The Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) under this FOA is a grant to provide support for a program of research in an early stage investigator's laboratory that falls within the mission of NIGMS. For the purpose of this FOA, a program of research is a collection of projects in the investigator's lab that are relevant to the mission of NIGMS. The goal of MIRA is to increase the efficiency and efficacy of NIGMS funding. It is anticipated that this FOA will: Enable investigators to apply earlier in their independent research careers, allowing them to secure grant funding that will launch and sustain successful research careers. Enhance investigators' ability to move into research areas that are distinct from those of their postdoctoral mentors, which could lead to new scientific discoveries. Increase the stability of funding for NIGMS-supported investigators, which could enhance their ability to take on ambitious scientific projects and approach problems more creatively. Increase flexibility for investigators to follow important new research directions as opportunities arise, rather than being bound to specific aims proposed in advance of the studies. More widely distribute funding among the nation's highly talented and promising investigators to increase overall scientific productivity and the chances for important breakthroughs. Reduce the time spent by researchers writing and reviewing grant applications, allowing them to spend more time conducting research. Enable investigators to devote more time and energy to mentoring trainees in a more stable research environment.
The mission of the MHRP is to protect military personnel from HIV and other emerging infectious diseases and improve global health by conducting research to develop vaccines, prevent new infections, and find cures. In support, the goals of the MHRP are as follows:
· Build on RV144 (Vaccination with ALVAC and AIDSVAX to prevent HIV-1 infection in Thailand. N Engl J Med 2009 361(23):2209-2220) and execute an integrated vaccine development program.
· Lead the field in acute infection and cure research.
· Integrate MHRP's continuum of discovery, preclinical, and clinical research.
· Perform clinical and population health research.
· Strengthen external partnerships and enhance collaboration across the DoD.
· Leverage MHRP's international capacity for research, clinical development, prevention, care, and treatment to advance national security and global health objectives.
· Generate and translate diagnostic and knowledge products to inform health policy and reduce the burden of infectious diseases in the military.
· Support professional development of military and civilian infectious disease research staff in order to build the next generation of scientific leaders.
The Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program of the Office of Science (SC) and the Defense Program (DP) of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), both of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), jointly announce their interests in receiving grant applications for new awards and grant renewals for research in the SC-NNSA Joint Program in High-Energy-Density (HED) laboratory plasmas. All individuals or groups planning to submit applications for new or renewal funding in Fiscal Year 2018 should submit in response to this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). The specific areas of interest are: 1. HED Hydrodynamics 2. Radiation-Dominated Dynamics and Material Properties 3. Magnetized HED Plasma Physics 4. Nonlinear Optics of Plasmas and Laser-Plasma Interactions 5. Relativistic HED Plasmas and Intense Beam Physics 6. Warm Dense Matter 7. High-Z, Multiply Ionized HED Atomic Physics 8. Diagnostics for HED Laboratory Plasmas More specific information on each area of interest is outlined in the general and program specific supplementary information provided.
Millions of people with HIV/AIDS now have extended life spans as a result of targeted HIV testing services and scale-up of effective anti-retroviral therapy (ART), resulting in increased need to 1) effectively manage large volumes of data; 2) accurately track patient cohorts across space and time; 3) track utilization of human and material resources; and 4) support evidence-driven decisions. Interoperable health information systems (HIS), including electronic medical records (EMR) and laboratory information systems (LIS), are essential tools for collecting, managing, and using these data. This NOFO will support countries to 1) design, develop, implement, and evaluate HIS; 2) develop and improve policy, governance, and infrastructure needed to implement HIS and increase sustainability and country ownership; 3) sustain informatics workforce and capacity development; and 4) protect, secure, standardize, exchange, and share data to improve health.
The MPS DC is expected to be the central clearinghouse for TC data management, and will incorporate novel approaches and technologies for data management, data mining and meta-analyses, and data sharing across many organs and tissues, diseases, data types, and TC platforms. The MPS Data center is expected to provide different levels of public and tiered access to TC information for basic and clinical researchers, academic and practicing physicians, the pharmaceutical industry, NIH, FDA and other government agencies, patients, and the lay public. The MPS Data Center will work with IQ Consortium members to develop and make available a secure, customizable coordinated data management system for collection, storage, and analyses of diverse data types from multiple TC platforms being developed and used for drug screening, safety and efficacy testing.
Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson announced in September 2017 inception of the "S&T Strategy 2030" study. The study's objective is to update the Air Force methods for conducting research and development (R&D) to meet the projected national security challenges of 2030. Secretary Wilson appointed the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to lead this strategy development.The Air Force's goals for the study are: 1. Evaluate technical approaches and focus areas to advance the Air Force's mission through R&D; and 2. Improve Air Force processes and organizational structures to manage early stage research.
The purpose of this FOA is to solicit applications for the Immune Tolerance Network. The major objective of the Network is to develop tolerogenic approaches for the treatment of disease in three clinical areas: asthma and allergic diseases; autoimmune diseases; and immune-mediated consequences of allotransplantation. The scope of research to be carried out by the Network includes:
1) the design and conduct of clinical trials at all phases to evaluate the safety and efficacy of investigational products and approaches for the induction and maintenance of immune tolerance in humans; 2) the design and conduct of mechanistic studies and the development of tolerance assays as integral components of the clinical trials undertaken; and establishment of biospecimen repositories 3) the provision of services on data management in collaboration with other resources provided by NIAID, bioinformatics analysis, and data sharing in a secure computing environment to support clinical trials and mechanistic studies. The Network may also support limited product development and nonclinical studies (e.g., toxicology, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, etc.) essential for the subsequent evaluation of promising tolerance induction approaches in humans.
Pandemics have far reaching consequences that range from deaths to shutting down the economy as we have witnessed during the recent COVID19 crisis. Hence there is a need to be better prepared for such pandemics. We need to solve problems ranging from predictive analytics innovative devices for saving lives to technology for devising voting machines. The social and economic impact for the above areas is huge and some of the work can be transformative and save lives.
Areas of interest to us include, but are not limited to:
- Mathematical models for spread and the impact of pandemics.
- Scalable simulation techniques for pandemics (e.g. with multi agents).
- Biomedical/Nano sensor devices for detecting symptoms and agents. - Algorithms for rapid exploration of the drug screening and discovery workflows (e.g. use reinforcement learning)
- Advanced computational biology techniques for sequencing, detecting viral evolution (e.g. in COVID-19).
- Algorithms and systems for contact tracing (with privacy preserving).
- Algorithms and recommendation systems for curating media and news.
- Collaboration techniques for more effective health, and efficiency during pandemics.
Improved identity and security techniques.
- Distributed Ledgers, their applications and their governance for and during pandemics.
- Pandemic data science - understanding the patterns and the impact of a pandemic like COVID-10. Creation of curated data sets.
We are interested in both the science and technology aspects of these problem sets, and, particularly, in the intersections between them.
