal model testing. Also supported are biobehavioral and behavioral/social studies to identify MPT user-desired rheological and biophysical factors (look, feel, effectiveness, safety and duration of action) and other behavioral/social factors that could promote increased MPT adoption and use.

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) announces the availability of funds for Administrative Supplements to NIGMS-funded predoctoral T32 training grants. These funds are designed to provide support for the development and implementation of curricular or training activities aimed at providing trainees with the knowledge and skills to enhance laboratory safety. The funds are designed to promote the reworking and revitalization of biomedical predoctoral research education and training.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), Office of Training Education and Development (OTED) is announcing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for a Cooperative Agreement Grant. The goals of this Cooperative Agreement Grant are to continue the development of the Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS) National Curriculum Standard (NCS) for the laboratory competency and curriculum frameworks, further work on the development and validation of competency statements. As the NCS is completed at each level, then training content can be developed to meet the standard, post web courses and deliver classroom courses to IFSS laboratorians nationwide. Under FSMA Section 209, FDA is directed to improve the training of state, local, territorial and tribal food safety officials and set standards and administer training and education programs to ensure a competent work force doing comparable work.

This R18 Request for Application (RFA) calls for the creation and utilization of Patient Safety Learning Laboratories. These learning laboratories are places and networks where transdisciplinary teams identify closely related threats to diagnostic or treatment efforts associated with a high burden of harm and cost. Following a systems engineering methodology, the learning laboratories stretch professional boundaries, envision innovative designs, and take advantage of brainstorming and rapid prototyping techniques that other leading industries employ. Promising prototypes undergo further develop-test-revise iterations, and subsequent integration as a working system. After further improvements are made to the integrated working system, its efficacy is evaluated in a realistic simulated or clinical setting. While applicants will select the area of diagnostic or treatment focus they consider of high significance, a flexible methodology -- problem analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation -- is required that parallels a systems engineering process to give an underlying structure to the work undertaken.

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.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages research grant applications from investigators who propose to study research topics in blood banking and transfusion medicine aimed at improving the safety and availability of the blood supply and the practice of transfusion medicine. Research focused on improving blood donor health, the safety and availability of blood products, and improving the practice of transfusion medicine is critical to public health. Research designed to better understand the determinants of transfusion-associated adverse events and how best to minimize transfusion risks is also important. Research is also needed to maintain an adequate blood supply by minimizing the risks associated with the donation process and developing enhanced recruitment and retention programs.